Someday Seahawks: Meet The Leaders Tribe of QB Survivor

Seaside Joe 1305: How the game works and the final six cast members

How the game works: Today will be the first Saturday that we start tallying the combined win/loss records of each tribe. In case you missed the first three, here they are:

The Hype Tribe

The Underdog Tribe

The Traits Tribe

Whichever tribe has the most losses, they go to tribal council and someone will be voted into the transfer portal and out of the game. There will also be votes to see which quarterbacks get immunity. If more than one team has the same number of losses, we can go to a tiebreaker, such as total touchdowns that weekend. When certain tribes are too small to continue, we will need to mix up the groups again, eventually leading to the merge, at which point there are no more tribes and everyone is in danger every week!

I do not envision there being nearly as many emails about QB Survivor during the NFL season as there were this week; I just needed to introduce you to the tribes and the quarterbacks. Since this game is a first of its kind, I think a FAQ is justified:

What if a QB not in the game or voted out of the game emerges as a serious draft candidate?

Certainly the endgame of this game is to come up with the best possible QBOTF, so scenarios like this one will be addressed if they pop up. I think starting with 24 QBs, plus another 16 in our “Last 4 In” vote, is a high number, but definitely not high enough to account for all possibilities. I keep telling people that if we played this game in 2011, Russell Wilson might not have been a top-40 consideration at this time of the season. A “Vote-In” situation could arise as a game twist—but not without an equal and opposite reaction.

Is it fair to total losses as some tribes get smaller, suffer injuries, or have bye weeks?

That’s the same way that Survivor is played. It *should* be fine, but I will learn how to best run the game as it’s running.

How to help a player stay in the game

The point of Tribal Council in Survivor is to state your case for why you should stay in the game. When QBs are on the chopping block, it is up to the Seasider community to make cases in the comments for why someone should stay…or why someone should go. Maybe you’re thinking, “I barely know these QBs.” Me too! That’s why we play the game—to get to know them each week.

How do Hidden Immunity Idols work?

A Hidden Immunity Idol can save a quarterback from being voted into the transfer portal at the last second. Regular Joes can earn Hidden Immunity Idols through various tasks, like sharing Seaside Joe with your friends!

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

Goodness, yes. Please. I’m just one person and getting to know this many quarterbacks at once is a monumental task. If we’re working together as a collective and a community to crowdsource information about each cast member, it becomes a manageable workload. If you see reports about a player that seem relevant, you can leave it in the comments or e-mail me directly by replying to any Seaside Joe with the links/info. Shared documents and excel sheets for tracking player games, stats, offensive schemes, red flags, etc., those would all be helpful. Information you learned on the ground from your “inside sources,” it will all be taken into account. Nice-looking graphics, using your own creative skills to donate to the cause, it would humongously appreciated. Tweeting at your favorite football or draft-related accounts, “Hey have you heard of QB Survivor?” with a link or sharing it on Reddit (NFL Draft subreddit) for example could help drive interest to what we’re doing here, and the more people playing the game, the better for all of us.

Voting and commenting are simple ways to help the cause too.

Is Seaside Joe rigging the game for Grayson McCall or Bryce Young to win?

I think we should all have our favorites and I hope that your favorites are different than my favorites. That’s what will make the Tribal Councils so intense and interesting as the game goes on! I’m just one of the Seasiders here and the community will decide the winner of QB Survivor 2023.

Please add all the questions you have that weren’t addressed in FAQ:

You have met the first three tribes and 18 cast members of QB Survivor, leaving one more to go. In the past, Survivor sometimes has themed seasons and while there are a few easily defined tribes (“All these people have “smart people” jobs”) there is sometimes a last tribe that feels more general and a way to dump the remaining cast members onto any tribe.

That might be one way to explain The Leaders Tribe. But I think that these players have displayed some semblance of putting their teams on their back in their careers and they have an all-around resume that could increase their draft stock with a strong 2022 season. Many of these cast members could exist on other tribes—a Leader could be an Underdog, a Traits could be a Leader, and even an Underdog might by a Hype guy in some way—and it all funnels into surviving through to the merge anyway.

Here is your final tribe, followed by Week 5’s relevant college football schedule.

