Jon Joseph No. 1 Share Posted March 12, 2022 In addition to going 0-5 in its bowl games and again, not sending its champion to the college football (CFB) playoff, in 2022 no Pac-12 quarterback (QB) was invited to the NFL Combine for the first time since 2014. For the Pac-12 with a storied history of QB Heisman Trophy winners and many the successful QB moving on from the Pac-12 to the NFL, no invite to the Combine dance was another slap in the conference's CFB face. As we all are aware, the Transfer Portal and CFB 'free agency,' has changed the CFB roster calculus. None more so than at QB. A QB recruited out of high school is far less likely to start at QB today than was the case before the arrival of the Transfer Portal. This is happening coast-to-coast; look no further than QBs likely to start in the Pac-12 Conference in 2022. Arizona - Jayden de Laura - transfer from Washington State - 2020 Freshman Player of the Year in the Pac-12. de Laura's transfer is a ripple effect from Cameron Ward transferring to Washington State. de Laura should definitely lift the Wildcats QB play in 2022. ASU - Paul Tyson - transfer from Alabama. The 4* recruit is most likely to replace to 3 year starter Jayden Daniels, who transferred from ASU to a crowded QB room at LSU. Daniels transfer mirrors Auburn 3 year starter Bo Nix' transfer to Oregon. Daniels play retrogressed in 2021, but he was an above average starter for the Sun Devils. I have serious doubts that Tyson, who happens to be Bear Bryant's grandson, will improve the 2022 QB play in Tempe. CAL - Jake Plummer - transfer from Purdue. Plummer started 13 games for the Boilermakers before being benched for erratic play. He is not the athlete that was Chase Garbers, the Bears QB in 2021. I definitely do not see Plummer as an improvement over Garbers. Oregon - Bo Nix - transfer from Auburn. The 3 year starter at Auburn comes off a QB roller-coaster ride on The Plains. He was the SEC Freshman of the Year playing for now Oregon OC, Dillingham, but was often inconsistent. He has to win the job over Oregon recruits Thompson and Butterfield but his experience gives Nix the edge. I think Nix wins the starting job and starts his 4th game versus Georgia on September 3rd. I believe Nix will be an improvement over Anthony Brown as the result of his own talent and also from playing in a more QB-friendly system than did Brown. Nix has played ball in the toughest conference in CFB, in front of huge and loud crowds. Brown won one start versus a top 25 opponent, last season in Columbus. Nix has numerous top 25 wins including victories over Oregon (SIGH) and Alabama. Oregon State - Chance Nolan - transfer from Saddleback JC. Nolan's transfer to Corvallis was of the more traditional JC variety. And Nolan has to win the job against good competition. He did get the Beavers to a bowl game last season where his team lost to MAC opponent Central Michigan. He is a good CFB QB but that's about it. I see no big upside out of Nolan in 2022. USC - Caleb Williams - transfer from Oklahoma. Jaxson Dart at SC was a very good QB for Troy. Williams coming in caused Dart to transfer to Ole Miss. Williams is one of the favorites to win the Heisman Trophy in 2022. Outstanding WR Drake London is gone but new SC head coach Lincoln Riley is bringing in a lot of WR talent from the Transfer Portal. Playing for Riley and not Clay Helton, should result in a significant upgrade in the QB position at SC in 2022. The SC OL that returns 4 starters was not terrible in 2021, giving up 18 sacks in 12 games wile playing in front of a QB nowhere near as athletic as is Williams. UTAH - Cam Rising - transfer from Texas. Rising finished 6th last season in the ESPN QB rankings. After he replaced Baylor transfer Charlie Brewer at QB (my mega bad anointing Brewer after the Utes 2021 spring game) in his 11 games as a starter, Utah converted 56% on third down. No other team in the nation finished better than 54%. Rising has risen and is now The Man at QB. Britian Covey (who I think played 8 years for the Utes?) is a loss but Utah returns its top 2 TES and its leading RB from 2021. Right out of the box Rising has the chance to continue his excellent play in the Rose Bowl and if Utah can defeat Florida, Rising could be a legit candidate for the Heisman. With game experience I expect Rising to improve his play from 2021. Washington - Michael Penix, Jr. - transfer from Indiana. Penix had a very good season at Indiana when UW head coach DeBoer was his OC in Bloomington. However, he is injury prone and will have to win a very competitive battle for the starting position. UW was a mess on O last season. I think UW will improve on O in 2022 but I do not know if this will be due to Penix per se. Washington State - Cameron Ward - transfer from Incarnate Word U. I now it was FCS football but any QB who passes for close to 4700 yards and 47 TDs with 10 picks is balling out. Ward is 6' 3" and 220 pounds. He was the FCS player of the year in 2021. His IWU head coach, Eric Morris, is now the Cougars OC. de Laura was a very good CFB QB, Ward could be the second coming of The Mustache and off the charts good. Prospective QB 2022 starters recruited out of high school. Colorado - Brendon Lewis who started as a true frosh for the