*Stats through November 12, 2017
10. Wilton Speight, Michigan (0.04 WAR)
Kinda like Tanner Lee.. he’s fine, just not very good. He’s not going to win you any games with his arm. I know he’s been hurt most of the year, but this doesn’t take that into account. At least he’s better than John O’Korn (-1.16 WAR).
9. Tanner Lee, Nebraska (0.09 WAR)
Much to the surprise of no one, Tanner Lee is not very good. In fact, he’s literally replacement level. He would likely be much worse on this list if we counted all the touchdowns he threw to the other team.
8. Richard Lagow, Indiana (0.27 WAR)
This is borderline surprising as Lagow isn’t even a starter on his own team anymore. However, outside of the Ohio State game, he hadn’t put up many numbers, but due to the small sample sizes of some of his games being efficient, he got a little but of a boost. I don’t think he’s actually a top ten QB in the league, and neither does Indiana.
7. Brandon Peters, Michigan (0.67 WAR)
It doesn’t take much to be the best QB at Michigan in 2017. After starting three games, Peters already surpassed both of the guys who started ahead of him earlier in the year. While Peters doesn’t light up the scoreboard, he has been efficient, which this model values.
6. Clayton Thorson, Northwestern (0.84 WAR)
This was the first one that stuck out to me. I thought Thorson might be towards the top of the list. Upon farther inspection, he hasn’t been great this year. Throwing multiple interceptions in games against Duke, Wisconsin, Penn State, Maryland, and Nebraska all hurt him, as well as no throwing for a single touchdown in four other games.
5. Peyton Ramsey, Indiana (0.85 WAR)
Here’s another head-scratcher impacted by sample size. Splitting time with Lagow seems to have helped both of these guys. His 279 yards and three touchdowns against Maryland didn’t hurt though.
4. Nathan Stanley, Iowa (0.85 WAR)
Just barely edging out Ramsey, Stanley is a guy I thought might be at the top of this list. He’s passed the eye test for me and looked like a pretty good QB in most games I’ve seen him play. The most yards Stanley has thrown for in a conference game this year was 247 against Illinois and he’s only crossed the 200 yards threshold two other times in conference play. While Big Ten defenses are pretty good, those aren’t great numbers.
3. Brian Lewerke, Michigan State (1.13 WAR)
Lewerke has been really good in a few games this year. He threw for 445 yards and 400 yards against Northwestern and Penn State respectively, not to mention his four touchdowns and no interceptions in the Northwestern game. He is also helped out by the garbage time passing stats against Notre Dame as he racked up 340 yards on 51 attempts. While the model tries to strip some of that away, that still looks like a very good performance against a pretty solid Irish defense.
2. J.T. Barrett, Ohio State (1.32 WAR)
Despite being possibly the most polarizing player in the country in quite some time, QB WAR thinks Barrett is a pretty solid player. Some think he’s good, some think he’s not, but he’s still the Big Ten all time leader in passing touchdowns. This model also doesn’t take into account his running ability, which might even put him at the top of this list.
1. Trace McSorely, Penn State (1.77 WAR)
He may not be the most talented player in the world, but McSorely does what James Franklin and Joe Moorhead ask of him: throw bombs. Between his deep passes to his talented receivers and check downs to Saquon Barkley that get taken to the house, Trace McSorely has put up some major numbers this year. McSorely is helped by his completion percentage and some highly efficient games, such as going 23-36 with 315 yards against Indiana. He’s definitely not the best QB in the country, but he rules the Big Ten as a passer.
