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Ranking all the ACC quarterbacks

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Ranking all the ACC quarterbacks, and other random college football notes

JERRY DIPAOLA
| Thursday, June 28, 2018, 11:00 p.m.
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CHAZ PALLA | TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett dives over Miami's Amari Carter for a second-quarter touchdown Friday, Nov. 24, 2017 at Heinz Field.

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Nothing says summer like spending a warm, sunny late-June afternoon immersed in college football.

Yeah, it's baseball season, but the Pirates (both the Pittsburgh and East Carolina varieties) were off Thursday. What better time to prepare for the season than curling up with Athlon's College Football preview issue?

The intent was to study the 14 ACC teams to determine -- among other questions -- how Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett stacks up among his colleagues at the position. Pickett's performance in all of four games last season raised high hopes among many Pitt fans, and he did show admirable cool in the upset of then-No. 2 Miami.

But are the expectations on Pickett unreasonable?

The man (I really hate the word kid) has thrown one collegiate touchdown pass. He turned 20 less than a month ago. His pass catchers have a lot to prove. The offensive line is undergoing serious reconstruction. Turns out, Pickett is one of the least experienced quarterbacks in the ACC.

But he has talent and a presence. There is plenty of reason for hope.

Meanwhile, here is a personal preseason ranking of all 14 ACC teams' quarterback situations, with the presumed starter. Feel free to disagree, but opinions are likely to change when the games begin in two months.

1. N.C. State, senior Ryan Finley

Hard to pick anyone else as the ACC's best quarterback. This will be Finley's sixth season in Raleigh, and his three top receivers and three OL starters return. He threw for 3,518 yards last season, tops among the conference's returning quarterbacks.

2. Syracuse, senior Eric Dungey.

The good news for Orange fans is Dungey has been a three-year starter. The bad news is he has yet to finish a season healthy. By the way, he wasn't the quarterback who threw for 440 yards and five touchdowns against Pitt in 2016. But he did beat the Panthers last season, with 365 yards and two scores.

3. Clemson, senior Kelly Bryant

He threw for 2,802 yards, but he must beat back the challenge from freshman Trevor Lawrence.

4. Virginia Tech, sophomore Josh Jackson

As a freshman, Jackson only defeated Pickett and Pitt last season because he plays on a team that has an outstanding goal-line defense. But he threw for 2,991. Not bad.

5. Miami, senior Malik Rosier

This fifth-year senior might have been ranked higher without a 44.9 percent completion percentage in the final three games last season.

6. Florida State, sophomore James Blackman

The job would belong to junior Deondre Francois, but he missed most of 2017 with a knee injury that could be problematic early in the season. Blackman doesn't make many mistakes, but he's not as athletic as Francois.

7. Pitt, sophomore Kenny Pickett

Pitt fans wondered why it took so long for Pickett to get off the bench. But when coach Pat Narduzzi says Pickett wasn't ready earlier, you should take him at his word -- unless you were at practice and in all the quarterback meetings. Were you?

8. Georgia Tech, senior Taquon Marshall

Marshall averaged less than four completions for game, but he ran for 1,146 yards in the triple option offense that gives everyone headaches.

9. Duke, junior Daniel Jones

Jones has enough experience to be dangerous -- he threw for 2,691 yardss last season -- and he has three starters returning at wide receiver. Plus, Duke scored 43, 31 and 36 points over the final three games against Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and Northern Illinois.

10. Louisville, sophomore Jawon Pass

He has the name; if only some of Lamar Jackson rubbed off on him last season.

11. North Carolina, junior Nathan Elliott

Coach Larry Fedora needs to make a decision between Elliott and dual-threat quarterback Chazz Surratt. Elliott seized the job for the Tar Heels' 2-2 finishing kick after a 1-7 start to the season.

12. Boston College, sophomore Anthony Brown

Whether it's Brown or E.J. Perry, the BC quarterback will lean on running back A.J. Dillon (1,589 yards last season).

13-T. Wake Forest, junior Kendall Hinton; Virginia, junior Bryce Perkins

Hinton beat out former Wake Forest quarterback John Wolford in 2016 before suffering a knee injury. That led to Wolford finishing 12th in the nation in total offense last season. Virginia dual-threat quarterback Perkins is a junior college transfer who began his collegiate career at Arizona State.


Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at jdipaola@tribweb.com or via Twitter @JDiPaola_Trib.
 
Slept on. Also, this list is terrible. If Finley was the best QB in the ACC then he wouldn’t need 6 years to get drafted. Jawon at 10 is completely slept on as well. I’m willing to bet that this list gets shaken up greatly after the first half of the season and even more by the end of the season. Would take Jawon over Jones, Marshall, Pickett, and Blackman easily.
 
Just one more month of the silly season, where sports journalists have nothing to write about, make crap up, and try to make something out of nothing. They have to justify their salary, I suppose.
 