Buffs at QB in 2021 returns, but CU is such a mess I doubt that we will witness much improvement in his play in 2022 Stanford - Tanner McKee returns at QB for a Stanford team that struggled in 2021. He has a lot of talent but will his supporting cast be enough improved for him to improve? Does this sound familiar? Stanford's best RB in 2021 transferred to USC. Of course, he will likely look like the 2nd coming of Jim Plunkett/Andrew Luck when he plays in Eugene in 2022. UCLA - Dorian Thompson-Robinson is back for his 4th season in Westwood. Chip Kelly did flirt with the Transfer Portal, with QB Dillon Gabriel from UCF all but signed before heading to Oklahoma to replace Caleb Williams at QB. DTR is historically erratic. He will author a great series of plays and in the next series look like in never played football before. But look out! UCLA's 3 out-of-conference games, all played in the Rose Bowl, should be walk-over wins. Give DTR and Chip momentum and UCLA could be the surprise team of the 2022 season. 75% of the Pac-12's presumptive QB starters in 2022 will have transferred in to their respective school. I do not know for certain but I think this is unprecedented in the rich history of Pac-12 CFB play. I do see an overall upgrade in conference QB play in 2022. Enough improvement to see an invite or two to the 2023 Combine. But enough for a Pac-12 team to return to the Final 4? I very much doubt it. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck No. 2 Share Posted March 12, 2022 With Arizona starting so low any improvement will be noticeable, that it's deLaura is even more of an upgrade. While ASU is going up in flames, Arizona could actually be building something. Of course, we're all disappointed that the legacy of "the pick" might be subverted with the benching of Huard. Could Williams be the trifecta transfer QB for Riley to win the Heisman? Of course, there could be an * attached to this transfer, but it's USC so. Stanford has been off for a couple of years now, is Shaw really a great, above average, or good coach? DTR is the most experienced QB in the Pac-12. What will that mean? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Author No. 3 Share Posted March 12, 2022 On 3/12/2022 at 4:15 PM, 30Duck said: With Arizona starting so low any improvement will be noticeable, that it's deLaura is even more of an upgrade. While ASU is going up in flames, Arizona could actually be building something. Of course, we're all disappointed that the legacy of "the pick" might be subverted with the benching of Huard. Could Williams be the trifecta transfer QB for Riley to win the Heisman? Of course, there could be an * attached to this transfer, but it's USC so. Stanford has been off for a couple of years now, is Shaw really a great, above average, or good coach? DTR is the most experienced QB in the Pac-12. What will that mean? I think Shaw has a whole lot of Mario in him? He continues to run the same O that he ran when he had OL guys and TEs routinely drafted by NFL teams. In fairness, with the admissions situation his opportunity to pick the portal is limited. Although this season he is bringing in a transfer CB from Oklahoma. And if you were a recruit who attended a football weekend on The Farm, how impressed would be by all of the empty seats? There also seems to have been a change in attitude from the administration compared to when Stanford was not only playing well in CFB but also in CBB. I think ending grad school preference for athletes and trying to eliminate a number of sports even with the endowment to pay for same, speaks volumes. But for the geographical barrier I believe that the leaders at Stanford would be happy to be members of the Ivy League? The number of fans attending Stanford CFB and CBB games resembles, except for rivalry weekends, the numbers who (do not) attend Ivy games. I see this attitude as a problem across the conference. How many administrations are willing to go all-in to compete at the highest level of CFB? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babyjesus615 No. 4 Share Posted March 14, 2022 5-star QB JT Daniels visits Oregon State 247SPORTS.COM The Oregon State Beavers are making another big recruiting push of the transfer portal as 5-star quarterback JT Daniels is currently visiting the Corvallis campus. The This could make things interesting in Corvallis, should it pan out. Bo Nix vs. JT Daniels in the PNW? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck No. 5 Share Posted March 14, 2022 On 3/14/2022 at 12:57 PM, Babyjesus615 said: Bo Nix vs. JT Daniels in the PNW? My immediate reaction to this news demonstrates how I feel about the Beavs and the 750's. I hope Daniels ends up at the Ag School. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Author No. 6 Share Posted March 14, 2022 On 3/14/2022 at 3:57 PM, Babyjesus615 said: 5-star QB JT Daniels visits Oregon State 247SPORTS.COM The Oregon State Beavers are making another big recruiting push of the transfer portal as 5-star quarterback JT Daniels is currently visiting the Corvallis campus. The This could make things interesting in Corvallis, should it pan out. Bo Nix vs. JT Daniels in the PNW? Very interesting. Thank you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
