Jacob Coker, Alabama
Through the past decade, the nation has seen a handful of mediocre quarterbacks under center in Tuscaloosa, yet the team as a whole has sustained incredible success. With 5-star athletes across the depth chart, it does not take much to run Alabama's offense. The most recent Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron, who was average at best, won multiple national championships, and Coker is better than him. Coker is a Florida State transfer that left because he knew that he would not surpass Jameis Winston. That is not a slight to Coker, Winston is just that talented. In the little that Coker has played, he showed that he has wonderful arm strength, which is a change of pace from previous Alabama quarterbacks. Alabama is a run-oriented program that will not ask much of Coker, but he will be efficient.
Anthony Jennings, LSU
Like most athletic quarterbacks, Jennings is unpolished, but had the tools become a special player. Cam Cameron, LSU's offensive coordinator, is a reputable quarterback whisperer and play caller that will maximize Jennings. Because Jennings will only be a sophomore, LSU's offense will likely depend even more on their rushing attack. With running backs like Terrence McGee and Leonard Fournette, that will not be an issue. The offense will likely be simplified for Jennings during his first year as a starter, but regardless, Jennings should be serviceable and LSU will sustain success.
Hutson Mason, Georgia
When Aaron Murray suffered a season-ending ACL injury last year, the offense was left in Mason's hands. Mason had to start the final two games for Georgia last year. Georgia won the first of the two games, but narrowly lost the second, which was a bowl game. To be fair, a plethora of Georgia's skill position players were injured. Mason, at the least, proved that he can be good enough to win games at the collegiate system. Next year, that should be even more so as many players will be coming off injury and Georgia's offense is QB-friendly as it is. So long as Mason can keep his composure and make the simple reads that the system asks him to, Georgia will not miss a beat.
Kyle Allen, Texas A&M
Allen’s 2014 season will be seen as a disappointment no matter how well he plays. Realistically, it is unlikely that he comes close to replicating what Johnny Manziel did as a redshirt freshman, especially considering Allen does not have that redshirt year to acclimate to the college level. Allen will be thrown right into the fire. Now, Allen was the top quarterback recruit of his class, which will enable many to assume he will be just fine as a freshman. “Look at Christian Hackenberg, right?” Wrong. Hackenberg is a special talent that can not be compared to most other top quarterback prospects. Between Hackenberg’s success as a true freshman and Manziel’s two years of greatness in College Station, the expectations for Allen will be absurd. Although he is a smart, accurate passer, he will have his fair share of freshman growing pains.
Maty Mauk, Missouri
In the few games that Mauk played while James Franklin was injured, Mauk was a mixed bag. At times, he was a mess and it was quite obvious that he was a freshman. Other times, he made stellar throws and outplayed the veteran quarterback on the opposing team. Mauk has phenomenal arm strength in which he can make any throw with. Unfortunately, his would-be No.1 receiver Dorial Green-Beckham was kicked off the team and transferred to Oklahoma. Aside from him, the other two leading receivers from last season were seniors and will not be on the team next season. Mauk has the talent to succeed, but the team around him has fallen apart and Missouri’s offense will be almost entirely dependent on him.
Patton Robinette, Vanderbilt
Robinette got playing time all throughout the year from either injuries to the starter or special sub packages designed for him. Unlike Austyn Carta-Samuels, the starting quarterback from last year, Robinette is a running style quarterback that depends on his athleticism to get points on the board. Even as a backup last season, Robinette had more rushing touchdowns than passing touchdowns. Simply put, Robinette is an incapable passer as of now and Vanderbilt will suffer because of it.
Dylan Thompson, South Carolina
In 2012, South Carolina flip-flopped between Thompson and Connor Shaw as the starting quarterback. Shaw developed over the following season and secured the full time starting job in 2013, leaving Thompson riding the bench until Shaw was injured. At best, Thompson was an average collegiate quarterback in 2013. Against Missouri, a game in which Thompson started, South Carolina was losing the game until Shaw came in despite being injured to orchestrate an impressive comeback.