College Fantasy Football: The recruitment of the top five QBs
A lot of big-named quarterbacks are putting up huge fantasy numbers this season. That’s not a major surprise. But many of them had interesting recruitments to get them to their current school. Today, we break down the top-five quarterbacks in fantasy points and how their recruitment unraveled:
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1. Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma
A four-star who was ranked as the ninth-best dual-threat quarterback in the 2016 class, Hurts committed to Alabama over Texas A&M, Mississippi State and others in the summer before his senior season. After being replaced in the national championship game, Hurts backed up Tua Tagovaiioa for one season before transferring to Oklahoma, where he leads all fantasy quarterbacks in points as he’s put up huge numbers through the air and on the ground. In the 2016 dual-threat rankings, Michigan’s Shea Patterson led the way but there were numerous misses along the way too as Hurts, at No. 9, was far too low.
2. Joe Burrow, LSU
Considered a late riser, Burrow was ranked as a three-star and the No. 24 dual-threat quarterback in the 2015 class. In that recruiting cycle, Deondre Francois and Blake Barnett were the top-two dual-threat quarterbacks. Burrow, who was also considering West Virginia, Boston College and others, did not get much of an opportunity at Ohio State as he was passed over for Dwayne Haskins and others but he transferred to LSU and has been phenomenal, especially this season. Burrow leads the Tigers’ offense that averages nearly 47 points per game and he’s right in the thick of the Heisman discussion.
3. Anthony Gordon, Washington State
Gordon put up prolific numbers at Pacifica (Calif.) Terra Nova but did not get much recruiting traction so he went to City College of San Francisco where he again posted big-time stats and he caught the attention of Washington State’s coaching staff. He was unranked in high school and in junior college but is putting up outstanding numbers this season with 3,387 yards, 32 touchdowns and nine picks.
4. Sam Ehlinger, Texas
Ranked as the fifth-best dual-threat quarterback in the 2017 class behind Kellen Mond, Tate Martell, Tua Tagovailoa and Keytaon Thompson, Ehlinger committed to Texas shortly after getting an offer after throwing at camp. At the time, Houston and SMU were the only other offers. In his commitment announcement, Ehlinger said he was a Longhorn from Day 1 and showed a photo of him doing the Horns Up sign as a young child. An excellent career at Texas has some people comparing his importance to that of Tim Tebow at Florida. Ehlinger has thrown for more than 7,500 yards and 59 TDs so far in his college career.
5. Justin Fields, Ohio State
The five-star quarterback who was ranked second overall in the 2018 class behind only Trevor Lawrence, originally committed to Penn State in his recruitment. But Fields backed off that pledge and in the middle of his senior season, he pledged to Georgia over Florida State, Auburn, Alabama and LSU. His short time with the Bulldogs did not go all that well, though, and he was mainly used as a running quarterback to offer a different look than Jake Fromm. The five-star left Georgia, was granted immediate eligibility at Ohio State and he’s been outstanding. So far this season, Fields has 1,659 passing yards with 24 touchdowns and one pick along with nine rushing scores, tied with J.K. Dobbins for the team lead.