The college football staff over at Pro Football Focus sat down to knock out the unenvious task of ranking all 130 FBS teams by quarterback in an article released on Monday morning.
The staff wasn’t too keen on what they perceive as a position battle in Eugene between graduate senior Anthony Brown and true freshman Ty Thompson.
The duo of Brown and Thompson were ranked 79 out of 130, good for just eighth in the Pac-12. The rankings placed teams into tiers, and Oregon led off the “Needs to Improve/More reps” tier, which was explained as such:
The quarterbacks in this group likely aren’t leading explosive offenses in 2021. There is some long-term hope for teams with fresh new starters — such as Arkansas, Texas A&M, Stanford and maybe Oregon — but short-term confidence remains low for these quarterback situations. Similar to the tier above, they aren’t going to be responsible for their teams having immense success without help from elite supporting casts on both sides of the ball.
Woof.
It’s been well-documented that Oregon’s quarterback situation in 2021 is tenuous. All signs point to Brown, the former Boston College starter who appeared in two games with the Ducks last season, taking the lead role this year, with Thompson potentially right on his heels.
And while Brown has yet to prove himself in big-game situations (he has never beaten a top-25 opponent) it is a bit unfair to say he won’t be leading an explosive offense.
Yes, Oregon’s success this year likely will depend more on the defense and the performance of non-quarterback playmakers like CJ Verdell, Johnny Johnson III and Mycah Pittman. However, Brown looked solid in his performance last season and brings poise, leadership, and experience to a team that is loaded with talent elsewhere.
That, if nothing else, should land him in the top half of quarterback performers in 2021, and potentially much higher if he can control the turnovers and make smart plays.
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