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Ranking all the ACC quarterbacks, and other random college football notes

JERRY DIPAOLA
| Thursday, June 28, 2018, 11:00 p.m.
dt.common.streams.StreamServer.cls

CHAZ PALLA | TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett dives over Miami's Amari Carter for a second-quarter touchdown Friday, Nov. 24, 2017 at Heinz Field.

EMAIL NEWSLETTERS
Sign up
for one of our email newsletters.

Nothing says summer like spending a warm, sunny late-June afternoon immersed in college football.

Yeah, it's baseball season, but the Pirates (both the Pittsburgh and East Carolina varieties) were off Thursday. What better time to prepare for the season than curling up with Athlon's College Football preview issue?

The intent was to study the 14 ACC teams to determine -- among other questions -- how Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett stacks up among his colleagues at the position. Pickett's performance in all of four games last season raised high hopes among many Pitt fans, and he did show admirable cool in the upset of then-No. 2 Miami.

But are the expectations on Pickett unreasonable?

The man (I really hate the word kid) has thrown one collegiate touchdown pass. He turned 20 less than a month ago. His pass catchers have a lot to prove. The offensive line is undergoing serious reconstruction. Turns out, Pickett is one of the least experienced quarterbacks in the ACC.

But he has talent and a presence. There is plenty of reason for hope.

Meanwhile, here is a personal preseason ranking of all 14 ACC teams' quarterback situations, with the presumed starter. Feel free to disagree, but opinions are likely to change when the games begin in two months.

1. N.C. State, senior Ryan Finley

Hard to pick anyone else as the ACC's best quarterback. This will be Finley's sixth season in Raleigh, and his three top receivers and three OL starters return. He threw for 3,518 yards last season, tops among the conference's returning quarterbacks.

2. Syracuse, senior Eric Dungey.

The good news for Orange fans is Dungey has been a three-year starter. The bad news is he has yet to finish a season healthy. By the way, he wasn't the quarterback who threw for 440 yards and five touchdowns against Pitt in 2016. But he did beat the Panthers last season, with 365 yards and two scores.

3. Clemson, senior Kelly Bryant

He threw for 2,802 yards, but he must beat back the challenge from freshman Trevor Lawrence.

4. Virginia Tech, sophomore Josh Jackson

As a freshman, Jackson only defeated Pickett and Pitt last season because he plays on a team that has an outstanding goal-line defense. But he threw for 2,991. Not bad.

5. Miami, senior Malik Rosier

This fifth-year senior might have been ranked higher without a 44.9 percent completion percentage in the final three games last season.

6. Florida State, sophomore James Blackman

The job would belong to junior Deondre Francois, but he missed most of 2017 with a knee injury that could be problematic early in the season. Blackman doesn't make many mistakes, but he's not as athletic as Francois.

7. Pitt, sophomore Kenny Pickett

Pitt fans wondered why it took so long for Pickett to get off the bench. But when coach Pat Narduzzi says Pickett wasn't ready earlier, you should take him at his word -- unless you were at practice and in all the quarterback meetings. Were you?

8. Georgia Tech, senior Taquon Marshall

Marshall averaged less than four completions for game, but he ran for 1,146 yards in the triple option offense that gives everyone headaches.

9. Duke, junior Daniel Jones

Jones has enough experience to be dangerous -- he threw for 2,691 yardss last season -- and he has three starters returning at wide receiver. Plus, Duke scored 43, 31 and 36 points over the final three games against Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and Northern Illinois.

10. Louisville, sophomore Jawon Pass

He has the name; if only some of Lamar Jackson rubbed off on him last season.

11. North Carolina, junior Nathan Elliott

Coach Larry Fedora needs to make a decision between Elliott and dual-threat quarterback Chazz Surratt. Elliott seized the job for the Tar Heels' 2-2 finishing kick after a 1-7 start to the season.

12. Boston College, sophomore Anthony Brown

Whether it's Brown or E.J. Perry, the BC quarterback will lean on running back A.J. Dillon (1,589 yards last season).

13-T. Wake Forest, junior Kendall Hinton; Virginia, junior Bryce Perkins

Hinton beat out former Wake Forest quarterback John Wolford in 2016 before suffering a knee injury. That led to Wolford finishing 12th in the nation in total offense last season. Virginia dual-threat quarterback Perkins is a junior college transfer who began his collegiate career at Arizona State.


Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at jdipaola@tribweb.com or via Twitter @JDiPaola_Trib.

If you look in Webster’s for the definition of “worthless information” you’d see this article. Even IF Pass was rated much higher I’d say exactly the same thing. How can anyone rate kids who haven’t played yet? I guess being a 4 star qb in HS doesn’t count for anything. Or playing behind a Heisman winner for TWO years. This writer has a lot to learn.

GO CARDS - BEAT EVERYBODY!!! God Bless America!!!
 
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