CFB: Who is the greatest Quarterback of the 21st century? 2016-Current

Rules outlining this exercise can be found here

2000-2005 can be found here

2006-2010 can be found here

2010-2015 can be found here

Candidates: Deshaun Watson of Clemson, Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma, Lamar Jackson of Louisville.

Notable Omissions: Kyler Murray of Oklahoma, Tua Tagovailoa Alabama. Murray’s one season in Oklahoma was amazing, but not enough to justify one season. Tua’s talent is undeniable and he is the very reason that Alabama has turned into a very Air Radish offense, but injuries and blowouts keep him from putting up page jumping numbers.

We will start with this group of Quarterbacks that ironically does not have a Heisman trophy: Deshaun Watson. The two time ACC player of the year led Clemson to back to back National Championship game appearances against Alabama in 2015 and 2016. In 2015 Watson threw for 405 yards 4 touchdowns and chipped in 73 yards rushing in a five-point loss to the Crimson Tide. The following year Watson threw for 420 yards and three touchdowns dethroning the Tide in the process. In two games against a Saban coached defense Watson nearly threw for a thousand yards. Watson finished fourth in ACC history for passing yards, third in passing touchdowns and fourth in total yards. Remarkable totals for only a two-year starter.

In one of the more unlikely stories in the sport, Baker Mayfield was a two-time walk on to Heisman Trophy winner and quarterback of one of the best if not the best offenses of the 21st century. Mayfield started his career at Texas Tech before walking on at Oklahoma. Mayfield was at the perfect intersection of downfield thrower with high completion percentage and low interception rate. His 11.5 yards per attempt in 2017 and 11.1 in 2016 were both first in the nation. Mayfield also led the nation in completion percentage in both of those years as well. If you were to only use those season Mayfield would be the leader in college football history in both categories. This means that not only did Mayfield push the ball downfield, he was successful at a very high rate. In his two seasons with offensive mastermind Lincon Riley at the helm Mayfield threw for 3965 and 4627 yards and 40 and 43 touchdowns respectively. Two things that hurt Mayfield in this exercise is what made him great: offensive talent and Lincoln Riley. Seventeen offensive players excluding Mayfield have been drafted in the NFL since 2015.  Riley is the best offensive coach in College Football creating schemes for two straight Heisman winners. Talent plus a cutting edge offensive system lowers Mayfield in the pecking order.

Lamar Jackson is the greatest duel threat quarterback in College Football History. Jackson has higher passing and rushing totals then Cam Newton, Michael Vick, Tim Tebow and RG3. Nobody put more fear in opposing defenses then Jackson. I could write about all of his accolades, stats and incredible games, but instead, I’ll leave you with some YouTube clips here

The past few years of college football have produced phenomenal quarterbacks; without trying to have recency bias this past five years has been the golden era of offenses and quarterback play. Teams have figured out how to fully embrace spread attacks that utilize option concepts, RPO’s and running quarterbacks (looking at you Alabama). Selecting a quarterback to represent this era is extremely difficult. On one hand, you have one of the most electric quarterback the game has ever seen (Jackson), the most efficient (Mayfield), the Quarterback who lit up Alabama twice (Watson). This series of articles has been about big games against big teams in big moments. Jackson’s game against Syracuse in the Carrier Dome was amazing but Watson’s games against Alabama were better. This is why Watson gets the nod.

2016-Current Winner: Deshaun Watson.

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