Can Ward, while well accomplished, I still believe is a wild card. Not sold on Nico at UT. Dart will put up good numbers with his team. Milroe in SEC Championship Game does not scare me at all.
Because we face 6 of those QBs? Or did I miss the pre-edited question? Lol... I also don't agree that those QBs are these top ten. One of them has no business being there as a high schooler that has never even played a down in college football... and one other has a shaky record with his team.
You got it right! I think Carson Beck is a decent quarterback, but his OL helps him immensely! If any of those qb's had Mertz 2023 OL, they would not have put up Mertz's numbers! And, yes, based on the ratings (if true), we might as well count those games as losses, eh? Personally, I like that the media is disrespecting the Gators! BTW, do you see Carson Beck as the number one quarterback?
I've noticed he makes no lists. Understandable because of our record. Our coaches should be hitting the disrespect card harder every day than Meyer did vs OSU. Fuel the fire.
Nussmeier is a decent qb, but I don't see him as better than Mertz, or even the 10th best qb in CFB! And Nussmeier is better than Klubnik, of Clemson?
Listen, not every team in the SEC can and will go 11-1 this year. It’s impossible. But, a case could be made that several could. Possibly three?
Either way we face the top 3 best QBs in college football... and 6 on that list. That part is correct, no matter which order you put them in... we still play the top 3. And Jaxson Dart is the only one we play at home.
It won't effect our wins, but it will point out to all the prognosticators that the Gators have an up-hill battle all year long, and that they should use his list to "rank" us and our chances to have a winning season. IOW, the talking heads have more reason not to put us in their preseason top 25 no matter how much better we look as a team, because of the of our schedule in particular. Look for more prognosticators to keep the Gators out of their top 25 simply becasue of the talented teams we face in our 2024 schedule. One such dude (on TOS) has re-evaluated his own list and took the Gators off his top 25 which he previously had the Gators in.
Ten Heisman contenders (per ESPN) 10. Avery Johnson, QB, Kansas State: Insert your "Hey, didn't he play in the NBA and coach at Alabama" joke here. But the sophomore with the luscious locks electrified Little Manhattan one year ago whenever he had the football in his hands. Then again, he already owns a Pop Tarts Bowl MVP trophy, so a Heisman might feel like a letdown. 9. Cam Ward, QB, Miami: Miami's back! Maybe. But Ward will most certainly be back on the national college football radar, taking his talents to South Beach(ish) after tossing a combined 13,875 yards and 119 TD passes at Incarnate Word and Washington State, aka the Incarnate Word of the Palouse. 8. Quinshon Judkins, RB, Ohio State: Judkins showed moments of true brilliance in Oxford -- see: 31 TDs and 2,725 yards rushing in two seasons -- but seemed to always be overshadowed by his quarterback (more on him coming up). Now he anchors the new-look Buckeyes, who had the best talent-seizing offseason of any organization not named the Philadelphia Eagles. Also, he's a running back and we refused to do an all-QB list. 7. Garrett Nussmeier, QB, LSU: After waiting patiently for four years, Nussmeier finally got to start for the Tigers in their ReliaQuest Bowl win over Wisconsin, where he won the game's MVP award. Now he'll try to become the third LSU quarterback to win the Heisman in the past six years. No pressure, kid. 6. Jaxson Dart, QB, Ole Miss: Told you we'd get to this guy. Remember one year ago when there were doubts he'd even be the starter? The guy with the Anakin Skywalker eye black went full Jedi Temple attack with 3,364 yards passing and 31 total TDs versus only five INTs, then decided to come back for more. 5. Will Howard, QB, Ohio State: Kansas State's Johnson is on this list because Howard, the guy Johnson was behind on the depth chart, transferred to Columbus. And the only reason Howard isn't higher on this list is because he might not even be atop his new depth chart, sitting in what might be America's most competitive position room. Devin Brown also has appeared alongside Howard on many preseason Heisman lists. 4. Jalen Milroe, QB, Alabama: New coaching staff. New offensive system. So many new teammates. Completely new SEC conference structure. Same QB, aka the dual-threat guy who went from being benched to leading the Tide to the CFP. 3. Dillon Gabriel, QB, Oregon: How amazing is it to get to see a player who played for Knute Rockne still in action? Oregon is Gabriel's third stop under center after being the starter at UCF and Oklahoma. He has thrown for nearly 15,000 yards and has more than 1,000 yards rushing. This also seems like an important note: The last QB who moved to Eugene was Bo Nix. That worked out pretty well. 2. Quinn Ewers, QB, Texas: Everything's bigger in Texas, especially expectations. Few came to Austin with bigger eyes upon them than Ewers, who finally cashed in on that promise last season, with a 12-2 season that was capped by a CFP appearance. Now he just needs to outrun his backup: His Royal Armness, Prince Arch Manning of New Orleans. 1. Carson Beck, QB, Georgia: The Dawgs are still raw over their lack of a CFP invite and will enter fall with Silicon Valley's worth of chips on their big ol' hairy shoulders. It's the shoulders of Beck that will be asked to dish out that revenge, having made 14 starts one year ago and losing only once. It's his fifth season in Athens and if he can improve even a little on his numbers -- 3,941 yards, 24 TDs, 6 INTs, 72% completion -- from a year ago on a CFP team, it'll be impossible to keep him out of New York in December. -- Ryan McGee
