Football around the nation is in a unique part of the offseason. College football fans are deeply invested in recruiting and takeaways from spring football games and the spring transfer portal windows. NFL fans are looking at rookies and takeaways from the draft while watching highlights from OTAs repeatedly.
Nonetheless, there’s a crave for content. There’s also too much time for discourse around the sport. For the NFL, rosters are shaking up much more like they’ll look this fall, meaning most teams have their answers at the quarterback position. Pro Football Focus ranked the 32 starting quarterbacks in the NFL.
Where do former Sooners rank in NFL quarterback rankings?
Three different former Sooners were ranked — those being Heisman-winners Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield along with Jalen Hurts, who was a runner-up for the award.. The first of the three to be ranked was Jalen Hurts, who was ranked No. 9.
“It was a roller coaster of a year for Hurts, who set career highs in passing yards, touchdowns and big-time throws, but also career highs in interceptions and lost fumbles. It was his third consecutive season of at least 10 rushing touchdowns, while he also led the position in rushing first downs,” PFF wrote.
It was noted by PFF that Hurts didn’t look healthy during his 2023 campaign, which saw him post 3,858 passing yards, 23 passing touchdowns and 15 interceptions over the course of the season, seeing his campaign come to an end at the hands of Mayfield.
The second Sooner in the rankings was Kyler Murray, coming in at No. 17.
“Murray tore his ACL in November of 2022, so we knew most of his 2023 season would be lost. On top of that, we figured the Cardinals wouldn’t be very good and there wouldn’t be a reason to rush him back. But he returned in Week 10 for an eight-game season and played decently,” PFF wrote.
Evidently, it’s hard to gauge where Murray is at in terms of current rankings. He’s got to play at full force before that differential can be made and an accurate ranking can be given. If he can return to his 2021 form, a No. 17 ranking would feel too low, but a shell of that could make No. 17 look a little high.
“His 2021 campaign was of an MVP caliber, with 43 big-time throws and just 14 turnover-worthy plays. But his 2022 season before injury was a massive step back. We will see which version of Murray comes out on top for the majority of 2024,” PFF continued.
Baker Mayfield slighted in rankings
As mentioned, Murray’s ranking is hard to give. That’s not the case for Mayfield, who posted 4,044 passing yards, 28 passing touchdowns and ten interceptions en route to a playoff berth and victory a season ago. He changed the narrative about himself as an NFL starting quarterback, too. Still, Mayfield landed a No. 20 ranking — which is oddly low after the season he had.
“Mayfield played on a one-year, “prove-it” deal in 2023, where the “prove-it” part could have spelled the end of his time as an NFL starter. It wasn’t his best season, by the numbers, but it was enough to get him a three-year extension. His last four games of the year were the catalyst,” PFF wrote.
It seems the NFL world is still piggybacking off the narrative which surrounded Mayfield on his way out of Cleveland and his two following stops. The 29-year-old quarterback has helped shift the culture for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and took the team to the playoffs a season ago, and will look much better in his second season with the team.
Another former Sooner — Caleb Williams — was ranked No. 18 in his rookie season as he’s yet to take an NFL snap. Placing him over Mayfield at this point seems laughable, though that could soon change.
READ MORE: Sooners Earn Disrespectful Post-Spring Top 25 Ranking From ESPN
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