Sporting News ranks Stroud No. 18 in top 25 QB list for ‘21
C.J. Stroud’s preseason odds to win the Heisman Trophy place him among a handful of college football’s most elite players, but the projected Ohio State starter is not even a top 15 quarterback in the country according to Sporting News.
In a list of the top 25 college football quarterbacks ahead of the 2021 season on Wednesday, the publication placed Stroud, a redshirt freshman, at No. 18, while Oklahoma’s Spencer Rattler, North Carolina’s Sam Howell and Clemson’s D.J. Uiagalelei were No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.
“This is a presumptive placement knowing Stroud still hasn't won the starting job in a three-way battle with Kyle McCord and Jack Miller III,” Sporting News writer Bill Bender wrote. “That said, Stroud had the lead in the spring and whoever starts for the Buckeyes will have the nation's deepest group of wide receivers to work with. Stroud can work with that in Ryan Day's offense, and that could vault him into the top five on this list by the end of the season.”
It’s hard to blame Sporting News for hedging its bets on the Buckeye, given that Stroud has yet to throw a collegiate pass, and remains in a position battle with redshirt freshman Jack Miller and true freshman Kyle McCord, despite being the frontrunner to replace Justin Fields in Columbus.
Per the Sporting News list, Stroud is not even the top quarterback in the Big Ten entering 2021. That distinction went to Indiana’s Michael Penix Jr., who came in at No. 13 on the list, and put up nearly 500 yards and five touchdowns in an impressive head-to-head performance against the Buckeyes a season ago.
“Penix's thrilling dash to the goal line against Penn State was the signature play in a break-through season for the Hoosiers,” Bender wrote about Penix. “He finished with 1,645 passing yards, 14 TDs and four interceptions before suffering a torn ACL. Penix is the top returning quarterback in the Big Ten, and he will need to improve his completion percentage in 2021.”
Besides Penix and Stroud, the Big Ten had just one other quarterback make the list. Minnesota’s Tanner Morgan came in at No. 23, following a disappointing season in which he threw just seven touchdowns to five interceptions.
Another program in the state of Ohio has a higher-rated quarterback than Stroud on the list, with Cincinnati's Desmond Ridder coming in at No. 7 in the Sporting News top 25. Bender called Cincinnati “the premier College Football Playoff buster” entering this season, and said Ridder’s dual-threat ability is a major reason why.
After the aforementioned top three, the two passers that rounded out the Sporting News top five were Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral and UCF QB Dillon Gabriel.
With Ridder at No. 7, the rest of the top 10 included USC’s Kedon Slovis at No. 6, Miami’s D’Eriq King at No. 8, Georgia’s JT Daniels at No. 9 and Iowa State’s Brock Purdy at No. 10.