The doldrums are upon us, friend-o’s. After slogging through a fetid NBA finals and drinking in a beauty of a first-ever Stanley Cup victory for the Capitals, we’ve arrived in sports purgatory, where the specters of highlights past flicker in the gray light. So what’s left for those of us here in the physical plane but to prognosticate and look forward to college football kickoff weekend? I say to you: nothing.

Not even a year removed from Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen et al, we’re already moving swiftly toward what could be another season of quarterback-dominated headlines. There is no single position, possibly in all of sports, which is so vital to a team’s success and, simultaneously, so hotly debated at every turn than quarterback. With that in mind, let’s start the debate and see who is standing atop the signal-calling mountain for the 2018 NCAA Football season.

Top-10 College Football QBs For The 2018 Season

10) Jake Fromm, Georgia

Whether you’re in G5 or P5 football or heading an offense at the D-III level, starting as a true freshman is a monumental proposition. Jake Fromm did so last year with no blueprint in place, as is the case when the cemented starter went down against Appalachian State in the opener. Just like Jacob Eason lost his job to a freshman last year, Fromm will have to fend off heralded recruit Justin Fields this year, but his 24 touchdowns and 62.2 completion percentage (good for 2nd in the SEC last year) are strong resume builders, especially when you consider that he carried the Bulldogs to the playoff championship and did so while splitting production with a pair of racehorses in Sony Michel and Nick Chubb (2,123 yards/23 TD’s). Fromm may never emulate the production of an Air Raid quarterback across the way in the Big 12, but even in his first year he showed enough poise and control in the pocket to come down to the wire against Alabama on the nation’s biggest stage. Year two promises to be nothing if not exciting down in Athens.

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9) Kelly Bryant, Clemson

Want to hear about thankless tasks? Try replacing a legend in DeShaun Watson at a program that had barely seen the ink dry on their college championship banner. Expectations being what they are, you could say rising junior Kelly Bryant was more than serviceable in that capacity in 2017. Clemson again knocked on the door of a national championship and Bryant, who posted a line of 24 TD’s/2,802 passing yards/665 rushing yards, was a big reason why. Clemson returns a juggernaut of a defense, young, talented receivers and a solid stable of running backs. The outlook then, for Bryant, is beyond optimistic and there’s enough ammunition in the closet for him to take the Tigers all the way back to the show. If he can push Clemson to finish better than 13th in YPC in-conference this year and connect more with main target Hunter Renfrow, Kelly Bryant will be conducting a furious orchestra in Death Valley this season.

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8) Jarrett Stidham, Auburn

It’s been a while since war eagle had a potent passing attack. Thank the heavens, then, that Jarrett Stidham decided to exit Waco, TX and venture up the road to Auburn. In just one season under center, the Stephenville, TX native posted the second best passing season in Auburn history with 3,158 yards and tied Dameyune Craig with 18 touchdowns, good for sixth best all time. Stidham will have a more-than-reliable backfield partner in Kam Martin and Ryan Davis, who tallied a record-setting 84 receptions in 2017, will return to keep opposing secondaries on notice. To add to the formula, Gus Malzahn just inked a seven-year extension, just rewards for an SEC West title and victories over both Alabama and Georgia. Stidham is as legitimate a vertical passer as there is in the country and Auburn, with all the stability that exists coming off a 10 win season, looks to provide an ample platform for Stidham to continue writing his name in the record books in 2018.

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7) Nick Fitzgerald, Mississippi State

Starkville might be a surprise venue for offensive fireworks at 2018. Joe Moorhead, stepping into his first HC job after breathing a flood of life back into the Nittany Lions offense, specializes in scheming up points, particularly with a playmaker like Nick Fitzgerald under center. True, Fitzgerald has yet to blossom into a complete passer (55.6 completion % on only 23.8 attempts per game in 2017) and is coming off a fairly terrible ankle injury suffered during last year’s bowl appearance, but the senior will be insulated by talent at seemingly every angle this season. Mississippi State will be loaded across the offensive line and is welcoming a bevy of proven talent at the receiver position, not to mention it is returning Aeris Williams and his 1,000+ yards of production. If there’s any quarterback who can make a monumental jump in his senior year and see his draft stock improve markedly, it’s Fitzgerald. While the schedule does the Bulldogs no favors, this is a collectively strong team that already has an established leader under center, one who is poised to cement a strong legacy for himself by the time all is said and done in Starkville.

