Projecting a true freshman signal caller’s immediate impact is hardly an exact science but considering a number of factors like past performance, positional depth, scheme fit and program stability can help us indicate which first-year quarterbacks are ready to hear their number called on Saturdays sooner rather than later.
Last year’s crop of 14 Class of 2023 Top247-ranked quarterbacks yielded a modest 11 combined starts and 53 games played in 2023 as the likes of Nico Iamaleava (Tennessee), Dante Moore (UCLA), Jackson Arnold (Oklahoma), Jaden Rashada (Arizona State), and Avery Johnson (Kansas State) all started in at least one game last season.
Although there’s no shortage of name recognition with regards to last year’s heralded group of passers, it’s not always the highest-ranked prospects who make the most timely impact as exemplified by two of the nation’s most under-the-radar freshmen in 2023 in Virginia’s Anthony Colandrea and Arkansas State’s Jaylen Raynor, who emerged as college football’s two most productive first-year quarterbacks last season. Ranked as a three-star and the No. 45 QB in the country by 247Sports coming out of Lakewood High School in Saint Petersburg (Fla.), Colandrea started six games for the Cavaliers in his rookie season, eclipsing over 300 yards passing in two of his six starts while also helping Virginia to an upset victory over Duke. Colandrea headlined the 247Sports True Freshman All-American Team in 2023.
An unranked prospect from East Forsyth High School in North Carolina, Raynor earned his first start of 2023 for the Red Wolves in week four against Southern Miss, leading his team to a high scoring 44-37 victory against the Golden Eagles. Raynor became the first true freshman quarterback to start for the…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/ranking-college-footballs-marquee-2024-true-freshman-qbs-by-likelihood-of-playing-in-year-1/
Author : Cooper Petagna
Publish date : 2024-06-04 20:27:10
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