Ranking the QBs Boston College will face in 2023
Boston College has a manageable schedule so far as Power Five schedules go, but the Eagles will still be facing some talented opposing quarterbacks who must be accounted for.
Here's one attempt at ranking the top quarterbacks the Eagles will see this season.
12. Joe Fagnano, UCONN
The 6'3, 225-pound senior quarterback is an off the radar addition for the Huskies, but he was a very productive player at Maine, where he passed for 5,655 yards, 46 touchdowns, and 12 picks spread out over 25 starts at the FCS school.
11. Bryson Daily, Army
Daily rushed for 163 yards (13.6 YPC) last season in the Black Knights' triple option attack but this is his first year as a starter. The 6'0, 215-pound quarterback was behind several other quarterbacks for Army last season. Expect the rushing numbers to be good, but who knows what to expect in terms of passing?
10. Kyron Drones, Virginia Tech
Drones was at Baylor last season. Drones was 14/23 for 219 yards and a touchdown last year for the Bears. Rivals.com ranked him a three-star quarterback and the No. 15 dual-threat in his class when he was coming out of high school.
9. Tony Muskett, Virginia
The 6'2, 210-pound junior spent a few years at Monmouth before his move to UVA. The 6'2, 210-pound senior is a native of Springfield, Va., so assuming the starting quarterback duties at UVA is a big deal for him. He's a two-time first team all-conference pick from his time at Monmouth. Last year he started eight games before a knee injury sidelined him. He had 1,997 passing yards, 17 touchdowns, and eight picks before that injury.
8. Matthew Sluka, Holy Cross
This might be a tad bullish, but it's easy to find good things from last year. Sluka has played a lot of football over the previous three seasons and last year he rushed for 1,234 yards and 11 touchdowns (6.1 YPC) while completing 58% of his passes for 2,489 yards, 26 touchdowns, and only four picks. Granted, this was against a very different level of competition than BC faces, but the dual-threat ability and overall production along with the ball security were impressive.
7. Rocky Lombardi, Northern Illinois
It's tough to believe but this is Lombardi's seventh year as a rostered scholarship quarterback in college football, in part due to a medical redshirt. He was at Michigan State until two years ago. Last year Lombardi was injured after four games. Season stats: 50/75 for 645 yards and five touchdowns.
6. Jack Plummer, Louisville
Plummer passed for nearly 3,000 yards, 21 touchdowns and nine interceptions for a 4-8 Cal team last season and he was at Purdue with new Louisville coach Jeff Brohm before that. So this is an experienced pro-style passer who knows the offense he will be in.
5. Haynes King, Georgia Tech
King spent three years at Texas A&M, where he started seven games. King was a high three-star dual-threat QB prospect coming out of the Class of 2020. He got extensive action for the first time last year, completing 104 of 187 passes (55.6%) for 1,220 yards, seven touchdowns, and six picks. King was 25/46 for 253 yards, 2 TDs and a pick in a close loss to Alabama, he had 279 yards and a TD against Florida, and went for 364 yards, three TD and two picks against Sam Houston State. He struggled a lot against South Carolina, Mississippi State, and in a shocking loss to App State.
4. Tyler Van Dyke, Miami
Van Dyke is a big quarterback (6'4, 224) and he started nine Miami games last season, passing for 1,835 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions. It wasn't a total disaster, but it wasn't the kind of encore Hurricane fans were hoping for after he earned ACC Rookie of the Year honors in 2021. Van Dyke passed for nearly 500 yards in a close loss to UNC and followed that up with 346 yards against Virginia Tech the following week.
3. Phil Jurkovec, Pittsburgh
Boston College fans will have plenty of opinions about this selection, but if you look at Jurkovec's overall numbers for his college career it's tough to imagine too many of the guys ranked behind him moving ahead of him. The Panthers should have one of the league's better o-lines so it appears to be a good situation for the former Eagle.
2. Garrett Shrader, Syracuse
The former Mississippi State quarterback probably feels like he made the right decision moving on with Will Rogers still starting the next two years in Starkville. He has amassed more than 4,000 yards passing over more than a year and a half of action. Shrader completed 205/317 passes for 2,640 yards, 17 touchdowns and seven picks last season. He rushed for 453 yards and nine touchdowns.
1. Jordan Travis, Florida State
Travis is a Heisman Trophy candidate if you believe the people talking during talking season. The 6'1, 212-pound senior dual-threat rushed for 417 yards and seven scores while completing 64% of his passes for 3,214 yards, 24 touchdowns, and five picks. He's the best quarterback the Eagles will face this year, and there really can't be much debate about that. What makes this a difficult assignment is Travis didn't have many bad games last year. He was under 50% passing just one time, and tossed more than one pick in only one game.