Best College Quarterbacks: Part 2

Some Chiefs fans have already decided the team needs to grab a quarterback in the 2009 NFL Draft.

If you are one of those fans, then you should know something about the potential selections. Over three days, we’ll provide you with a look at the top 25 quarterbacks that could be available in April ‘09.

That’s could be available because this list includes not only the top senior quarterbacks, but junior quarterbacks who would all be eligible for selection. The juniors would have to declare for the draft. Plus, there are three sophomore quarterbacks thrown in as well.

The NFL draft rules say a player must be three years removed from high school graduation to be eligible to apply for early entrance into the annual selection meeting. Thus, any sophomore who took a redshirt season would be three years removed and thus eligible. It’s very rare for any sophomores to leave early, especially quarterbacks. But just to cover all the bases, we’ve added three of them to the mix.

We had our group of the first eight on Wednesday. Here’s the second eight and on Friday we will finish up with the final nine. They are listed in alphabetical order.

JOSH FREEMAN/Kansas State        JR    6-6, 248                                   1/13/1988

Freeman’s story is well known around Kansas City, where he was one of the best schoolboy football prospects of the last decade. At Grandview High School he threw for 7,175 yards and 78 TD passes. Freeman narrowed his college choices to K-State, Kansas, Nebraska and Oregon, choosing the Wildcats. He became a starter as a freshman in ‘06, opening the final eight games of K-State’s season. He’s got the size that NFL teams like and the arm strength. While he’s not a dual threat quarterback on the run, he has shown the ability to get himself out of trouble with his feet. Coming into this season, most scouts pegged him as a first-round talent for the 2010 Draft with continued improvement.

MAX HALL/Brigham Young*        JR    6-1, 200                               10/? /1985

*-spent freshman-redshirt season at Arizona State

Hall graduated from Mountain View High School in Mesa, AZ with the class of 2004. He threw for 4,789 yards and 61 TDs while leading his team to a 27-1 record and two state title appearances. Hall was recruited by Miami, Northwestern, Arizona State, Brigham Young and Washington State. He picked Arizona State and spent the ‘04 season there as a redshirt freshman. He spent ‘05 on a Mormon Church mission and then transferred to Brigham Young where he sat out the ‘06 season. When he finally got on the field last year, he threw for 3,848 yards. He’s smart, athletic and has a good arm, but lacks the size NFL teams seek. Hall is much like previous BYU quarterbacks; very good in the system, very smart, mature, but lacking top level physical tools.

CULLEN HARPER/Clemson        SR    6-4, 220                               10/1/1985

Coming into the ‘08 season, Harper was probably the highest rated QB on most NFL team’s pre-season lists. But the Tigers have struggled through the early part of this season and so has Harper, hurting his draft stock. He came out of Sequoyah High School in Canton, Georgia. As a senior, he played only two games and missed the rest of the season due to injury. He was still recruited heavily and narrowed his considerations to Clemson, Auburn, Georgia Tech and South Carolina. In ‘04 he took a redshirt season. In ‘05, he played in one game and took five snaps. The next year he was Clemson’s backup quarterback, playing behind starter Will Proctor. Harper became the starter in the ‘07 season. He’s got good size, a strong arm and he’s very intelligent; he graduated last May and is taking graduate school classes this fall. He’ll likely be one of the first QBs drafted in 2009, but his placement could improve if he has a strong finish to his season.

GRAHAM HARRELL/Texas Tech        SR    6-2, 205                        5/22/1985

Coming out of Ennis High School in Ennis, Texas, Harrell held numerous state high school records including career passing yardage (12,532 yards) and career TD passes with 167. He played for his father Sam Harrell. He was recruited heavily by Georgia, North Carolina State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Purdue and Kansas State. Now in his third season running Mike Leach’s spread offense in Lubbock, Harrell shatters passing records on a regular basis. There’s no question this young man can throw the football, as he now has over 25,000 passing yards in high school and college and 274 TD passes. NFL scouts are concerned that he’s a system QB, who will have trouble making the adjustment to taking the snap under center and reading defenses while backpedaling. Harrell’s big senior season so far has him climbing some scouts rankings.

TIM HILLER/Western Michigan        JR    6-5, 228                          12/13/1986

Hiller was highly recruited coming out of Orrville High School in Orrville, Ohio, where he threw for 7,222 yards and graduated with a 4.0 GPA. He picked Western Michigan over Louisville, Pitt and Maryland. He made five starts as a freshman in ‘05, but sat out the ‘06 schedule with torn knee ligaments that he suffered at the end of the previous season. He came back in the ‘07 season and firmly grasped the starting job and has held it ever since. He’s got the size that NFL teams are looking for at the position, as well as the intelligence and arm strength. Hiller is not very mobile. His strong season to date has him climbing the charts in NFL draft rooms. He started the season as a late-round consideration.    

CHASE HOLBROOK/New Mexico State*    SR    6-5, 245

*-spent freshman season at Southeastern Louisiana

Coming out of L.D. Bell High School in Hurst, Texas, Holbrook was a wishbone quarterback who threw for just 1,215 yards as a prep passer. He was recruited by TCU, Tulsa and Missouri although they wanted him to play tight end. The only school that recruited him as a quarterback was Southeast Louisiana and head coach Hal Mumme, one of the pioneers in the spread offense. Holbrook played in 10 games as a true freshman in ‘04. When Mumme left SELA for New Mexico State, Holbrook followed and sat out the ‘05 season. He became the Aggies starting QB in ‘06 and has been there ever since, racking up big numbers, if not a lot of victories. New Mexico State is 10-18 in his 28 starts. Holbrook has the size the NFL is looking for and he’s a good athlete, although he’s not produced much as a runner. Right now he’s considered a late-round prospect.

COLIN KAEPERNICK/Nevada        SO-R    6-6, 215                          11/3/1987

At Pitnam High School in Turlock, California, Kaepernick was an all-state selection in football, basketball and baseball. As a senior, he threw for 1,954 yards, 25 TDs and six INTs. It was as a pitcher with top-end speed that seemed to be his future, but he decided he wanted to play college football and accepted a scholarship from Nevada. He sat out the ‘06 in a redshirt season and became the Wolves starter as an injury replacement five games into the ‘07 season. By the end of the season, Kaepernick won the WAC freshman player of the year. Good size, good arm, top end athletic ability, mobile and smart. This guy has the whole package, and two more seasons to play on the college level.

CASE KEENUM/Houston        SO-R    6-2, 212                               2/17/1988

Keenum comes out of Wylie, Texas where he threw for 6,783 yards and 48 TD passes. He led this team to a 31-11 record in his starts, and also ran for 2,000 yards and scored 41 rushing touchdowns. He was recruited by Baylor, North Texans and UTEP, but selected the Cougars program where he spent the’ 06 season as a redshirt. He played in all 13 games in the ‘07 season, with seven starts and won Conference USA Freshman of the Year honors. A smart, savy quarterback who can make plays with both his arm and his legs. He’s very accurate and doesn’t make many mistakes for a young QB. It would be folly for him to come out in the ‘09 Draft, as another year, possibly two at Houston will only increase his stock.

(We’ll look at nine more quarterbacks to finish out our top 25, from Central Michigan’s Dan Lefevour through John Parker Wilson at Alabama.)