Legendary college football magazine publisher Phil Steele recently released his top-10 draft-eligible quarterbacks entering the 2023 college football season. He has North Carolina’s Drake Maye at the No. 1 spot, surprisingly ahead of USC’s Caleb Williams, who came in at No. 2.
Williams set several single-season records at USC last year, including total offense, passing yards, total touchdowns and passing touchdowns. In 2022, Williams passed for 4,537 yards and 42 touchdowns. He also rushed for 382 yards and 10 scores.
Rounding out the rest of the top 10:
3. Riley Leonard (Duke)
4. Quinn Ewers (Texas)
5. Bo Nix (Oregon)
6. Joe Milton (Tennessee)
7. Michael Pratt (Tulane)
8. Jordan Travis (Florida State)
9. Devin Leary (Kentucky)
10. Austin Reed (Western Kentucky)
Putting Drake Maye over Caleb Williams isn’t ludicrous or insane, but it’s definitely a minority position. It does cut against what most football experts think. If there is a thought process which elevates Maye, it would probably go something like this: Maye doesn’t have nearly the quality of receivers or coaching which Caleb enjoys at USC, and yet Maye has thrived in spite of that comparative lack of high-end tools at North Carolina.
How do you do it, @philsteele042? Writing anything this comprehensive on college football these days seems like it would take a 24/7/365 Herculean effort. If everyone had a passion for something positive the way you do CFB, the world would be a great place. Thanks! pic.twitter.com/2ZA2GYt4hT
— Jonathan (@brimetimenole) July 11, 2023
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