Rivals Rankings Week: New 2020 QB rankings
The first update of the position rankings for the 2020 class is complete, and there are several storylines developing as the group enters its junior season. We start with the quarterback position, where several prospects are jockeying for top honors, including No. 1 overall D.J. Uiagalelei.
NEW 2020 RANKINGS: Pro-style | Dual threat
RELATED: 2019 QB rankings | 2019 all positions | 2020 all positions
Team on the Rise: LSU
One of three new four-stars at the position, Ponchatoula, La., pro-style quarterback T.J. Finley lands all the way up at No. 166 in the Rivals250. He was elevated to a 5.8 Rivals Rating following a strong summer.
The home-state LSU Tigers secured Finley’s commitment in May, so they get a corresponding bump in their overall team recruiting points with his rise to four-star status. At 6-foot-7 and 230 pounds, Finley is likely to draw comparisons with former LSU great Jamarcus Russell when he arrives in Baton Rouge. The junior signal caller is a mountain of a young man who gets everything out of his height by standing tall in the pocket and having a nice, high release point.
LSU offered more than a half-dozen quarterbacks early in the 2020 class, but in Finley it gets to keep the No. 7 pro-style quarterback prospect at home.
Team to Watch: Florida State
With Wednesday’s offer to four-star dual-threat Robby Ashford, Willie Taggart looks ready to crank up the recruiting machine in Tallahassee and lock down his quarterback early in the 2020 class. The Florida State Seminoles have offered eight total quarterbacks in the 2020 class, but several of those offers went out under the old staff.
Under Taggart’s watch Florida State offered Ashford, Houston’s Malik Hornsby in May and No. 1 overall D.J. Uiagalelei back in January. The Seminoles also offered Myrtle Beach’s Luke Doty in June, but he committed to the home-state South Carolina Gamecocks last month. What’s interesting is Florida State may still be in the market for a second quarterback in the 2019 class after securing the commitment of four-star Sam Howell in April. Or, this may be a two-pronged approach and if the Seminoles are seeing strong, early interest at the position in the 2020 class they could forego a second quarterback in 2019.
Either way, Florida State should be a team to watch this fall.
Player to Watch: Parker McQuarrie
There are already 21 quarterback prospects in the 2020 class rated four-stars or higher, which is the same number as there currently are in the 2019 class despite that class having an extra year to be evaluated. A comparison that better shows the relation is that quarterbacks make up 8 percent of all prospects rated four-stars and higher in the 2020 class, but just 5.6 percent of the total number of prospects in the 2019 class.
There is bound to be more four-stars added in the coming months and year, and one to watch comes from the lightly-recruited state of New Hampshire. Parker McQuarrie has already popped offers from Boston College, Michigan, Pittsburgh and Rutgers, and he more than held his own against Drew Pyne and 2019 four-stars Taisun Phommachanh, Jalon Jones and Ta’Quan Roberson at the New Jersey Rivals 3 Stripe Camp. In fact, McQuarrie was in contention for position MVP honors down to the very end of that event. He is a tall, polished passer and has a chance to make the four-star move with a big junior season.