Two days from now Jack Coan would have been starting his senior season at home against the Indiana Hoosiers.
As we all know, that is obviously not the case with the Big Ten choosing in early August to postpone its season to the spring. One bright spot, though, is that the NCAA granted players an extra year of eligibility so even if the Badgers aren’t able to take the field during the 2020-21 school year, the seniors–including Coan–will still get a final college campaign.
I’ve written extensively about the Badger quarterback, his impressive 2019 season, an NFL comparison for him and why he hasn’t really been getting the respect he deserves.
Related: Opinion: It’s time Jack Coan gets the respect he deserves
Well, ProFootballFocus is on my side on this one as they ranked Coan No. 27 in their 2020 College Football Quarterback Rankings.
Big Ten quarterbacks ranked ahead of the Badger starter include Northwestern’s Peyton Ramsey at No. 14, Indiana’s Michael Penix Jr. at No. 12, Minnesota’s Tanner Morgan at No. 5 and Ohio State’s Justin Fields at No. 2.
Here’s what they had to say about the senior quarterback:
“Coan had an impressive breakout year in 2019. He went from a 41.4 PFF grade on a limited sample in 2018 to a grade of 78.5 in 2019, the sixth-best PFF grade among Big Ten quarterbacks. He could look to improve his deep ball, as he tended to force deep throws into tight coverage (seven turnover-worthy plays to his first read on deep balls last season, third-most in FBS). That said, you have to love the way he performed in the difficult Wisconsin offense.”
They’re spot on about him improving dramatically from 2018 to 2019, his spot near the top of the Big Ten in nearly every category and his impressive work last season in “the difficult Wisconsin offense.”
Related: An NFL comparison for Badger quarterback Jack Coan
But for some context about where his 2019 season lands in the program’s history see this:
Coan’s final line from 2019 was 2727 yards, 70% completion, 8.4 adjusted passing yards per attempt, 18 touchdowns, five interceptions and four rushing touchdowns.
Since Russell Wilson’s remarkable 2011 season, during which he bested all of those numbers with 3175 yards, 73% completion, 11.8 AY/A, 33 touchdowns, four interceptions and six rushing touchdowns, where does Coan’s season rank?
Passing yards: first, completion percentage: first, AY/A: second (to Joel Stave in 2012 with a smaller sample size), touchdowns: second (to Alex Hornibrook in 2017 when he also threw 15 interceptions), interceptions: second (again to Stave in 2012 with far fewer attempts) and rushing touchdowns: first.
I said it in a previous article but it’s pretty clear: Jack Coan’s 2019 season was the best Badger quarterback season since Wilson’s 2011 campaign.
On a personal note I sincerely hope we get to see Coan finish out his Wisconsin career whether it be this spring or next fall. The Graham Mertz era will be a great one for the program, but after what we saw last season it would be a travesty if Coan doesn’t get one more campaign for Paul Chryst and the Wisconsin Badgers.