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The Draft "Expert" - Wk 9 Quarterback Prospect Rankings

Welcome back everybody and say hello to another Draft "Expert" Quarterback Prospect Ranking post! I know, this is the most exciting part of your week, just waiting to see where I rank the best available quarterbacks for the 2022 NFL Draft!


Now, as you all are probably aware of, the draft doesn't actually happen until April of 2022, so these rankings are subject to change up until the actual draft, so don't be too upset with these rankings (please), as they are week-to-week.


This week, we may see a new-ish face at the number one spot, some movement around the bottom half of the list, and, possibly, see a new face in the top 10! So again, don't be too upset with these rankings, mostly because I host a very popular podcast and therefore am smarter and 100% correct so you getting upset does nothing, and of course, because these will change in some capacity every week.


So, without any further delays, here is the Draft "Expert's" week NINE Quarterback Prospect Rankings! Enjoy!

Pictured: Desmond Ridder, Cincinnati; Malik Willis, Liberty; Sam Hartman, Wake Forest

1. Malik Willis, Liberty (+1)

Wk 9 - 19/27 307 yds 4 touchdowns 0 interceptions/8 carries 37 yds 0 touchdowns v UMass (62-17 W)

Season - 140/210 1,986 yds 21 touchdowns 6 interceptions/126 carries 684 yds 9 touchdowns

  • Well, after a couple weeks out of the top spot, Malik Willis is back as my number one quarterback for the 2022 NFL Draft. Yes, I'm aware Willis only played UMass this weekend, but that shouldn't take away from some of the amazing plays Willis made in this game. Multiple times this game we saw show off his arm talent, making throws that many could only think of. Not only did he show off skill wise, he put together a nice statistical performance, throwing for over 300 yards for the first time since November 14th last season against Western Carolina, while also throwing four touchdowns, the most he's thrown since week three against Old Dominion. After having a couple of off weeks against Middle Tennessee State and Louisiana Monroe, throwing six picks through those games, Willis looks back on, and is back up to being the number one quarterback in the 2022 NFL Draft. This weekends match-up against Ole Miss will be huge in determining if he can keep the top spot for longer.

  • Pre-Season - 3*

  • Wk 1 - 2

  • Wk 2 - 2

  • Wk 3 - 1

  • Wk 4 - 1

  • Wk 5 - 1

  • Wk 6 - 1

  • Wk 7 - 2

  • Wk 8 - 2

  • Wk 9 - 1

  • Wk 10 - @ no.15 Ole Miss

2. Matt Corral, Ole Miss (-1)

Wk 9 - 21/37 289 yds 0 touchdowns 1 interception/10 carries 45 yds 1 touchdown @ no.18 Auburn (31-20 L)

Season - 161/244 2,202 yds 15 touchdowns 2 interceptions/110 carries 519 yds 10 touchdowns

  • For the first time since November 9th of 2019, Matt Corral did not throw a touchdown pass in a game. Not only that, Corral finished up with more interceptions than touchdowns for the first time since the infamous five interception game against LSU. Though he didn't put together the best statistical game, Corral showed a lot of toughness, after getting carted off for an apparent ankle injury in the first quarter, Corral finished out the game, while also leading Ole Miss to their first touchdown of the game right after leaving the locker room. With his rushing touchdown on Saturday, Corral did become only the fourth QB in SEC history to throw for 15 touchdowns and rush for 10, with the other three being Tim Tebow in 2007, Johnny Manziel in 2012, and Dak Prescott in 2014. To in the company of two Heisman winners/first round draft picks and one of the best starters in the NFL is something to be really proud of. That being said, though it's impressive, I think Willis did enough this weekend to move back to number one. Like I said above, the match-up between Ole Miss and Liberty will not only be fun to watch, but could mean a lot in regards to the pairs draft stock. I'm very excited for Saturday's match-up.

  • Pre-Season - 8*

  • Wk 1 - 6

  • Wk 2 - 5

  • Wk 3 - 4

  • Wk 4 - 3

  • Wk 5 - 2

  • Wk 6 - 2

  • Wk 7 - 1

  • Wk 8 - 1

  • Wk 9 - 2

  • Wk 10 - v Liberty

3. Carson Strong, Nevada

Wk 9 - 37/49 417 yds 4 touchdowns 1 interception/2 carries 4 yds 0 touchdowns v UNLV (51-20 W)

Season - 253/356 2,883 yds 24 touchdowns 5 interceptions/27 carries -97 yds 0 touchdowns

  • I'm pretty sure we've said this for a few weeks now, but Carson Strong has been getting better as the season has gone on. In the past four weeks, Strong has thrown 16 touchdowns as opposed to three interceptions. I think an important thing to note after this game, is the fact that Strong rushed for more than zero yards for the just the second time this season. Sure it was only four yards, but progress is progress ain't it? Strong may not be the most mobile quarterback in the 2022 NFL Draft, but is one of the most fun ones to watch, when he's on. Strong puts up great numbers and has all the physical tools to keep moving up the draft board. I'm excited to see how he does this weekend against a decent San Jose State team that took a good San Diego State team to double overtime.

