The 25 Most Intriguing College Football QBs of 2016

Back again by popular demand – or a lack of alternative content – here are the hotly debated Yahoo Sports College Football Most Intriguing Lists. Today’s installment, the Most Intriguing Quarterbacks of 2016:

1. Deshaun Watson, Clemson. Watson looked like the best player in America in the College Football Playoff championship game against Alabama, and looks like a leading candidate to be the top pick in the NFL draft next spring. Watson has a poise and confidence beyond his age. He also has a complete array of skill-position talent around him in what could be the nation’s most explosive offense. Can he take the Tigers all the way this year?

2. Notre Dame Starter. Is it DeShone Kizer or Malik Zaire? Or really a cocktail of the two? Brian Kelly is holding out on Texas and the rest of us. Either way, it’s a good problem to have – both played well last year. The job was Zaire’s at first until he broke a leg in the second game, and then Kizer played superbly the rest of the year. On a team that is lacking leadership but not talent, a quarterback to rally around will be key. Or a quarterback controversy could exacerbate that weakness.

3. Greg Ward Jr., Houston. Tom Herman threw everything on Ward’s shoulders last year, and the result was a 13-1 season capped by a Peach Bowl upset of Florida State. Ward ran or passed on 543 of Houston’s 1,101 offensive plays in 2015, a staggering load that led to nearly 4,000 yards total offense and 38 touchdowns accounted for. If he stays healthy, those numbers may increase in ’16. If Houston wins big again, he could be the strongest Heisman Trophy candidate from outside the Power 5 conferences since Jordan Lynch from Northern Illinois in 2013.

4. Josh Dobbs, Tennessee. Just your average aerospace engineering major playing quarterback in the Southeastern Conference. That means Dobbs is surely smart enough to know how high the expectations are for the Volunteers this season, and how much weight that transfers onto his shoulders. Elevating Dobbs’ passing may be the only thing Tennessee requires to have the most explosive offense in the SEC. He’s also put a prominent face on alopecia areata, a medical condition that causes hair loss.

5. Josh Rosen, UCLA. The Chosen Rosen lived up to the hype as a true freshman starter, throwing for 3,668 yards and 23 touchdowns. This year there is less experience around him – the Bruins are down a 1,300-yard rusher, their top two receivers and three starters on a line that only allowed 15 sacks last year. So a guy most look at as a likely No. 1 pick in 2018 will have to take on an even larger role as a sophomore. There also will be pressure on Rosen and his coach, Jim Mora, to elevate UCLA from good to great – a jump the program rarely has been able to make.

6. Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma. America’s favorite walk-on was an immediate hit as a transfer from Texas Tech, producing more than 4,100 total yards and 43 total touchdowns and becoming a Heisman finalist. He was important enough to change Big 12 legislation in the spring, and will be even more important in an offense that loses its receiving rock, Sterling Shepard. Viral dancing ability adds to the intrigue.

7. Taysom Hill, BYU. He’s 26 years old, married, and has had season-ending injuries three times in his college career – a knee injury in 2012, a broken leg in 2014 and a Lisfranc injury in ’15. Yet Hill insists he’s going to play with the same scrambling abandon that made him so interesting to watch when he’s been healthy enough to get on the field. Hill could have transferred or tried going pro, but stayed at BYU and beat out last year’s promising replacement, Tanner Mangum, to be the Cougars’ starter one last season.

8. J.T. Barrett, Ohio State. Last year’s quarterback identity crisis is over in Columbus. It’s all Barrett, all the time, and the Buckeyes will be better at that position because of it. After spending much of 2015 sharing the position with Cardale Jones, Barrett got back to looking like his 2014 self (pre-broken leg) in the final two games a year ago – he ran for a season-high 139 yards and three touchdowns against Michigan and then ripped Notre Dame for 307 total yards in the Fiesta Bowl. Surrounded by inexperienced personnel this season, the offense will truly revolve around Barrett.

