The last few years one of my daily blogs has listed all the True Freshmen at each position and given you an idea of how many played in their first year on campus. I will go thru each position over the next few blogs and show you how many have played the last five years, so you know what to expect out of this year’s true frosh class.
Here is a look at the top 50 QB’s that were signed in the last five years. Now 2020 was an odd year as with no spring practice the true frosh QB’s could not benefit from being in early for the spring. With some conferences cancelling their seasons and then starting them up again that put them even further behind. Now in 2020 technically every QB redshirted as 2020 did not count against their eligibility.
Here is a look at the Top 50 True Frosh from 2020 and how many played.
Of the top 50 true freshmen QB’s in 2020, the top guy DJ Uiagalelei (PS#1) did start 2 games and had big numbers in those when Trevor Lawrence was unavailable. Only two of the top 50 QB’s started over half the games with Ken Seals (PS#46) starting 9 games for Vanderbilt and Jeff Sims (PS#16) starting 10 games for Georgia Tech. Overall 10 true frosh QB’s earned at least one start and ironically two of them played for LSU in Max Johnson (PS#14) who started 2 games and TJ Finley (PS#17) who started 5. Both QB’s have since transferred. CJ Stroud played in just two games with one rush attempt before taking over as the starter at Ohio State in 2021. 28 of the 50 QB’s did not attempt a pass despite the fact it was a free season and they could have played without losing eligibility.
Now let’s look at the 2021 True Freshmen. I know that technically all of 2020’s true frosh were still true frosh, but I will just look at the ones that were in their first year on campus. We will just look at the 2021 signing class of QB’s and how much they played.
With everyone back from Covid and unlike in 2020 if a QB played more than 4 games the player would lose a year of eligibility you would think that less true frosh QB’s would play. One advantage the 2021 true frosh had was being able to be on campus for spring if they enrolled early.
Here is a look at the Top 50 True Frosh from 2021 and how many played.
With more time to prep and less uncertainty of a season the True frosh QB’s had about the same number of attempts but threw for more yards and had a much better ratio of 91-40. The top producer was Prime Time’s son Shedeur Sanders who was the SWAC Freshman of the year. The #1 QB Caleb Williams beat out the preseason Heisman frontrunner for the starting job at Oklahoma and started 7 games. This time nine of the 50 QB’s managed to start a game.
Now let’s take a look at the 2022 Freshmen.
Only one true frosh top 50 QB was a full-time starter and that was Zion Turner of Connecticut who was used more as a running QB but led all true frosh with 1407 yards with a 9-10 ratio. AJ Swann of Vanderbilt started 6 games and was the only other QB to top 1000 yards passing with 1271 and had a 10-2 ratio. Overall, 9 of the 50 QB’s managed to start a game last year.
Now let’s look at 2023. Once again talking to the coaches, especially the Group of Five head coaches with the transfer portal I expected more true frosh to see action than in past years and having a QB stay for all five years is becoming rarer and rarer. Dante Moore did win a starting job but also lost it. He had five starts at Oregon and threw for 1610 yards. Another true frosh QB Grayson Loftis had 5 starts at Duke due to Riley Leonard’s injuries. Those two had the most passing yards with both topping 1,000. Jackson Arnold who will start this year for Oklahoma, started the bowl and threw for 563 yards. Nico Iamaleava was the bowl MVP for Tennessee. Keep in mind this is not every true Frosh QB, just the ones that were PS#50 or better. Four of the top 9 QB’s have already transferred!!
Now let’s take a look at 2024. While the vast majority of the QB’s did redshirt, finally my thoughts of coaches playing their QB’s early and not saving them happened and there was a large increase in the numbers. Dylan Raiola was the full time starter for Nebraska. DJ Lagway led a Florida resurgence in the second half of the year. Issac Wilson started most of the year for Utah once Cam Rising was injured. Michael Van Buren took over for an injured Blake Shapen for Miss St. Michael Hawkins got in some starts for Oklahoma. Danny O’Neal was a full time starter for San Diego St. CJ Bailey took over the starting job at NCSt. Of those QB’s VanBuren and O’Nell have already transferred.
Now lets take a look at 2025. Once again a large number of Frosh QB’s redshirted but with full time starters like Bear Bachmeier, Jaron-Keawe Sagapoulutele, Malik Washington, and Bryce Underwood the group turned out to be the most productive yet with 17,483 yards passing!
Here is how 2024 compared with the previous fiveyears.
In 2020 the Top 50 QB’s combined for 1318 att’s, 789 comp, 9342 yds with a 65-40 ratio.
In 2021 the Top 50 QB’s combined for 1367 att’s, 824 comp, 10,362 yds with a 91-40 ratio.
In 2022 the Top 50 QB’s combined for 1283 att’s, 733 comp, 8030 yds with 53-35 ratio
In 2023 the Top 50 QB’s combined for 1046 att’s 592 comp, 7055 yds with 49-34 ratio.
In 2024 the Top 50 QB’s combined for 2322 att’s 1431 comp, 16,882 yds with 99-73 ratio.
In 2025 the Top 50 QB’s combined for 2492 att’s 1518 comp, 17,483 yds with 61-49 ratio.
The 2024numbers were basically double any other year. With the Transfer Portal and you would figure coaches would play their true frosh to keep them interested and not transferring. 34 of the top 50 did appear in at least one game in ’22 , just 27 in ’23 but surprisingly 40 in ’24. Last year that number dropped to 19.
Now here is a look at this years Top 50 Freshmen. Currently I have Jared Curtis (Vanderbilt), Faizon Brandon (Tennessee) projected to be starters by midseason. With the new five year rule and no more need for redshirting I would expect the numbers to rise once again this year. With the transfer portal, you want to keep the backups invested so this years top 50 could break thru the 20,000 yard barrier.
Put in the Magazine ad best ways to get magazine.
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Digital magazine ($19.95 value) FREE – The digital magazine is updated thru September (see option 3) and you get immediate access to the digital version upon purchase.
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