Michael Penix, Jr., Washington - The “If not for injuries” prospect

If not for injuries, Penix might already be in the NFL. A former four-star recruit in 2018, Penix was in the same class as Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields and chose to go to Indiana, but he has yet to start more than six games in any of his previous four seasons. A torn ACL (twice) in the same knee, a shoulder injury, and other less serious ailments have prevented Penix from building on his impressive starts.

Though Tua Tagovailoa has helped ease the stigma against left-handed quarterbacks in the NFL somewhat, he is still the only southpaw in the league. Penix is one of a few lefties making their case for the draft right now. He has thrown 16 touchdowns in his first five starts, but he has also been turnover prone throughout his career as a starter, something he will need to clean up to improve his draft odds—after he proves to stay healthy for the Huskies over the course of an entire season.

Michael Penix, Jr.

Date of Birth: 5/8/2000 (draft age: 23)

Hometown: Tampa, FL

Height: 6’3

Weight: 214 lbs

Instagram: None?

Last game: 33/48, 345 yards, 4 TD, 2 INT, 6 rush, -1 yards (L 40-32 vs UCLA)

Devin Leary, NC State - The Sleeper

I may be one of the only writers who has had Devin Leary in his top-5 since last season. The arm has been compared with some of the best in the NFL, his stats in 2021 were impressive (35 TD, 5 INT), and even this article from Friday highlights why Leary’s leadership skills have propelled the Badgers back into contention. Does he have what it takes to be a team’s franchise quarterback though?

In the last 10 years, NC State has produced Russell Wilson, Jacoby Brissett, Mike Glennon, and Ryan Finley. Even if only one of those guys is a star, it’s impressive and surprising that the Wolfpack have so consistently put quarterbacks into the NFL. Leary could be the best prospect from the school since Wilson. NC State is 4-0, ranked 10th in the country, and on Saturday he attempts to beat Clemson for the second time in as many years.

Devin Leary

Date of Birth: 9/10/1999 (draft age: 24)

Hometown: Sicklerville, NJ

Height: 6’1

Weight: 216

Instagram: d__leary1

Last game: 34/44, 320 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT, 4 rush, -7 yards (W 41-10 over UConn)

Dorian Thompson-Robinson, UCLA - The Leader who won’t leave

Though he has been touted as an NFL Draft prospect several times before, DTR has had to announce his return for another season at UCLA in each of the previous two years. He’s now a fifth-year senior with 40 career starts for the Bruins and he has compiled a 72/27 TD:INT ratio with over 1,400 career rushing yards and another 19 scores. DTR has spent his entire career with Chip Kelly and while Kelly failed in the NFL, perhaps he does do good work with quarterbacks. Coming off of a win over Washington on Friday (with a 40-16 lead at one point), UCLA is 5-0 and they should be a top-15 team in the next poll.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson

Date of Birth: 11/14/1999 (draft age: 24)

Hometown: Las Vegas, NV

Height: 6’1

Weight: 205 lbs

Instagram: dorian14_

Last game: 24/33, 315 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT, 10 rush, 53 yards, 1 TD (W 40-32 over Washington)

Jake Haener, Fresno State - The transfer out of Washington

Haener was covered in the QB Survivor announcement post and he was one of our last four to be voted into the contest. Haener suffered a high ankle sprain in his last game, but should return during the season. We will monitor the situation and address if need be—regardless, he’s a draft prospect and can’t be dismissed entirely. Haener threw for over 4,000 yards with 33 touchdowns, nine interceptions in 2021. If The Leader Tribe went to tribal council, he would be on the chopping block like everyone else.

Jake Haener

Date of Birth: 3/16/1999 (draft age: 24)

Hometown: Danville, CA

Height: 6’1

Weight: 201 lbs

Instagram: jakehaener

Last game: 10/18, 117 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 3 rush, -8 yards (L 45-17 to USC)

Will Rogers, Mississippi State - The new Air Raid King

Can Mike Leach produce a top-ranked NFL quarterback? Some would say that if not for Leach, Patrick Mahomes wouldn’t exist. Even if Leach didn’t get fired five years before Mahomes arrived, the air raid style hasn’t left Texas Tech, and the offensive scheme has permeated so many colleges in the last 10-20 years. Now Leach is the head coach at Mississippi State, meaning he helped produce the Seahawks current starting left tackle. Given that Abraham Lucas is also a Leach air raid disciple, that means that Seattle has two offensive tackles out of this system. Is Seattle dropping us a hint?

