QB Connection

Winning the Super Bowl and the Lombardi Trophy is the ultimate goal for every NFL team. The most critical bridge on the road to that achievement is the acquisition, development, and retention of a Super Bowl-level Quarterback. These are the facts: there have been 67...

Brock Purdy, with only two full seasons at the 49ers helm, has demonstrated he can operate on the big stage and excel under post-season pressure. All Brock did in 2023 (his season two) was lead the league in passing efficiency and average yards per attempt. He added...

Have Fun with the Facts! The NFL Conference Championship games are this Sunday and many pundits are talking about Quarterback rankings between the four starters. We are NOT going to attempt to rank the four QBs in the conference championship games. It’s folly to try...

To paraphrase Rodger Goodell, "In the first round of the NFL 2020 draft the Green Bay Packers select… Quarterback Jordan Love” Say what? Did we hear that correctly? A Quarterback for the Packers? Have you ever heard of Aaron Rodgers? The QB who led the Packers to a...

The Sugar Bowl - Washington 37 Texas 31 Both starting Quarterbacks in this game responded from the opening kickoff. The Huskies' Michael Penix made it clear he was ready early with his 77 yard completion on the game’s 4th play, but the Longhorn’s Quinn Ewers did not...

What is the #1 topic of most NFL fans with four weeks left in the regular season? Simple. It's either who is going to be our starting Quarterback this Sunday, or will our starting Quarterback survive until the playoffs? The fact is seven NFL Quarterbacks, 22%, have...

This week in college football started with two monumental events. On Sunday the CFP committee announced its final four selections for the national championship and on Monday the college football transfer portal opened for business. While half the pundits think Florida...

The Number One QB Matchup: Pac-12 Championship Friday 8pm at Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas # 3 Washington Huskies (12-0) vs #5 Oregon Ducks (11-1) The Pac-12 may be going out, but it’s going out in a blaze of glory. The top two conference teams happen to be in the top...

Last Saturday I walked on the Lehigh University football field following the devastating loss to arch rival Lafayette 49-21. The Leopards had mercifully taken a knee inside the Lehigh 10 yardline on their last possession. As the players slowly streamed back out on the...

In our Quarterback Connection story on November 1, 2023 we offered up the Falcons’ Taylor Heinicke as the prototype backup QB in the NFL. Taylor was not highly recruited out of high school, in part thanks to a modest 6’ 1/2” frame. He turned to the FCS level where he...

In 2022 there were 68 different NFL Quarterbacks who started at least one game including playoffs. Seven of the nine rookie Quarterbacks taken in the 2022 draft started at least one game last year and recall there was only one quarterback taken before the third round,...

Taylor Heinicke wants the football. As a senior at Collins Hill high school in Lawrenceville, Georgia he was named Old Spice (my brand!) National Player of the Year in Georgia. Mostly because Taylor passed for 4,218 yards and 44 TDs and Collins Hill went to the State...

Bryson Barnes and Graham Mertz are two examples of perseverance, fortitude and the commitment to be the best that they can be.

I can tell you unequivocally that every Quarterback in college and the NFL know who they are as an athlete. They are plugged into their own QB DNA. They know they are either a pass-first or a run-first QB. There are a few who can fake it. For awhile. But, the DNA...

Let’s Choose Sides! The Pac-12 is dead. Or, at least by the end of this season it’s down to two teams: Oregon State and Washington State. Yet, you could argue, the Pac-12 has the best stable of Quarterbacks in the country. Seems counter-intuitive? Does a league that's...

Quinn Ewers and #3 Texas vs Dillon Gabriel and #12 Oklahoma Ewers has been on everyone’s radar since his transfer from Ohio State to Texas last year, and the ensuing Longhorn upset of Alabama 34-24 earlier this year. He has his Longhorns sitting at 5-0 and ranked #3...

Everyone is tracking Bryce Young (Panthers), Anthony Richardson (Colts) and CJ Stroud ( Texans) , the stars of the 2023 draft. So far CJ has the highest ROI ( NFL record 80 pass attempts without a pic to start a career) , while both Bryce and Anthony will be out with...

Saturday 9/23: QB Shedeur Sanders and the #19 Colorado Buffalos vs #10 Oregon Ducks and Heisman candidate QB Bo Nix So let me get this off my chest. I don’t like the way Deion Sanders “Cowboyed” his way into Boulder Colorado and kicked a ton of Buffalo football...

A Rough Week 1 in the NFL My top rated NFL QBs are Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen and Aaron Rodgers. All went down in more ways than one in NFL week one. Patrick Mahomes was ambushed at home by the up-and-coming Detroit Lions on Thursday night. Mahomes was a...

The NFL’s Emergency QB Rule; Does It Really Help? I’ve always been amazed at how NFL franchises roll the dice when it comes to signing backup quarterbacks to the 53-man roster. In case you haven’t heard, the NFL changed the “emergency quarterback rule” this past...

The Sweet Smell of Cut Grass It's August. The smell of cut grass is different in August. It's palpable. Its a smell and a taste and a state of mind if you are a football player. If you’re an “old” football player it’s… nostalgic. It’s a trip down memory lane that...

We are one week into NFL training camps and the most scrutinized position battles in camp are…? The Quarterbacks! It’s the time of year when pundits are making their predictions about who will be the winners and losers in the Quarterback competitions throughout the...

MY PRE-SEASON PICKS* 1. Caleb Williams, USC, Junior, 6’1” 220 lbs 2022: 4,537 yards passing, 42 TDs vs 5 Ints, 382 rushing yards and 10 TDs. The reigning Heisman Trophy, Maxwell and Walter Camp award winner, Caleb is the odds-on favorite to repeat as 1st Team...

Why Didn’t These Guys Get Out On Top? Why do aging Quarterbacks try to keep the flame burning? Why do so many greats refuse to go out on top, pining for that one last taste of glory? Instead of retiring after his Super Bowl win in 1970 Johnny Unitas held on to a shaky...

#1 + #1 Most fans know by now that the #1 Quarterback* in the class of 2024, Dylan Raiola, has committed to the University of Georgia. But there is a lot more to the story. Dylan, who attended three high schools including his senior season at Pinnacle High in the...

I was a 3rd round draft pick from D-ll Lehigh University and feeling my way into the NFL. One transition from D-ll is just getting used to all the spectacular stadiums in the NFL. Taylor Field at Lehigh held about 14,000, so when I joined the Falcons the upgrade to...

If you were Kirby Smart on January 9, 2023 and you had the ability to start ANY college quarterback in the country that night vs TCU in the College Football Playoff National Championship game, who would you pick? Would you pick, Bryce Young, or BJ Stroud, or Anthony...