Big 12 Quarterbacks

cloverleaf · May 23, 2016

There's little doubt the Big 12 Conference has some quarterbacks who can throw
the ball around. Texas Tech's Patrick Mahomes, who passed for 4,653 yards last
year will be going for 5,000 this season. Top Big 12 passers:

Patrick Mahomes, Texas Tech (4,653 yards and 36 TDs)
Mason Rudolph, Oklahoma State (3,770 yards and 21 TDs)
Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma (3,700 yards and 36 TDs)
Skyler Howard, West Virginia (3,145 yards and 26 TDs)
Seth Russell, Baylor (2,104 yards and 29 TDs before being injured)
Kenny Hill, TCU (Transfer from Texas A&M)

Plus others who may surprise. Maybe the Big 12 should be changed to the Air 12.

GoSooners · May 23, 2016

It may be the Air 12, but almost every starting QB in the Big 12 got hurt last year and missed games. That's why this conference is so hard to predict. Especially when it comes to betting futures. Between the style of football they play and the intricate blitz packages they use in this conference, it's a good idea to have two quality QB's in camp. Otherwise you can find yourself in trouble in a hurry. Thin QB corps really hurt teams like KSU and TCU last year. And even though Baylor has some quality backups, they were down to their 3rd string QB by the end of the year and it cost them a couple of games. With the Big 12, the first thing you should look at is offensive lines. Teams with inexperienced lines usually struggle in this conference if they aren't Oklahoma. Even OU struggled at times last year with a young line. It really showed against good defensive lines like Texas and Clemson. And they had trouble keeping Mayfield upright all year. In fact he suffered a concussion in that one game where Knight took over but was ineffective. OU basically has nobody behind Mayfield this year. The teams that are probably in better shape this year with their QB's is Baylor and KSU because all of their backups got plenty of playing time last year. In fact Baylor's backup could beat out Seth Russell. Many down in Waco say he's better than Russell.

cloverleaf · May 24, 2016

GS, I wonder what the over/under would be on Mahomes passing for 5,000 yards this season?

WinOne · May 24, 2016

Look out at TCU with Kenny Hill. They have quite a few skill players returning, and if you remember last year, they played a lot of young guys on defense (mostly freshmen and sophomores) so they got quite a bit of experience to build on. And their tough games are at home (Arkansas, OU, OSU, Tech). Although they do have a tricky game @SMU before hosting OU.

GoSooners · May 24, 2016

cloverleaf said:
GS, I wonder what the over/under would be on Mahomes passing for 5,000 yards this season?

There's a good chance Mahomes goes over 5,000. Problem is with their poor defense they may have to score 70 points a game to win. Which means Mahomes will be on the field much longer than your average QB. Which is good for breaking records, but bad for trying to stay healthy. Especially with some question marks on the OL. Despite having maybe the best QB in the Big 12, I don't see TTU winning more than 6 games. And with their schedule, a 5-7 season is a real possibility.

cloverleaf · May 24, 2016

GS, you make a valid point about HEALTH but if this kid stays healthy...I would bet Over
with the right odds.

I personally think TT has the weakest head coach in the Big 12. He wasn't ready when he
got the job and he ain't ready now...unless you just want an offensive show.