Big 12 Football Quarterback Power Rankings: Week 6
There is no position in all of sports that is more important than the quarterback. A good quarterback can help hide other areas of weakness on a team while bad ones can bring down even the best of teams. Either way, having good quarterback play is crucial for any team that hopes to make it all the way. Just like with team power rankings, I wanted to do a weekly quarterback power ranking after every weekend. Here you will find out who is trending up or down depending on their play on the field.
1. Kansas State QB Adrian Martinez (Last Week: #7)
I may have shown him some disrespect after putting him seventh last week but don’t worry, I am making up for it now. Adrian once again used his running ability to run wild over the Texas Tech defense for a tune of 171 yards and three scores. He also threw for 116 yards and a touchdown as well. Right now, there is nobody in the Big 12 playing the quarterback position better than Adrian Martinez.
2. TCU QB Max Duggan (Last Week: #9)
Here is another quarterback I didn’t take seriously a week ago. Max is just one of two starting Big 12 quarterbacks who haven’t thrown an interception this season. Just like Adrian Martinez did a week ago, Max Duggan ran through the defense of Oklahoma. He finished the big day with 116 yards on the ground and two scores while throwing for over 300 yards and another three touchdowns. One could certainly argue that Duggan deserves the top spot and maybe he will take it next week.
3. Oklahoma State QB Spencer Sanders (Last Week: #2)
Spencer didn’t have his best performance on Saturday, but he did what he needed to do to win. Even when he made a mistake he rebounded and made a play. Sanders went 20/29 for 181 yards and a touchdown while adding 75 rushing yards and another score. This was by far the best he has played against Baylor in the last three meetings.
4. Texas QB Hudson Card (Last Week: #10)
If anyone needed a bounce-back game, it was Hudson Card. He struggled against Texas Tech on the road but looked much improved against West Virginia on Saturday. Card looked confident and ended up throwing for over 300 yards and three touchdowns in the route over West Virginia.
5. Kansas QB Jalon Daniels (Last Week: #1)
It was odd not seeing Jalon Daniels go off as he has been in the first four games. He attempted just 14 passes against Iowa State and completed just half of them. Luckily for him, the defense picked up the slack to win the game.
6. Baylor QB Blake Shapen (Last Week: #3)
We have our first losing quarterback on the list from this past weekend but outside of the late picks, Shapen had a monster third quarter. Blake finished with over 300 yards and two touchdowns but unfortunately, he just couldn’t make the plays late in the game to win. Still, I fully expect him to bounce back in the next game.
7. Iowa State QB Hunter Dekkers (Last Week: #6)
Hunter ended up dropping a spot from last week as he had another tough game. He was pressured throughout the game as he was sacked five times against Kansas. Plus, the run game hasn’t helped him out at all over the last two weeks. Dekkers threw for 287 yards on 48 pass attempts with one touchdown and one interception.
8. Texas Tech QB Donovan Smith (Last Week: #8)
Donovan threw for over 350 yards, but he also threw two interceptions in the loss to Kansas State. Texas Tech has a few problems on offense and one of them is the inconsistency at quarterback. Just two weeks ago we weren’t sure if Smith would be the guy moving forward and there may be a change coming soon if he doesn’t start taking care of the football.
9. West Virginia QB JT Daniels (Last Week: #5)
To be fair, nobody on JT’s team even showed up to play in Austin. There was a lack of protection up front, and his receivers were dropping passes all over the place. The offense didn’t do anything until garbage time when they were getting blown out. I know the talent is there with JT Daniels, but we just need to see more.
10. Oklahoma QB Dillon Gabriel (Last Week: #4)
This may be a little harsh considering he got injured but before his injury, he wasn’t playing well at all. He was missing throws left and right and honestly hasn’t looked like the same player we saw in non-conference play. I hope he is okay though and has a speedy recovery.
