Time once again for the Hotline’s biannual rankings of the Pac-12’s Quarterback Comfort Quotient (QBCQ), which isn’t actually a quotient — I’m not dividing anything — but that title sure has a nice flow. Related Articles College Hotline: Ranking the Pac-12 football 2017 non-conference schedules (on the whole: they’re a big, fat letdown)

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As in the past, the QBCQ rankings are based on a wholly subjective, case-by-case assessment of the combination of 1) proven ability of the projected starter and 2) the options available if said starter is injured or yanked for poor performance.

A strong case could be made that you’re better off with a B-level starter and C-level reserve than with an A-caliber starter rookie backups.

Last season was the best example of the need for a capable reserve(s) that we’ve seen in the conference in years. Only four teams weren’t forced to use the No. 2 (or No. 3) quarterback.

A summary of what’s below:

* Teams with returning starters: Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, USC, UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah.

* Teams with returning starter and at least one backup with meaningful experience: Washington, Oregon State, Stanford and Arizona State.

* Teams without backups with meaningful experience: Washington State, Oregon, Cal, USC, UCLA, Colorado and Utah.

* Team in huge trouble at the position: Cal

And with that, the QBCQ rankings …

12. Cal

Comment: Sonny Dykes’ parting gift to the Bears is the woeful state of their quarterbacks, a situation created, in part, by his refusal to pull Davis Webb out of any game last season, regardless of circumstance. As a result, the Bears enter spring practice without a returning starter or modestly experienced backup. Chase Forrest, with 18 career attempts — all of them in 2015, by the way — qualifies as the group’s veteran. To say the Bears are starting from scratch is an insult to scratch.

11. Arizona State

Comment: No other team in the conference will enter training camp with three quarterbacks who have each attempted at least 35 passes in any given (FBS) game. The Hotline isn’t prepared to pronounce Manny Wilkins, Dillon Sterling-Cole or Brady White capable of leading ASU into contention. (Then again, offense was hardly the primary issue in Tempe last season.) Nor should we assume immediate impact from mega-recruit Ryan Kelley or Alabama transfer Blake Barnett. As they say, when you have five quarterbacks — or is it 10? — you have none.

10. Arizona

Comment: The fluke component to injuries means Arizona should have good health at the position in 2017. Also trending positive for the Wildcats: Brandon Dawkins showed faint glimpses of becoming an effective downfield passer when healthy. (He must improve by an order of magnitude to become an elite quarterback, however.) Is sophomore Khalil Tate the long-term solution? Too early to tell, and I don’t expect spring practice to provide much clarity.

9. Colorado

Comment: The Hotline is high on Steven Montez, who’s mobile, has a big arm and won Pac-12 offensive player of the week honors for his fabulous performance in Eugene. But considering that Montez has attempted just 131 passes (basically three full games) and that CU’s presumed No. 2 is a redshirt freshman, Sam Noyer, it’s difficult to justify a higher ranking for the Buffaloes. Every team above them has a returning starter, a proven backup, or both.

8. Utah

Comment: As with just about every other aspect of the Utah program, the quarterback situation is … solid. Troy Williams played well in his first year as a starter. What we don’t know — and what makes Utah a tad difficult to project — is just how close Williams is to his potential. (The guess here is that he’s pretty darn close.) What’s not up for debate is the Utes’ lack of proven depth: Tyler Huntley threw seven passes last season, and four were against Southern Utah.

7. Oregon State

Comment: The Beavers are unlike most other teams in the conference in that they have two returning quarterbacks, Darell Garretson and Marcus McMaryion, with 100+ pass attempts last season — it’s a veritable embarrassment of quarterback riches in Corvallis!. When Garettson was lost for the season in October, McMaryion delivered several impressive performances. In fact, the expectation here is that McMaryion wins the job, with transfer Jake Luton (Ventura College) in the mix.

6. Stanford

Comment: If so inclined, one could argue that Stanford is in great shape with a starter who was 5-0 last season, a backup who beat UCLA and USC, and two touted freshmen in the pipeline. Then again, one could make the case Stanford has nothing but QB questions with a starter (Keller Chryst) coming off major knee surgery, a backup (Ryan Burns) who was benched, and two rookies. For now, we’ll lean to the former assessment under the assumption that Chryst is available for the Week 2 conference opener vs. USC.

5. UCLA

Comment: Too low for a team with Josh Rosen? Perhaps, but as with everything else these days concerning the Bruins, the Hotline is highly skeptical. Yes, Rosen is a huge talent, but he’s a huge talent coming off a shoulder injury — the best predictor of future injury risk is an actual injury — and has not exactly proven himself to be an ideal leader. Behind Rosen? Mike Fafaul is gone, leaving only a handful of freshmen as options. Devon Modster is the best bet for the No. 2 role.

4. Oregon

Comment: If only the Ducks had a few players as capable on defense as Justin Herbert is at quarterback, they might have saved Mark Helfrich’s job. A lightly-recruited product of Eugene, Herbert’s arm talent and poise were evident once he settled in last season (19 TDs, 4 INTs). He’s the clear favorite for the starting job in ’17 under new coach Willie Taggart, who also has dual-threat redshirt freshman Terry Wilson as an option. Thought about slotting the Bruins here, but I’d rather have Herbert and Wilson than Rosen and Modster at this point in time.

3. USC

Comment: Eliminate the potential for injury, and the Trojans are in better shape than anybody with super-sophomore Sam Darnold. But Max Browne’s gone, Ricky Town’s gone … Max Wittek’s gone … Jesse Scroggins is gone … Mitch Mustain’s gone … Aaron Corp’s gone … Jason Thomas is gone … and the Trojans are devoid of a proven backup. The backup options are redshirt freshman Matt Fink or Jalen Greene, a quarterback-turned-receiver who could be a quarterback-turned-receiver-turned-quarterback until true freshman Jack Sears is ready.

2. Washington State

Comment: The state of the Cougars’ quarterback depth took shape when Luke Falk opted to return for his senior season, ensuring that WSU would have one of the most accomplished passers in the country. The situation behind Falk isn’t nearly as dire as you might think: Tyler Hilinski made several appearances last season (30 attempts) and is the reason the Cougars are slotted ahead of USC. If Falk vs. Darnold is essentially a push, Hilinski vs. Greene/Sears is a significant edge to WSU.

1. Washington

Comment: Maybe Jake Browning isn’t the top quarterback in the conference, but he’s surely on the top tier and we’ll assume he recovers from shoulder surgery. (He didn’t miss any time in ’16 because of it.) What separates UW, admittedly by a slim margin, is the presence of K.J. Carta-Samuels, who has played in 17 games, started one, and thrown 37 passes. If Browning is out for an extended period, the Huskies are in trouble, but they aren’t doomed. Not many can say that.

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