Sporting News Names Trace McSorley Best Quarterback in College Football

A lot can happen when Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, Lamar Jackson, and Josh Rosen all leave for the NFL.

Sporting News ranked Trace McSorley as the best quarterback in the country heading into the 2018 season.

Behind McSorley in the top five of what is shaping up to be a rather weak quarterback class, were Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa (who’s attempted only 53 passes), Georgia’s Jake Fromm, Arizona’s Khalil Tate (who only started nine games last season), and West Virginia’s Will Grier. McSorley’s Fiesta Bowl counterpart and  former roommate Jake Browning, a fourth-year starter, came in at No. 6.

Only three other Big Ten quarterbacks made the list: Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins, Michigan’s Shea Patterson, and Michigan State’s Brian Lewerke. Lewerke was the only other Big Ten quarterback to crack the top 10.

Our full rankings of the top 25 quarterbacks in college football right now: https://t.co/V9RXH2hnDb pic.twitter.com/ClN39ZQxlD

— Sporting News College Football (@sn_ncaaf) May 4, 2018

As McSorley enters his third season leading Penn State’s offense, he’s already thrown for 7,639 yards and 59 touchdowns, ran for another 899 yards and 18 scores, and won 22 games. The Nittany Lions will rely on McSorley more than ever this season after losing some of his favorite weapons on offense as well as offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead.

The one-time three-star athlete recruit is also now a Heisman frontrunner. Many, even national outlets, are drawing comparisons between him and Mayfield, an undersized, mobile quarterback who won the Hesiman and went first overall in the NFL Draft.

The list noticeably included two quarterbacks from both Alabama and Clemson, but Penn State’s Tommy Stevens didn’t make the cut.

We’re guessing that was because Sporting News is taking his ‘Lion’ position seriously and is planning to rank him as the best at his position in the nation at a later date.