9. Texas Starter. Charlie Strong is guarding his identity until kickoff Sunday night against Notre Dame. Whoever it is – and the bet here is freshman Shane Buechele over senior Tyrone Swoopes – he has a big job. Namely, revive an offense that has not gotten high-level play at that position since 2009, and in the process save Strong’s job. No pressure, son.

10. Lamar Jackson, Louisville. The last glimpse of Jackson was a beauty – he was slashing Texas A&M’s defense to ribbons in the Liberty Bowl, racking up 227 yards passing and 226 rushing and bearing some resemblance to Michael Vick. Or at least Pat White. Or maybe Johnny Manziel. Regardless of your preferred dual-threat comparison, the sophomore is blazing fast and dazzlingly athletic, attributes that helped him run for 960 yards and throw for 1,840 as a true freshman. Passing accuracy was a concern at times (54.7 completion percentage), but a full offseason working with a QB guru like Bobby Petrino should produce major improvement in that area.

11. Seth Russell, Baylor. Back from a broken neck that ended his season and nearly his career in 2015 – and spoiled the Bears’ College Football Playoff hopes – Russell also chose to stay in Waco when scandal hit fan in the spring. As a graduate transfer he could have been eligible immediately somewhere else, but he’s stuck it out at Baylor even with the abrupt and stylistically jarring coaching change from Art Briles to Jim Grobe. Russell spent his offseason doing missionary work in Brazil and getting engaged to a former Baylor soccer player.

12. Deondre Francois, Florida State. The last time a redshirt freshman started the season opener for the Seminoles on Labor Day, he completed 17 of 18 passes for 240 yards and three touchdowns. His name was Jameis Winston, and he went on to win the Heisman and lead Florida State to the national title. Nobody is expecting that level of immediate brilliance from Francois, but the 2015 scout team MVP is highly touted and appears to have Jimbo Fisher’s full confidence. Surrounded by 10 returning starters, pretty much the only thing Francois has to do is not screw it up.

13. Michigan Starter. Jim Harbaugh ain’t telling, so the world is left to guess whether Wilton Speight, John O’Korn or Shane Morris is the guy. Harbaugh showed patience last year with Jake Rudock, sticking with him through an ugly opener against Utah and being rewarded with a solid season. Will the first-stringer get the same protection from a benching this year, or will there be a quicker hook if the competition really is close for the job? A five-game homestand to start is an opportune time to sort it all out.

14. Luke Del Rio, Florida. The well-traveled son of former NFL linebacker and current NFL head coach Jack Del Rio was named the starter at Florida during fall camp. He was a walk-on at Alabama who transferred with immediate eligibility to Oregon State in 2014, played in three games and left for Florida when Mike Riley moved to Nebraska. Del Rio will be asked to put some punch into a Florida attack that averaged eight points in the final three games of 2015, all of them losses.

15. Chad Kelly, Mississippi. Jim Kelly’s nephew made it through a year in Oxford without creating any of the wrong headlines, so perhaps he has matured. Previously, Kelly wrote a rap song about himself, was kicked off the team at Clemson and once threatened to fetch an AK-47 and “spray” a nightclub after an altercation with bouncers. But last year, he was awfully good in leading the Rebels to 10 wins by throwing for more than 4,000 yards and 31 touchdowns. They’ll need more swag from Kelly without star wideout Laquon Treadwell and without Laremy Tunsil protecting his blind side.

16. Trevor Knight, Texas A&M. Knight once brilliantly quarterbacked Oklahoma to a Sugar Bowl upset romp of Alabama, but that seems a long time ago now. Knight was beaten out by Mayfield last year and transferred to A&M, where he becomes the latest through Kevin Sumlin’s starting QB revolving door. If he plays well it would greatly enhance Sumlin’s job security. If not …

17. Kenny Hill, TCU. Speaking of Sumlin’s revolving door: Hill was once the flavor of the month in College Station, quite literally. His outstanding play for the first month of the 2014 season led the Aggies to a 5-0 start, and nothing has quite been the same since – for him and for his old school. Hill was benched, then suspended and ultimately transferred to TCU, where he will take over for the school’s all-time passing leader, Trevone Boykin. Can he regain the magic from September two years ago and extend it for a full season in Fort Worth?