  • Pre-Season - 5*

  • Wk 1 - 6

  • Wk 2 - 6

  • Wk 3 - 6

  • Wk 4 - 6

  • Wk 5 - 6

  • Wk 6 - 4

  • Wk 7 - 4

  • Wk 8 - 3

  • Wk 9 - 3

  • Wk 10 - v San Jose State

4. Desmond Ridder, Cincinnati

Wk 9 - 17/27 227 yds 3 touchdowns 1 interception/13 carries 47 yds 0 touchdowns @ Tulane (31-12 W)

Season - 143/225 1,847 yds 18 touchdowns 4 interceptions/55 carries 171 yds 3 touchdowns

  • I know Cincinnati won by 19 points on Saturday, but this game was a whole lot harder than it needed to be for the Bearcats. At halftime, Cincinnati was leading the Green Wave by a score of 14-12, before waking up, to some capacity, in the second half and scoring 17 unanswered points. To me, again, though they ended up winning pretty comfortably, this is the second straight week where Cincinnati struggled against team's they should be obliterating. Combined, Navy and Tulane's record equals 3-13. I don't know if it's Cincinnati overlooking their weaker opponents or what, but these types of performances don't help their Playoff cause through the eye's of the group of five "haters." All that being said, Desmond Ridder had a decent game, throwing for 227 yards and three touchdowns while also rushing for a season high 47 yards. I understand why Ridder doesn't run much (I think he wants to show people how good of a passer he is) but I wished he used his legs a little bit more. For this next game against Tulsa, I'm expecting a big game from Ridder and the Bearcats. I hope they can just put Tulsa away early and not have to wait for a second half adjustment like we've seen recently. Being back at home could be big for Cincy.

  • Pre-Season - 4*

  • Wk 1 - 3

  • Wk 2 - 4

  • Wk 3 - 5

  • Wk 4 - 5

  • Wk 5 - 5

  • Wk 6 - 3

  • Wk 7 - 3

  • Wk 8 - 4

  • Wk 9 - 4

  • Wk 10 - v Tulsa

5. Kenny Pickett, Pitt

Wk 9 - 39/55 519 yds 3 touchdowns 2 interceptions/9 carries -10 yds 0 touchdowns v Miami (38-34 L)

Season - 207/299 2,755 yds 26 touchdowns 3 interceptions/64 carries 185 yds 3 touchdowns

  • I think it's pretty clear Kenny Pickett has been the biggest surprise in regards to quarterback success stories this season. As of right now, Pickett sits in the top four in passing touchdowns with 26 and top six in passing yards with 2,755. What's been arguably more impressive is the fact that he had only thrown one interception prior to this week, coming in week four against Western Michigan. This week though, against one of the worst passing defenses in college football, Pickett tossed a pair of picks, and they weren't great one's either, with both coming out of a clean pocket to throw from. Now, Pickett did put up a crap ton of yards, throwing for 519 yards with three touchdowns, but the picks were pretty bad. I think Pickett is definitely trending in the right direction in regards to becoming a first round draft pick, but this was just wasn't his best week, in regards to holding onto the ball. I think he'll move even further up eventually, but this week, I don't think he did enough to pass the other quarterbacks. This week though, against a Duke team that has a bottom 10 pass defense, I expect Pickett to go off. Other ACC quarterbacks like Sam Howell, Brennan Armstrong, and most recently, Sam Hartman, have posted great numbers against this Duke team, I expect the same from Pickett come Saturday.

  • Pre-Season - 16*

  • Wk 1 - N/R

  • Wk 2 - N/R

  • Wk 3 - 9

  • Wk 4 - 9

  • Wk 5 - 7

  • Wk 6 - 6

  • Wk 7 - 6

  • Wk 8 - 5

  • Wk 9 - 5

  • Wk 10 - @ Duke

6. Sam Howell, North Carolina

Wk 9 - 24/31 341 yds 1 touchdown 1 interception/18 carries 91 yds 1 touchdown @ no.11 Notre Dame (44-34 L)

Season - 153/242 2,192 yds 19 touchdowns 7 interceptions/114 carries 585 yds 6 touchdowns