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6) McKenzie Milton, UCF

What a year 2017 was for the Golden Knights. The debate, in some shape or form, over who the real champion of college football last year still rages and I don’t think folks in Central Florida will ever live it down. I’m sure McKenzie Milton has had many sleepless nights since the season-ending victory over Auburn, dreams of something bigger and more splendid. The good news, then, is that Milton has the tools to turn those grandiose visions into reality. After obliterating basically every record that previously stood at UCF by throwing for 4, 037 yards, rushing for 613 yards and totaling 45 touchdowns, Milton still has (GASP) room for improvement coming into 2018. Why? Well, probably because Milton was merely a freshman last year and new head coach and Mike Leach acolyte Josh Heupel will want to air it out as much as humanly possible. It does help that Milton, who looks like a youth-movement version of Drew Brees, will be surrounded by both returning and incoming talent. Even a stellar G5 team like UCF still has to shoulder the fact that is, in fact, a G5 team and that any playoff selection committee will ultimately load the unfavorable end of the scales due to that fact alone. However, Milton and UCF have all the tools to run the table again this year and, honestly, conference affiliation be damned: McKenzie Milton is for real and if he’s able replicate last year’s performance, he’ll be brandishing some serious hardware by season’s end.

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5) Drew Lock, Missouri

Remember when Blaine Gabbert played for Missouri? If you’re like me, then only vaguely so. We’re roughly a thousand miles down the road from when Missouri featured a dual threat player in the backfield, so much so that when I watch Drew Lock run the Tigers offense, I have a hard time believing that Missouri ever bolted from the Big 12 to set up shop in SEC country. Lock threw for a nation’s-best 44 TD’s last year to go along with 3,964 yards and, in the latter half of the season where Missouri didn’t look it was hungover, was able to propel his offensive unit to an average of 554 YPG. Credit Missouri’s second half resurgence with the hiring of Derek Dooley to oversee play-calling duties, a move that likely saved Barry Odom’s job. Improvement is a must in 2018, particularly in the win column where a victory over a ranked opponent was noticeably absent. If Missouri, as a team, can find consistent rhythm in 2018 and avoid getting blown out by divisional rivals like Georgia and Florida, Lock should have more freedom to do what he does best: launch it. Lock has NFL size and a tool set that could have cemented him a draft position in the top three rounds last year. A few more checks in the win column and similar (or better) production this season could propel the Missouri native to not only back-to-back SEC first team honors but potentially some round one consideration in next year’s NFL draft.

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4) Justin Herbert, Oregon

“Herbert Healthy”- hey Oregon, I just found your canticle for 2018. In eight games last year, Herbert was steadily, comfortingly consistent in averaging over 67% on completions and, with the exception of the game against California when he only attempted eight passes (Oregon runs the ball, in case you forgot), was able to tally at least 230 yards passing and a TD in every contest. Prior to his injury, Herbert had Oregon’s offense rolling, as in leading the nation in scoring and total offense rolling. Suffice to say, the rising junior has a lot of boxes left unchecked heading into 2018. While rushers Royce Freeman and Kani Benoit have moved on, the Ducks return five of the their top six receivers from last season and, if Mario Cristobal really is moving to more of a pro-style attack, expect Herbert to be set up to run a controlled, well-executed offensive machine that will look less Chip Kelly and more Nick Saban on a west coast diet. Like Missouri back east, Oregon toiled mightily to keep up with in-conference opponents like Stanford, UCLA and Washington State. It’s hard not to like Herbert on tape, as he’s a fluid, strong athlete with a 6’6″ frame who can make throws on the run with relative ease. At full health and backed by a defense that can find a way to not give up seven yards a play, Justin Herbert is a Heisman contender with some serious weapons to deal to. Expect the big guy in green to have himself a year.