18. Jacob Eason, Georgia. The nation’s top QB recruit may or may not be the starter for first-year head coach Kirby Smart. If he’s not, that’s probably not a great sign for the Bulldogs offense, because that means he didn’t beat out unspectacular fifth-year senior Greyson Lambert. And it will have Georgia fans howling for Eason every time the offense has to punt. If he is the starter, there may be no slowing the hype train.

19. Brandon Harris, LSU. The utter absence of a powerful modern passing attack has been Les Miles’ biggest flaw at LSU, and one that has him pretty much permanently on the hot seat. Harris gets another chance to change that, after a pedestrian starter season in 2015. His main job will be handing off to Leonard Fournette, but if the Tigers are ever going to beat Alabama they just might have to execute the forward pass to do it – which is where Harris and his very talented wide receivers come in. Will the QB play finally be elite at LSU?

20. Brad Kaaya, Miami. As a true freshman in 2014 he was thrown straight into the fire as the starter and has lived to tell about it. Kaaya has thrown for more than 6,400 yards in two seasons, but Miami’s record was just 14-13 in that time and the guy who recruited him, Al Golden, is gone. In comes Mark Richt, who has coached some really good quarterbacks in his time. Can he and Kaaya team up and finally get the Hurricanes to an ACC championship game?

21. Luke Falk, Washington State. When you’re Mike Leach’s quarterback, you are living the chuck-it dream. But for Falk it seemed like an improbable dream when he arrived on the Palouse as a walk-on from Logan, Utah. When he got his chance in 2014 as a redshirt freshman due to injury, he was ready. Since then Falk has thrown for more than 6,400 yards and 51 touchdowns, and last year he led the Cougars to a surprising 9-3 season spiced by several dramatic comebacks. He could have a 5,000-yard season this year for a dangerous dark horse in the Pac-12 North.

22. Dakota Prukop, Oregon. He’s the latest plug-and-play transfer QB for the Ducks, coming in from FCS Montana State as a graduate transfer to replace last year’s FCS graduate transfer, Vernon Adams. It’s a long way from Marcus Mariota, which might be why Oregon is as unheralded as it has been at any time in the last nine or 10 years. Maybe Prukop and the rest of the Ducks can sneak up on the nation.

23. Alabama Starter. We don’t know who it is, and it doesn’t much matter. The job remains the same as it was for the previous Saban System QBs: hand off, don’t commit turnovers, and get the ball to Calvin Ridley and O.J. Howard. Not the most glamorous job description, but it’s still an important one. Do it right, and the Crimson Tide will be in the playoff for the third straight year.

24. Brett Rypien, Boise State. The nephew of former Super Bowl-winning QB Mark Rypien made an instant impact at Boise, throwing for 3,300 yards and 20 touchdowns as a true freshman. If he takes the anticipated steps forward as a sophomore, the Broncos could get back to dominating the Mountain West and making an outsider push for playoff consideration. He has plenty of weapons around him to help make it happen.

25. Jake Browning, Washington. Browning became the first true freshman in school history to start the season opener, and had an above-average season – playing particularly well over the final six games. If Browning ups his performance this year – especially against Pac-12 North powers Stanford and Oregon – the Huskies might be able to live up to the considerable preseason hype.

Just missed the list: C.J. Beathard, Iowa; Stanford kid; Max Browne, USC; Sean White, Auburn; Tyler O’Connor, Michigan State; Nick Mullens, Southern Mississippi; Mitch Trubisky, North Carolina; Austin Allen, Arkansas; Zach Terrell, Western Michigan; Patrick Mahomes, Texas Tech; Cooper Rush, Central Michigan; Syracuse dude; Gunner Kiel, Cincinnati; Brent Stockstill, Middle Tennessee; Tommy Armstrong, Nebraska.