Published Jan 17, 2019
Rivals Rankings Week: Breaking down the QB rankings
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Josh Helmholdt  •  Rivals.com
National Recruiting Analyst
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@JoshHelmholdt

CLASS OF 2019 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position | Team

CLASS OF 2020 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position

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The final prospect rankings of the 2019 class have been released and Rivals.com continues its Ranking Week with a position-by-position look at how things shook out. Here, we examine the headlines on a group of talented quarterbacks that will shape the college football landscape for the next few years.

FINAL 2019 QB RANKINGS: Pro-style | Dual threat

RIVALS RANKINGS WEEK

Monday: Top 10 revealed

Tuesday: Rivals100 released | Mind of Mike | New Five-Stars

Wednesday: Rivals250 released | Roundtable

Thursday: Offensive position rankings released

Friday: Defensive position rankings released

PROSPECT WHO MADE NOISE: Jayden Daniels

While it was probably the worst team name in high school all-star game history, Team Ballaholics won a tight Under Armour All-America Game and it was Jayden Daniels leading the offense on 9-of-13 passing for 101 yards and two touchdown passes. He showed off his dual-threat abilities by adding 21 rushing yards in the contest. The game performance capped an outstanding week of practice for Daniels that saw him move into the Rivals100 at No. 57 and up to No. 2 in the dual-threat quarterback position rankings.

Daniels also made noise in this cycle, though, by being one of the few remaining Power Five caliber quarterbacks still undecided heading into the month of December. He would choose Arizona State on Dec. 13 and sign with the Sun Devils in the early period.

PROSPECTS TO WATCH: Graham Mertz, Ryan Hilinski

They are from completely different areas of the country and are headed to two different conferences, yet Graham Mertz and Ryan Hilinski have been tied together and compared with one another for the better part of the last year. They were two of the top performers at the Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge presented by adidas in June, emerging from that event ranked back-to-back in the Rivals100.

Then, the future Wisconsin quarterback and the future South Carolina quarterback went throw-for-throw again down in San Antonio at the All-American Bowl. Both impressed, both moved up within the Rivals100 and they finish ranked just three spots apart. Mertz ultimately got the slight nod at the end, but which of these two pro-style quarterbacks has the better college career? And, will either outplay five-star Bo Nix, who finished just ahead of Mertz and Hilinski in the position rankings at No. 1.

TEAMS WITH THE BEST CLASSES: Alabama, Arizona State

Just four of the 50 quarterbacks ranked in the pro-style and dual-threat positions remain unsigned after the early period, so we can look over the final rankings and get a good sense of which programs have signed the best quarterback classes in 2019.

Five programs have multiple entries who are ranked in the pro-style or dual-threat position rankings. Georgia has four-star Dwan Mathis, but three-star John Rhys Plumlee has not signed and will take other official visits. Penn State did have two four-stars in Ta’Quan Roberson and Michael Johnson Jr., but Johnson dropped to three-stars in the latest update. Ole Miss, meanwhile, has four-star Grant Tisdale and three-star Kinkead Dent.

Alabama will be the only team with two four-star quarterbacks unless unsigned four-star Lance Legendre lands with a program that already has a four-star. The Crimson Tide would probably get the overall nod, but with Taulia Tagovailoa’s drop, neither he nor fellow Alabama signee Paul Tyson end up in the Rivals250.

The rise of Jayden Daniels, meanwhile, into Rivals100 territory coupled with another quarterback signed in three-star Joey Yellen makes Arizona State’s class a strong contender to Alabama for the overall best class of quarterbacks signed in 2019.