  • This was going to be a tough match-up for the Tar Heels, facing a top 25 team on the road at night? Rough. That being said, Howell did his best and basically tried to take on the Fighting Irish by himself on Saturday. Throwing for 341 yards with a touchdown to go along with 91 yards on the ground with a touchdown there as well. With those 91 yards on the ground, Howell has now rushed for over 90 yards in six of the eight games he's played in this season. If anything, this season Howell has proved that he is a very good athlete at the quarterback position, posing as a much bigger threat in the run game than he had in previous years. That being said, he has had a lot of inconsistencies when it comes to the passing game. At this point in the season, Howell has thrown seven interceptions, which ties his first two year's at North Carolina, and there's still four games to go plus the bowl game, if they make one of course. I think Howell is extremely talented, but I this year has been pretty disappointing when you consider the expectations placed on him at the beginning of the season. This week though could be big, as the Tar Heels are taking on the 10th ranked Demon Deacons this weekend at home. Though this season has kind of been a wash for everyone at North Carolina, I'm sure they'd love to upset Wake Forest on Saturday, easier said than done though.

  • Pre-Season - 2*

  • Wk 1 - 4

  • Wk 2 - 3

  • Wk 3 - 3

  • Wk 4 - 4

  • Wk 5 - 4

  • Wk 6 - 5

  • Wk 7 - 5

  • Wk 8 - 6

  • Wk 9 - 6

  • Wk 10 - v no.10 Wake Forest

7. Dorian Thompson-Robinson, UCLA

Wk 9 - Didn't play, injured

Season - 123/207 1,639 yds 14 touchdowns 3 interceptions/97 carries 364 yds 6 touchdowns

  • As predicted, DTR did not play this past Saturday against Utah due to an injured hand, which he suffered against Oregon. Though he tried to finish the game, he was eventually pulled and subsequently missed this weekends game against Utah. Both UCLA and DTR could use a bye week, as they're coming off of back-to-back losses. Hopefully for the Bruins, DTR is back and healthy by the time they take on Colorado on the 13th.

  • Pre-Season - 13*

  • Wk 1 - H/M

  • Wk 2 - 10

  • Wk 3 - 7

  • Wk 4 - 7

  • Wk 5 - 8

  • Wk 6 - 8

  • Wk 7 - 7

  • Wk 8 - 7

  • Wk 9 - 7

  • Wk 10 - BYE

8. Jake Haener, Fresno State (+2)

Wk 9 - 25/42 306 yds 1 touchdown 0 interceptions/3 carries -11 yds 0 touchdowns @ no.21 San Diego State (30-20 W)

Season - 230/344 2,888 yds 23 touchdowns 6 interceptions/49 carries 20 yds 3 touchdowns

  • Last week, we talked about how Jake Haener's numbers had kind of been trending down, as opposed to the start of the season, and we kind of expected that trend to continue against a good San Diego State defense. Long story short, that wasn't the case, as Haener threw for 306 yards and a touchdown in a 30-20 upset win on the road against the then 21st ranked Aztecs. This was Haener's first 300+ yard passing game since the beginning of October, when Fresno State took on Hawaii. That being said, Haener did throw four or his six interceptions against the Rainbow Warriors that day, so maybe we shouldn't use that one as an example for improved play. All in all, this was a nice game for the Bulldogs, who find themselves back in the top 25 for the first time since that afore mentioned Hawaii game, which they lost 27-24. This week will be a tough one for Haener and co. as they're taking on Boise State, and though the Broncos passing defense isn't the best, we may see Fresno resort to the run game, as Boise State has allowed a 100+ yard rusher in every game they've lost this season. Even Nevada, who's as one dimensional as it gets, had a 100 yard rusher against the Broncos. So we may not see an insane performance from Haener, but I still would like to see him show some consistency with his completion percentage, as he only completed over 60% of his passes once during the month of October (68.4% against Nevada).

  • Pre-Season - N/A*

  • Wk 1 - N/A

  • Wk 2 - N/A

  • Wk 3 - N/A

  • Wk 4 - H/M

  • Wk 5 - H/M

  • Wk 6 - H/M

  • Wk 7 - 10

  • Wk 8 - 10

  • Wk 9 - 8

  • Wk 10 - v Boise State

9. Jayden Daniels, Arizona State

Wk 9 - 23/35 228 yds 1 touchdown 2 interceptions/10 carries 31 yds 0 interceptions v Washington State (34-21 L)

Season - 139/203 1,734 yds 7 touchdowns 5 interceptions/79 carries 432 yds 4 touchdowns

