Caleb Suggs

Hartselle Enquirer

Now that we are in July, the people of Alabama start moving into that pre preseason of football as we prepare for high school and the NFL but mostly for college football. I recently spent time talking with Hartselle Tiger’s quarterback Trevor Oakes about his time at the Manning Passing Academy, and as he mentioned the various quarterbacks he worked with he got me thinking about this upcoming season and who would be the best quarterback of the year. There are plenty of great candidates this season and there should be plenty of exciting performances.

One of the first players to talk about would be Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly. Kelly burst on the scene last year in a big way when he led the Rebels to a road win over Alabama in just the third game of the season. In that game, he threw for 341 yards and 3 touchdowns. Now after a year under his belt, Kelly looks to lead the Rebels to an even bigger season this year after barely missing out on the SEC championship last year. His only problem will be having to deal with a young receiver corp as he lost top targets Laquan Treadwell and Cody Core.

Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma is one I think everyone wants to be successful. A former walk on, Mayfield wasted little time taking over at Oklahoma after transferring from Texas tech and helped lead the Sooners to the College football playoff. An early injury to Mayfield in a game against TCU was probably all that kept him from making a trip to New York for the Heisman ceremony. Even in a loss to Clemson in which the Tigers took over the game in the second half, Mayfield still managed to throw for 311 yards before being injured again. This year Mayfield will have virtually the same offense again with the exception of Sterling Sheppard.

However, the best quarterback this year will be the best one of last year, which is Deshaun Watson. I wasn’t Watson’s biggest fan last year or Clemson for that matter but watching him against Alabama really won me over. Watson torched Alabama through the air with 405 yards passing and 3 touchdowns and showed an impressive passing accuracy. He also showed he can move on the ground as he led the tigers in rushing for the game too. Watson will be the man to beat for the Heisman this year as he leads an offense that is abosoutely loaded.