A Look At The 2016 Big 12 Starting QBs (Part 3)

We looked at Part 1 here, Part 2 here and Kyle P. made fun of Texas’ QB situation here. Now on to Part 3. The bottom tier of starting QBs in the Big 12 (which could still turn out to be pretty good).

Texas, Shane Buechele, Fr. (others competing include Tyrone Swoopes, Jerrod Heard)

Charlie Strong has yet to pick his starting QB in a year in which he must win or will likely be fired. The early favorite is Buechele, the freshman QB who ranked as the No. 13 QB recruit in last year’s class. Buechele has reportedly shown the ability to lead, compete, and has shown off his athletic process in practice. One look at his high school tape shows just how electrifying he can be.

Buechele is a little undersized at 6’1 but has an easy motion and a pretty deep ball. He also has the ability to take off and move around in the pocket quickly, which makes him tough to bottle up. It remains to be seen if the freshman can produce in his first season of college football, but Texas may have finally found its answer at QB after years of searching.

Kansas State — Alex Delton, Jesse Ertz, Joe Hubener

Looking for a QB battle even more open than TCU? Kansas State has three contenders for their starting QB position, including two who were lost to season-ending knee injuries in 2015.

Alex Delton: the redshirt freshman was injured after just two games his freshman year, but was the top QB recruit in Kansas and the 23rd-best dual-threat QB in the country by Rivals coming out of high school. Delton is a little undersized at 6’0, but likes to get outside and run, which can make him tough to gameplan for.

Jesse Ertz: Ertz was the victim of poor luck last year. After winning the starting job for the Wildcats out of fall camp, Ertz suffered a season-ending knee injury the very first play from scrimmage. Ertz is a more traditional pocket passer at 6’3 who broke the Iowa state record for career passing touchdowns with 98 in 2012. Ertz will look to re-win the starting job again in 2016.

Joe Hubener: Hubener stepped in last year due to injuries and played below average, throwing 10 interceptions to 9 touchdowns and just a 107.3 QBR. Hubener does have some experience after starting 11 games last year, and will look to keep his starting spot this year.

Iowa State — Joel Lanning, So.

Lanning took over towards the end of last season for the Cyclones, finishing with 10 TD’s and 4 picks in 11 games played. Lanning was unspectacular but showed some promise in a few games in 2015, putting up 27 points against Baylor after entering the game, beating Texas 24-0 while throwing for 188 yards and running for 64 more, and nearly upsetting the Cowboys after rushing for 130 yards and 2 touchdowns. Lanning likes to get out and make plays with his feet, which is good considering Iowa State’s line struggled mightily at times and may not be too stout in 2016 either.

Kansas, Ryan Willis, So.

Willis is a sophomore out of Bishop Miege in Kansas City, a former three-star recruit who threw for 9 touchdowns and 10 picks as a freshman in 2015. Willis is a pocket passer but often did not have hardly any time to throw behind KU’s awful offensive line last year. Willis did suffer a setback this off-season when he fractured his wrist in a pick up basketball game, but is back on the field now and looking healthy again. Willis will look to improve as a Sophomore and get Kansas in the win column this year, after going winless as a freshman.