Ask Farrell: Is this the worst year for quarterbacks since 2011?

ASK FARRELL: Why did Derek Stingley make the jump to No. 1 in the Rivals100?

The latest Rivals.com rankings update continued on Tuesday with the reveal of the updated Rivals100 and for those recruiting junkies who have followed the process for years probably noticed one striking omission. Despite being six months away from the first signing period, there still isn’t a five-star quarterback in the class of 2019.

It wasn’t always that way as J.T. Daniels began as one of the first five-stars in the class, regardless of position. But when Daniels reclassified late last year and joined the 2018 class, it left a void atop the rankings at the position. In the time since, Oklahoma commit Spencer Rattler (No. 35 overall) and Auburn commit Bo Nix (No. 40) have worked their way atop the rankings at the position. Nevertheless, neither prospect got the nod this time around to move to five-star status.

Only two times in the history of Rivals.com has a class finished without a five-star prospect and it happened two years in a row in 2010 and 2011. So what’s up with the lack of elite talent at the position in the class of 2019?

In a new feature on Rivals.com, we ask Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell to weigh in on the topic and give his opinion on why 2019 hasn’t seen a quarterback rise to five-star status.

This week’s question is: “Is this the worst year for the quarterback position since the 2011 class?”

"Yes it is, at least so far, but it’s not as bad as the 2010 class, which is the worst one I’ve seen in my nearly 20-year career. That class was rough. The 2011 class had some guys I liked – Jeff Driskel I felt was close to a five-star despite being raw and Braxton Miller was a great athlete. I also liked Jacoby Brissett better than most, although he wasn’t fully focused on football.

"The 2019 class isn’t horrible by any means. Guys like Rattler and Nix are very talented and can extend the play, but the top end talent is lacking and the depth at the position isn’t great either. This is especially striking when you see how much talent there is at quarterback in the 2020 class and remember how spoiled we were at the top last year with Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields. There is still time for a five-star quarterback to emerge in this class, but overall it’s very average and the worst since 2011."

2011 – Jeff Driskel (No. 32), Braxton Miller (No. 34), Cody Kessler (No. 71), Brett Hundley (No. 72), Jacoby Brissett (No. 75), Max Wittek (No. 76) J.W. Walsh (No. 86), Christian LeMay (No. 88), Kiehl Frazier (No. 89)

2010 – Jake Heaps (No. 63), Phillip Sims (No. 67)

#RivalsRankingsWeek Schedule

Rival Views: Who is the top QB? | Who is the top RB?

Monday: Top 10 players revealed | Who was the hardest to rank? | Making the case for the top 10 | A closer look at who is No. 1 | Adam Gorney's Take Two | Stingley's rise to No. 1 | Godfather & Gorney Podcast

Tuesday: New Rivals100 released | Farrell's Mind of Mike | Rival Views | Which prospect has the most important summer ahead?

Wednesday: New Rivals250 released | Who did each analyst go to bat for the most? | Five schools that should be most pleased with new rankings | Rivals Rankings Podcast | Rivals250 by the numbers | Should Gunnell have dropped that far? | Take Two

Thursday: QB rankings | RB rankings | WR/TE rankings | OL rankings

Friday: DL rankings | LB rankings | DB rankings | ATH rankings

Saturday: Team rankings breakdown

Sunday: Mid-Atlantic states rankings | Southeast states | Midwest states | Texas | Florida | West