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3) Khalil Tate, Arizona

Rich Rodriguez’s exit from Arizona, at least on the periphery, would seem to be a major blow to a player like Khalil Tate, whose highlight reels feature far more plays on the ground versus the air. Contrary to popular belief, Kevin Sumlin taking over as head Wildcat might be just the thing needed to push Tate over the edge and into rarified air. Sumlin’s track record for running wide-open spread attacks is perhaps just as notable as his ability to work magic in his first year in a new position. Tate is already one of the pre-season favorites for Heisman votes, thanks largely to a six week span last season which was, in a word, bonkers (2,200 total yards along with 19 TD’s). The trick will be improving his passing numbers and stringing that type of performance along over the course of an entire season. The potential is there, as Arizona returns just about the entire farm on defense and four of its top receiving and rushing threats on offense. If the Pac-12 has another down year like it did in 2017, Arizona could boat race just about everyone in the conference. If it’s a resurgent year on the west coast, well, Arizona is like to put up points anyway. Khalil Tate, in the mold of former Rodriguez-recruited signal-callers like Pat White and Denard Robinson, is an absolute weapon. He’s not Lamar Jackson, not in physical build at least, but 2018 could look a lot like Jackson’s junior year at Louisville when he ripped a hole through both cosmic fabric and opposing defenses. I can’t promise that Khalil Tate will be really, really good but… he’s probably going to be really, really good.

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2) Trace McSorley, Penn State

Remember Saquon Barkley? Yeah, me too. He was a helluva player, but so was Trace McSorley. In fact, McSorley still is, which is great news for Penn State fans since he’s basically going to be burdened with any/all playoff hopes for the Nittany Lions in 2018. Last season, the senior-to-be tallied 39 TD’s, 4,061 total yards and only tossed 10 interceptions in 427 attempts. Granted, being flanked by a once-in-a-generation talent like Barkley tends to keep defenses pretty honest and the by-committee approach that James Franklin has indicated he’ll go with this year will be a completely different albeit necessary look for Penn State. McSorley looks more like last year’s Heisman-winner Baker Mayfield (IMO) than anyone else in the country. At 6’0″ tall, people will balk about his not having prototypical size for the NFL etc, etc, but he makes plays and he makes a lot of them. Look at the tape from the Fiesta Bowl where he simply could not. be. stopped. on third down. His 77 touchdowns, a career program record in Happy Valley, didn’t accrue themselves. As life in the BIG has gone in recent years, it will take beating Ohio State along with making up for last year’s egg-laying against Michigan State to catapult Penn State into serious playoff contention. You have to like your odds with McSorley under center, though, even if Penn State is tasked with replacing over half of its defensive starters from a year ago. Heisman love is sure to follow the northern VA native all the way into playoff season. I have no doubt it will be warranted.

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1) Will Grier, West Virginia

If you’re a Florida fan, the story goes what could have been… Conversely for West Virginia fans, the story sounds more like what might happen if… Will Grier’s path through the college football ranks has been marked by peaks and valleys. A former Parade National Player of the Year and Army All-American, Grier was pressed into duty early in his freshman year at Florida and, in the blink of an eye, had the Gators marching back toward national prominence with a win over then third ranked Ole Miss and an absurdly-good comeback over rival Tennessee. Then there was the suspension. Then the transfer. Then the year-long wait and, finally, nearly 4,000 yards and 34 TD’s later, Will Grier will get a shot to write his final, complete chapter. Before a ghastly finger injury early in the game against Texas, Grier was on pace to likely break every single-season record for a quarterback at West Virginia. In 2018, Grier returns a veteran offensive line, Biletnikoff finalist David Sills and accompanying weapons Gary Jennings and Marcus Simms to go along with seasoned running backs in Kennedy McCoy and Martell Pettaway. In short, over 3,600 yards and 33 TD’s of returning production are on hand for the NC native to dispatch at will. Grier is elusive and has an exceptional feel for pressure while in the pocket. In addition, no one in the nation throws a better deep ball. If OC Jake Spavital can temper some of his big play fixation and strike a better balance in his play calls, well, look out, America. Grier is a bearded wizard with the keys to what will likely be a jet-fueled monster of an offense and, provided his offensive line keeps his jersey clean for the duration, 2018 is his year to leave an indelible mark on college football.

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