QB Decisions at College Football
College football is seeing a new era of QB play with three of, if not, the best programs in the country all will start second-year QBs with little experience. There are plenty of major QB decisions coming, and knowing the QB and their history leading into the season can really help you stay a step ahead of Vegas.
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The Big 3
Bryce Young, DJ Uiagalele, and CJ Stroud. I call them “The Big 3” for a couple of reasons. I expect these three to come in and captivate college football basically immediately. They also play at the three most dominant teams of the past few years, and they were the three top-rated QBs in the 2020 recruiting class, meaning these guys were all projected to be the first-round QB picks when they left high school.
Now, they walk into elite programs with weapons everywhere, while those overall weapons do vary. I expect all three of these to start every game for their team this season.
Now, Vegas isn’t slow to these guys either, but they are slowest on CJ Stroud because he is in a theoretical QB battle with two other QBs at Ohio State that were considered high D1 QBs. Rest assured that CJ Stroud will start, and he is the best Heisman value right now at +1400. Stroud has the best weapons around him of the three and the longest odds.
All three QBs are in big early matchups that can help or hurt their case very early on, and I expect Stroud’s veteran talent to help him look comfortable early and often.
Notre Dame Names Coan Starter
Jack Coan, former Wisconsin starter, has been named the Notre Dame starter for week 1 vs. Florida State. The Notre Dame schedule is back to its usual self instead of the ACC schedule they played last year, and that means plenty of big-time games early and often for the Fighting Irish.
Coan was thought to be in a battle with freshman Tyler Buechner, but Buechner was never going to get the nod over Coan to start the season based on what I saw from Buecher as a high school senior. He is very talented, but he’s just not ready to be that guy for a top 10 team with multiple big games early.
Is Jack Coan ready? I’m not exactly sure that Coan will ever impress me, but he has been there and will not fold in a big game. The big question for Notre Dame is the skill players making plays and solidifying an offensive line with more uncertainty than they’ve dealt with in recent years.
The identity of this offense has really looked similar to the offense that Coan played in at Wisconsin, but we know that offense is not likely to get them over the proverbial hump of the CFP semis. Notre Dame is actively trying to recruit better athletes, but I don’t think that philosophy will show up on this year’s team.
This decision probably makes me less bullish on the Irish overall, as the Coan decision was predictable and boring. While I don’t love Buechner as a day 1 starter, him being named the starter would’ve given me some intrigue, seeing as we know that Coan is more than competent enough to run the offense.
Texas A&M Competition continues
Texas A&M has lost veteran Kellen Mond, and they are looking to find a replacement that thrusts them into CFP standing in year one. The favorite here is Haynes King, a former elite recruit that should create some kind of upside and excitement around the A&M offense that we really haven’t felt in recent years.