Big 12 football quarterback rankings after 2023 spring practice
The salad days of Big 12 quarterbacking seems far away. The circa 2008 crowd of Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, Josh Freeman, Chase Daniel and Zac Robinson. The 2016 group of Patrick Mahomes, Baker Mayfield and Mason Rudolph.
These days, the all-Big 12 quarterback might come from the back of the field (like Max Duggan in 2022), and the league’s best quarterback room might come from the least likely place (Kansas).
Plus, in 2023, four new schools join the conference, bringing in a variety of quarterbacks we haven’t seen up close. And with the portal in full swing, transfers are a constant.
So it’s anyone’s guess how the Big 12 teams will rank in quarterback acumen this season. But going into the season, and coming out of spring practice, this is how I see the conference, ranked 1-14 in QB situation.
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1. Kansas
The Jayhawks have not only the top returning QB in senior Jalon Daniels, but the best backup in Jason Bean, who played well when Daniels was injured late in the season.
In nine games, Daniels completed 66.1% of his passes, for 2,014 yards, 18 touchdowns and four interceptions. And OSU fans will well remember Bean – 18 of 23 passing, 203 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, with a 73-yard touchdown run.
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2. Oklahoma
Dillon Gabriel disappoints many OU fans for the high crime of being more Spencer Rattler than Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, Jalen Hurts or Caleb Williams. But Gabriel now has played one year at OU and 2¼ at Central Florida, with career numbers of 61.3% passing for 11,205(!) yards, 95 touchdown passes and 20 interceptions.
Gabriel was good last season for the Sooners (25/6 TD to interception ratio; 62.7 completion percentage) and OU was toast without him. Freshman sensation Jackson Arnold is expected to be a quality backup.
3. Brigham Young
The well-traveled Slovis played in 27 games at Southern Cal before transferring to Pittsburgh last season in the Lincoln Riley fallout. Pitt was rebuilding, and Slovis’ numbers fell off – 10 TDs, nine interceptions, 58.4% completion.
But Slovis’ career numbers are massive – 65.9% completion percentage; 9,973 passing yards; 68/33 TD to interception ratio.
Behind Slovis is junior-college transfer Jake Retzlaff and unproven redshirt sophomore Cade Fennegan.
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4. Kansas State
Fourth-year junior Will Howard blossomed last season and took away the job from Adrian Martinez. Howard completed 59.8% of his passes, throwing for 1,633 yards, 15 touchdowns and four interceptions in seven games. Howard didn’t run as much as in his first two KSU seasons.
Backup Jake Rubley, a redshirt sophomore, has barely played.
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5. Central Florida
John Rhys Plumlee, who played three years at Ole Miss, was productive in his first UCF season, 2022. Plumlee rushed for 862 yards and 11 touchdowns. He completed 63% of his passes, for 2,586 yards, 14 TDs and eight interceptions. Plumlee’s backup figures to be Timmy McClain, a South Florida transfer who played extensively as a true freshman last season.
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6. Texas
The much-heralded Quinn Ewers struggled some last season after transferring from Ohio State, completing 58.1% of his passes for 2,177 yards, 15 TDs and six interceptions.
But the job is his – redshirt freshman Maalik Murphy figures to back up Ewers, with vaunted freshman recruit Arch Manning next in line.
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7. Baylor
Blake Shapen didn’t thrive in 2022 after quarterbacking Baylor to victories over OSU in the 2021 Big 12 Championship Game and Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl. Shapen last season completed 63.3% of his passes for 2,790 yards, 18 TDs and 10 interceptions. But he does have that championship experience.
Redshirt sophomore Sawyer Robertson, a Mississippi State transfer, and junior R.J. Martinez, a Northern Arizona transfer, figure to be the backups.
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8. Texas Christian
Redshirt junior Chandler Morris, who transferred from OU after the 2020 season, is largely unproven but was good enough to beat out eventual Heisman-finalist Max Duggan last August. A season-opener injury wrecked Morris’ season.
Chance Nolan, Oregon State’s 2021 starter, transferred in a few weeks ago and provides Morris competition. Nolan in 2021 completed 64.2% of his passes, for 2,677 yards, 19 TDs and 10 interceptions.
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9. Texas Tech
Tyler Shough has battled injuries in his career. He’s now played 11 games at Oregon and 11 games at Texas Tech, programs that have been consistent showcases for quarterbacks. But Shough’s numbers are so-so – 63.9% completions, 3,885 yards, 29/13 TD-to-interception ratio.
Redshirt sophomore Behren Morton showed flashes last season (particularly in Stillwater), completing 96 of 169 passes for 1,117 yards, seven TDs and six interceptions.
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10. Iowa State
Redshirt junior Hunter Dekkers struggled trying to fill the big shoes of Brock Purdy, but his production wasn’t awful — 3,044 passing yards, 66.1%, 19/14 TD-to-interception ratio.
Redshirt freshman Rocco Becht was the backup last season but is unproven.
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11. Cincinnati
Ben Bryant, the 2022 UC starter, entered the portal in April and is headed to Northwestern, signaling that Arizona State transfer Emory Jones has won the job.
Jones, who spent four years at Florida, has played in 45 college games. At ASU last season, Jones struggled, completing 62.8% of his passes, but with a 7/4 ratio, and 2,732 yards. In four years at Florida, Jones completed 64.6%, for 3,347 yards and a 26/14 ratio.
Evan Prater, a three-year UC veteran, is the apparent backup.
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12. Houston
Donovan Smith transferred from Texas Tech and figured to win the job, but Lucas Coley, who transferred from Arkansas the year before, split reps with Smith this spring.
Coley didn’t play in his freshman year at Arkansas. Smith has played extensively as a Tech backup, with 64.2% completions, 2,686 passing yards and a 19/10 ratio. He’s fairly mobile.
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13. Oklahoma State
Alan Bowman was a promising quarterback at Texas Tech, when he was avoiding injuries. But that was 2018-20. Since then, Bowman has been third-team at Michigan, working on his master’s degree in business.
Now Bowman is a Cowboy and figures to start ahead of Garret Rangel and Gunnar Gundy, who filled in for the injured Spencer Sanders a year ago.
Bowman at Tech completed 67% of his passes for 5,260 yards, 33 TDs and 17 interceptions. Rangel last season completed 59 of 115 (.513), for 711 yards, four TDs and five interceptions. Gundy was 19 of 39 (.487) for 247 yards, three TDs and four interceptions.
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14. West Virginia
Junior Garrett Greene took over for J.T. Daniels down the stretch of last season and beat both OU and OSU. But Greene was not effective. He completed 55.1% of his passes, for 493 yards and a 5/3 ratio. He rushed for 297 yards in a backup role in 2021 and 276 yards last season.
Redshirt freshman Nicco Marchiol might be in line to take over quickly. Or even start from the beginning. Marchiol finished out that OSU game, after Greene was injured, but completed just four passes all season.
Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Big 12 football quarterback rankings after 2023 spring practice
