Analyzing 4 best QBs that Texas football will face in 2022
Texas football and second-year head coach Steve Sarkisian faces an interesting road ahead this fall that starts with a difficult non-conference schedule. Sark and his staff will be put to the test right away this fall when this team faces opposition during the non-conference schedule such as the defending National Champion runner-up Alabama Crimson Tide and reigning Conference-USA Champion UTSA Roadrunners.
At least Sark and the Longhorns get a chance to build up some rhythm and momentum in Week 1 of the regular season schedule at home against the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks. That meeting with Louisiana-Monroe will take place for Texas before facing Alabama and UTSA in back-to-back weeks in mid-September to round out the non-conference schedule.
One particular area of focus for the Longhorns this fall will be the quarterbacks that this team is set to face. This won’t be a regular year for the Longhorns in terms of preparing for the opposing quarterbacks they’re set to face. The Big 12 had a record-breaking number of transfers among the projected starting quarterbacks in 2022.
Texas is one of those programs with a potential transfer at quarterback this fall in the former Ohio State Buckeyes freshman Quinn Ewers.
With at least half of the projected Big 12 starting quarterbacks this year coming about by way of the NCAA Transfer Portal, it’s clear to see why preparing for opposing offenses will be a much different task in 2022. That along with the difficult non-conference slate that Texas faces this fall makes for an interesting look at quarterback preparation in 2022.
Who are the best quarterbacks Texas football will face in 2022?
With that in mind, here’s a look at a ranking of the four best quarterbacks that the Longhorns will face during the 2022 regular season.
Honorable mentions
Blake Shapen, Baylor
One of the rising quarterbacks to watch in the Big 12 among the new starters this fall is the Baylor Bears redshirt sophomore Blake Shapen. There is a lot of hype surrounding Shapen after he led Baylor to a 3-0 run against the Oklahoma State Cowboys, Texas Tech Red Raiders, and Kansas State Wildcats as a starter last fall.
He also didn’t make many mistakes in those three games, coming up with nearly 600 passing yards, five passing touchdowns, and no interceptions.
That zero interception number can be a bit deceiving, though. Some of the tracking metrics last fall for Shapen indicate he got pretty lucky in terms of managing turnovers. Among eligible quarterbacks in the Big 12 last season, Shapen had the third-worst turnover-worthy play percentage, nearly at 6.0.
It will be interesting to see if Shapen is still able to effectively manage turnovers as he is likely to take over the full-time starting duties at quarterback for Baylor in 2022. If he can do that, Baylor is going to compete for another Big 12 Championship.
JT Daniels, West Virginia
A high-profile transfer in the Big 12 that is likely to start this fall is the former USC Trojans and Georgia Bulldogs redshirt senior JT Daniels. This late addition to the West Virginia Mountaineers quarterback room showed flashes during his time at Georgia in the last two seasons, tossing 17 passing touchdowns and just five interceptions.
The problem for Daniels remains the question of whether he can stay healthy on a consistent basis. He has yet to have a full healthy season as a starting quarterback to date in four years in college.
Adrian Martinez, Kansas State
Another well-known quarterback transfer among the projected starters in the Big 12 this fall is the former Nebraska Cornhuskers senior and grad transfer Adrian Martinez. The dual-threat ability of Martinez should be an ideal fit with Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman.
Martinez has more than three-dozen career starts under his belt, so he is certainly bringing a plethora of experience to the table for Kansas State. The main questions for Martinez at Kansas State will be his transition into this new offensive scheme along with his ability to manage turnovers.
Last season, Martinez struggled to manage turnovers, registering 14 passing touchdowns with 10 interceptions.