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Greg McElroy ranks top 5 B1G quarterbacks for the 2023 season
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Greg McElroy is optimistic about the quarterback position in the Big Ten going into 2023.
On Friday, McElroy ranked his top 5 Big Ten passers in a segment for Always College Football. He also said he believes the Big Ten has the most “upside” at the QB position of any conference in the country.
“I’ll make a bold prediction,” he said. “How’s this sound? There is not a conference with more upside at the quarterback position than the Big Ten.”
At the top of his list is Michigan’s JJ McCarthy. He pointed out that McCarthy beat out another top 5 quarterback on his list — Iowa’s Sean McNamara — to win the Michigan job last season.
Last season, McCarthy led Michigan to the College Football Playoff while completing 64.6% of his passes for 2,719 yards and 22 touchdowns. He also rushed for 306 yards and 5 more scores on the ground in his first year as Michigan’s starter.
“He did a good job of managing the offense at times but did showcase flashes of superstar potential,” McElroy said. “Now it wasn’t always there, it wasn’t always crazy consistent. But you add in the dual-threat nature, that he can keep the defense honest a little bit too, it makes him the belle of the ball in the Big Ten.”
The rest of McElroy’s top 5 includes Maryland’s Taulia Tagovailoa, Wisconsin’s Tanner Mordecai, McNamara and Nebraska’s Jeff Sims.
Ohio State and Penn State were both notably absent from the list. The Buckeyes have not named a replacement for CJ Stroud yet and McElroy said Drew Allar’s “lack of mobility” could be a concern for Penn State.
Here’s McElroy’s full segment:
Spenser is the news manager at Saturday Road and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.