  • Well, it finally happened. For the first time this season, Arizona State quarterback Jayden Daniels has thrown a touchdown pass in back-to-back games. Though it resulted in a double digit loss at home and saw him throw more interceptions than touchdowns, this was a big moment for Daniels this season. Prior to this game, Daniels had thrown six interceptions, with those six coming in just three games, and again, none of them coming in a row. This is big because we needed to see Daniels completed some more drives through the air. That being said, though that was nice to see, this is ASU's second straight double digit loss, losing 35-21 to Utah and now 34-21 to Washington State. What made this game arguably worse though is the fact that ASU waited until the final five minutes of the game to finally wake up (Daniels didn't play the last drive), after being down 34-7 up until that point. They also didn't score their first touchdown of the game until the final few seconds of the first half. This game, as a whole, was just a giant "L." ASU needs to have consistent stretches of play were they look threatening on the offensive side of the ball, and need Daniels to keep on throwing passing touchdowns. As of right now, he's the only quarterback on this list that doesn't have over 10 passing touchdowns. I really like Jayden Daniels and he's improved a lot on his completion percentage, I just want to see him throw some touchdowns.

  • Pre-Season - 9*

  • Wk 1 - 10

  • Wk 2 - 7

  • Wk 3 - 10

  • Wk 4 - 10

  • Wk 5 - 9

  • Wk 6 - 7

  • Wk 7 - 9

  • Wk 8 - 9

  • Wk 9 - 9

  • Wk 10 - v USC

10. Sam Hartman, Wake Forest (NEW)

Wk 9 - 24/37 402 yds 3 touchdowns 0 interceptions/6 carries 61 yds 2 touchdowns v Duke (45-7 W)

Season - 163/250 2,475 yds 22 touchdowns 3 interceptions/50 carries 207 yds 6 touchdowns

  • Welcome to the top 10 Sam Hartman! To be quite honest, I don't know why we haven't mentioned Hartman one time this season, as Hartman and the Demon Deacons currently ranked 10th in the nation and hold an 8-0 record. I don't know what it is, but like Kenny Pickett, Hartman has kind of come out of nowhere to put up some very impressive numbers. Throwing for just under 2,500 yards with 22 touchdowns and just three interceptions. He's also been very solid on the ground, as he has posted 207 yards with six touchdowns on 50 carries. Before this season, Hartman's career high's in passing were 2,224 yds (2020), 16 touchdowns (2018), and a career high completion percentage of 58.2% (2020). His rushing numbers are about to be just as improved too, with a career high of 275 yards on 107 carries in 2018, Hartman has almost 210 on less than half the carries. As we essentially said above, Hartman's current numbers shit on his previous ones. I don't have a real reason for not mentioning him prior, but Hartman and the Demon Deacons have been making some serious noise recently and deserve some respect. Once again, welcome to the top 10 Sam Hartman!

  • Pre-Season - N/A*

  • Wk 1 - N/A

  • Wk 2 - N/A

  • Wk 3 - N/A

  • Wk 4 - N/A

  • Wk 5 - N/A

  • Wk 6 - N/A

  • Wk 7 - N/A

  • Wk 8 - N/A

  • Wk 9 - 10

  • Wk 10 - @ North Carolina

*out of 20

Others

*in order of last name

  • Brennan Armstrong, Virginia

    • Wk 9 - 22/34 337 yds 4 touchdowns 2 interceptions/11 carries 94 yds 2 touchdowns @ no.25 BYU (66-49 L)

    • Season - 261/406 3,557 yds 27 touchdowns 8 interceptions/81 carries 271 yds 7 touchdowns

  • Hendon Hooker, Tennessee

    • Wk 9 - BYE

    • Season - 114/166 1,578 yds 17 touchdowns 2 interceptions/101 carries 416 yds 4 touchdowns

  • Devin Leary, NC State (NEW)

    • Wk 9 - 25/36 317 yds 4 touchdowns 0 interceptions/3 carries -3 yds 0 touchdowns v Louisville (28-13 W)

    • Season - 189/286 yds 2,161 yds 21 touchdowns 2 interceptions/31 carries -37 yds 2 touchdowns

  • Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina

    • Wk 9 - 14/26 294 yds 2 touchdowns 1 interception/15 carries 59 yds 1 touchdown v Troy (35-28 W)

    • Season - 116/158 2,063 yds 17 touchdowns 2 interceptions/55 carries 138 yds 3 touchdowns

  • Tanner McKee, Stanford (-3)

    • Wk 9 - 21/32 194 yds 0 touchdowns 2 interceptions/4 carries -15 yds 1 touchdown v Washington (20-13 L)

    • Season - 160/247 1,916 yds 14 touchdowns 5 interceptions/50 carries 36 yds 4 touchdowns

Thank you for taking the time to read through the list! Hope you enjoyed it! If you did, give the article a like and comment down below how you felt!


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