Rogers threw 683 passes last season, scoring 36 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He could challenge for 50 touchdowns this season. Maybe he’s like Bailey Zappe, but better, and Zappe was a fourth round pick. He’s the youngest member of the Leaders Tribe.

Will Rogers

Date of Birth: 8/19/2001 (draft age: 22)

Hometown: Brandon, MS

Height: 6’2

Weight: 205 lbs

Instagram: wrogers_2

Last game: 39/50, 409 yards, 6 TD, 0 INT, 2 rush, -13 yards (W 45-14 over Bowling Green)

D.J. Uiagalelei, Clemson - The last minute leader

For the third time, I have had to make an executive decision at the last minute. Michigan State’s Payton Thorne was practically the final quarterback in the contest and now it would just feel a little absurd to have him as a higher ranked draft prospect than Uiagalelei; Thorne is coming off of a terrible outing against Minnesota and Uiagalelei is now tapping into that five-star potential he had as a recruit in the 2020 class. This now makes two five-star players in QB Survivor, along with Bryce Young.

The top-ranked QB in high school a few years ago, Uiagalelei follows Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence in the Clemson line of succession and after a godawful 2021 season, he’s become one of college football’s top dual threats. After a one-year hiatus from contention, the Tigers are back in the conversation for the national championship and his hype will help put Uiagalelei in the Heisman race if they keep winning. For anyone who wants to root for Anthony Richardson but who is actually playing well in college, Uiagalelei might be your favorite QB prospect.

D.J. Uiagalelei

Date of Birth: 4/17/2001 (draft age: 22)

Hometown: Bellflower, CA

Height: 6’4

Weight: 236 lbs

Instagram: shaboidj

Last game: 26/41, 371 yards, 5 TD, 0 INT, 14 rush, 52 yards (W 51-45 over Wake Forest)

You don’t see the quarterback on this list who SHOULD be on the cast? Tell me!

And there you have it: 24 Quarterbacks, 24 cast members for QB Survivor 2023, and only one can be the Seahawks’ next QBOTF. When will that winner be determined? Buckle in for the long haul, this is just the beginning…

College Football, Week 5 - Relevant QB Games

*QB Survivor Contestant

Kentucky vs Ole Miss, 9 AM PT - Will Levis*

Oklahoma vs TCU, 9 AM - Dillon Gabriel*

Oregon State vs Utah, 11 AM - Cam Rising*

Alabama vs Arkansas, 12:30 PM (Game of Week!) - Bryce Young*, K.J. Jefferson*

Rutgers vs Ohio State, 12:30 - C.J. Stroud*

Wake Forest vs Florida State, 12:30 - Sam Hartman*

Iowa State vs Kansas, 12:30 - Jalon Daniels*

Michigan State vs Maryland, 12:30 - Payton Thorne, Taulia Tagovailoa*

Texas A&M vs Miss State, 1 PM - Will Rogers*

Wagner vs Syracuse, 2 PM - Garrett Shrader*

Cal vs WSU, 2:30 PM - Cam Ward*

Georgia Southern vs Coastal Carolina, 4 PM - Grayson McCall*

Georgia vs Missouri, 4:30 - Stetson Bennett*

NC State vs Clemson, 4:30 - Devin Leary* vs D.J. Uiagalelei*

Arizona State vs USC, 7:30 - Caleb Williams (2024 Draft)

Stanford vs Oregon, 8 PM - Tanner McKee*, Bo Nix

Previous:

Thursday - Jaren Hall, BYU* (17/27, 274 yards, 3 TD)

Thursday - Spencer Rattler, South Carolina (21/27, 212 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT, 1 rush TD)

Friday - Michael Penix* and DTR*

Friday - Doug Brumfield, UNLV (24/33, 233 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT, 1 rush TD)

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