This may be our most talented team ever. Now, scratch that, from 1-85, this is our most talented team ever. We’ve never had this much talent from top to bottom.
That being said, I don’t think we realize how good Huntley is. I think we still have a MWC mentality. We expect our QB to be perfect, but that isn’t reality. Look at Wilson, he was perfect versus G5 teams. Better than Smith. But vs P5 schools, he was…average. We don’t need perfection here, we need very good. And Huntley could be that. Who are the top returning QB’s in the conference?
Browning – this dude is so smartly average it’s painful. BUT, he doesn’t make mistakes and he has a ton of talent around him. That being said, there isn’t a coach in the PAC-12 that takes him if they can have any PAC-12 QB.
Tate – An amazing RB playing QB. But, got damn, he is amazing as a RB…who can kind of throw. I think firing RichRod was a mistake for Tate. RichRod would have made Tate unstoppable. I wonder what Sumlin will do. He did very well with Manziel, but Manziel is a much, much better passer than Tate.
Manny Wilkins – best QB in the conference right this second. If you gave every coach the opportunity to take any PAC-12 QB for this year and this year only, every coach would take Wilkins. He is a more athletic Jake Browning. He can run, he is a great passer, he doesn’t turn the ball over, he makes the correct read in the RPO. He is just the perfect QB for any offense. It’s too bad he is at ASU. He doesn’t have the upside of Huntley or Herbert, but he is better today that either of them.
Herbert – Great vs average to bad teams. Average vs great teams. A BYU fans’ dream. He is 1-4 vs 9+ win teams. I’m not sold on him. If I was a coach, I’d take Wilkins above him. If Wilkins was gone, the decision then boils down to Huntley or Herbert.
And finally, Huntley. #1 in the returning in the PAC-12 in total offense per game at 294 yards/game. An up and down year. How do you project him? He is like the anti-Herbert. Where Herbert was great vs bad teams and not so great vs great teams, Huntley’s worst games came vs 7 win ASU and Oregon. Versus 9 win WSU and 10 wins Washington, he put up 356 total yards, 1 TD and 3 INT’s and 343 yards, 2 TD’s and 1 INT. He destroyed BYU and SJSU and was on his way to destroying Arizona before getting hurt.
So, who is he? He is a kid with a butt load of potential. If he is the kid that played vs BYU, SJSU, Arizona, WSU and Washington with less TO’s, then he is the best QB in the conference. If he is that guy, then he is a more athletic Alex Smith.
If not? He is still the best QB since Smith and a more athletic but less smart BJ, but that isn’t fair to compare football smarts of redshirt-SR BJ to true JR Huntley.
Point is, he is a very, very, very good QB. If I were to rank the PAC-12 QB’s, I’d rank them this way:
1 – Wilkins – he can do it all.
2 – Herbert, Huntley – this depends on your flavor. Huntley has played very well in bright lights. Herbert has beat up the little guys. Who do you trust more? Either one of these QB’s could take the next step and be the best in the PAC-12 this year.
3 – Browning – safe, safe, safe. Perfect for a team like Washington or USC. If he were USC’s QB, they’d be the hands down favorite to win the National Championship. He is smart. He is BJ.
4 – Tate – too much RB, not enough QB.
5 – Everyone else. There are some QB’s in this list that I think will be better than anyone above them. But not this year.
So, can Huntley and Taylor take Huntley to the next level? Who knows. But, since the first time since 2008, Utah has a QB that might be the best in the conference. That is awesome.
Fall camp will be fun to listen to how Huntley has developed. There is a reason why Whitt is so excited for this team this fall even with how tough the schedule is. It’s not Covey, Anae, Fotu, Johnson, Blackmon, etc. It is that he finally has a QB that can go and beat anyone.
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