QB Survivor: YOU MUST VOTE SOMEONE OUT
YOU ARE QUALIFIED TO HAVE YOUR VOICE HEARD!
Before we even begin, please read this sentence: You ARE qualified to have a vote in this. Stop doubting yourself, even if you feel you “don’t know enough to have a say,” trust me: YOU DO! The only prerequisite for participating in QB Survivor is that you made it this far.
Congratulations. YOU can now help decide the Seattle Seahawks perfect QBOTF!
And thanks to Seasider Coach Doug, you can track ALL THE QBs and ALL THEIR STATS in this handy spreadsheet found here!
(If you have suggestions for how to improve the sheet, what categories you’d like added, it’s a work we want to keep updating!)
For anyone who says, “I’ll leave it to the professionals,” just remember that professionals drafted JaMarcus Russell, Tim Couch, Blaine Gabbert. Professionals passed on Russell Wilson, Tom Brady, and Dak Prescott. Professionals let the Seahawks sign Geno Smith for practically nothing! I’ve long said that nobody can tell the difference between “good” and “bad”—
“I lost my job!” Sometimes that’s good.
“I won the lottery!” Sometimes that’s bad.
QB Survivor is not meant to test your ability to judge the best human being in the world capable of becoming the next Seahawks star. QB Survivor is meant to be an exercise in education, information, and how perceptions may change over time. But I want to focus more on who these prospects are and eventually whittle this list down to a handful of quarterbacks who by draft time next year, maybe you, and I, and Bob Condotta are really going to bat for someone we wouldn’t have otherwise even been aware of otherwise.
I know many of you have been apprehensive so that’s why I wanted to bat leadoff by saying: You’re good! You’re worthy! Let’s play!
Now let’s talk about who can no longer play QB Survivor.
The Hype Tribe had the roughest week of any of our four groups in Week 6: Bryce Young and K.J. Jefferson both sat out of their games with injury concerns (tough to blame a QB’s size as the culprit given that these two are of exact opposite dimensions) and the other four starters went 1-3.
Since Hendon Hooker won his start against LSU by 27 points (17/27, 239 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT, 56 rushing yards) and because Young, Jefferson were both on the sidelines (but reasonably safe going into the week), I am going to leave the three losing quarterbacks as the options for you to send into the transfer portal.
You can either choose to Vote Now or read a brief summary of the three quarterbacks who are up for the Transfer Portal this week!
VOTE HERE!
Tyler Van Dyke, Miami
Why keep?
Van Dyke (6’4, 225 lbs, strong arm) is easily the closest thing to a prototypical “first round prospect” of these three options.
One of the top-ranked recruits of the 2020 class, Van Dyke hasn’t quite blown up like C.J. Stroud, but he’s also not playing for Ohio State. Going into the season, his sophomore campaign (9 Y/A, 25 TD, 6 INT) under head coach Manny Diaz strongly suggested that he was advancing in the right direction and a candidate to be one of the top-three quarterbacks drafted in 2023. If Van Dyke was one of the leading Heisman candidates today, I wouldn’t even consider risking him for elimination this early in the game.
Why ship?
If he’s up for elimination though, that must mean he’s not a Heisman candidate. Indeed, he’s not even close. Under new head coach Mario Cristobal, Van Dyke seems to be moving backwards, not forward. Taking his Week 1 game against Bethune-Cookman off the record, Van Dyke has five touchdown passes in four games against FBS competition. But the schedule has been easy and some were surprised he wasn’t benched after a loss to Middle Tennessee State in Week 4 (16/32, 2 INTs) and though he threw for 496 yards and three touchdowns last weekend, it took him 57 pass attempts to get there.
Season: 99/159, 1,112 yards, 62.3%, 7 Y/A, 5 TD, 4 INT, 122.3 rating
Van Dyke is very much one game away from either raising his stock considerably or being benched.
Cameron Rising, Utah
Why keep?
Rising had easily the most votes in our “Last 4 In” survey and I don’t know how much of that was based on me comparing him to George Costanza or not, but it wouldn’t matter anyway. Anything could be a good reason! You can read more about his background, and Taulia’s, in the Last 4 In article.
Better yet, Rising is a good player and has good size, potentially getting his name in the conversation as the top offensive player in the Pac-12 this season. Year over year, the 6’2, 220 lb Rising has upped his completion percentage from 64 to 69-percent, his adjusted Y/A from 8.3 to 9.2, and his passer rating from 146.7 to 161.3. He’s also been one of the best dual threats in the country, rushing for 248 yards and three touchdowns in six starts. Last season against Ohio State, Rising went 17/22 for 214 yards with 2 TDs, rushing for 92 yards and another score. That should answer some questions about how he does against better teams.
As you can see below, Rising only trails Dorian Thompson-Robinson in QBR among Pac-12 QBs, but nobody is even close to him in terms of value as a runner.
Why ship?
Not that we take draft evaluations all that seriously at this stage of the process, but it is worth noting that the idea of Cameron Rising as a “first round pick” or even as a guy who gets considered before the sixth or seventh round has never really been bandied about by most experts. This past week against UCLA, Rising went 23/32 for 287 yards and rushed for two touchdowns. He did, however, throw one interception and no touchdowns.
Season: 118/171, 69%, 1,440 yards, 8.4 Y/A, 13 TD, 3 INT, 248 rush yards, 3 TD
Rising was expected to be a candidate to move up draft boards with a good year. Is he en route to that or was the loss to UCLA a sign of things to come?
Taulia Tagovailoa, Maryland
Why keep?
Tagovailoa does have the obvious NFL bloodlines and a strong enough recruiting resume to get him an invite to Alabama in 2019. They wouldn’t simply do that for Tua’s sake, would they? Tagovailoa next went to Maryland and assumed a starting role almost immediately, gradually getting better every year.
After a tough three-game stretch last season that saw him throw eight interceptions, Tagovailoa settled in with 12 TD/3 INT and 2 rush TD in Maryland’s final seven games of 2021. If you tacked that onto his 2022 season, that’s 23 TD/8 INT in his last 13 games at a program not typically known for its quarterbacks.
He seems to excel under pressure and he has been praised for arm strength and athleticism.
Why ship?
Tagovailoa (5’11, 205 lbs) finished second behind Rising in total points for the “Last 4 In” votes, but that was because of a strong showing in fourth place votes. In many ways, Tagovailia really was the “last one in” for the competition. Interceptions are a real issue: Five against Iowa last season and at least one in four of six starts this year. And 23 total in 23 games for Maryland.
Season: 146/197, 74%, 1,731 yards, 11 TD, 5 INT, 33 rush, 88 yards, 2 TD
Taulia is not nearly the prospect that Tua was, but without forcing that comparison, has he done enough to prove he deserves a shot in the NFL Draft? Maryland
VOTE HERE!
For “Who do you want to protect?” please choose your favorite of the six options, it doesn’t have to be one of the three QBs who are on the chopping block. This is so we can gauge how people feel about all six QBs, not necessarily to save anyone from elimination this week.
Van Dyke would be my vote to go. The TD/INT ratio is ugly, and he has taken more sacks that half of the total group. If you are taking sacks instead of throwing INTs because no one is open, that is ok, but his INTs are in the top quarter of the class also.
"Moving" Van Dyke has got to go!
So Rising is on the hot seat why? He ran for two Td's and threw an int but that is just one game with an offense that was sputtering. His best guy is out for the season in Kuthie and his receivers are a bunch of nobody's. Yet he could be in the running for Pac 12 player of the year. He stays