Athlon Sports ranks DJ Uiagalelei, ACC QBs by team

DJ Uiagalelei's season got off to a rocky start against one Georgia team and he hopes to begin a big junior campaign well against another in Atlanta on Labor Day.

by TigerNet Staff - Tue Jul 26 15:40:05 GMT-04:00 2022

The Atlantic Coast Conference could boast the top quarterback group in college football, and that makes jockeying for top conference honors -- and being an opposing defensive coordinator -- tough this season.

Athlon Sports ranked the league QBs this week and pegged returning Clemson starter DJ Uiagalelei for ninth overall.

"Uiagalelei is arguably the biggest wild card at quarterback in college football this season," Athlon said. "The California native started two games with Trevor Lawrence out, throwing for 342 yards and two touchdowns against Boston College and 439 yards and two scores on the road in South Bend against Notre Dame. However, his strong stint in ’20 didn’t carry over once he assumed the full-time role last fall. Uiagalelei started all 13 games for the Tigers and only threw for 2,246 yards and nine touchdowns to 10 picks. Also, his yards per attempt (6.0), quarterback rating (108.65), and completion percentage (55.6) all ranked near the bottom of the ACC. Uiagalelei did not eclipse more than 241 passing yards in a single contest and also had five games in which he completed less than half of his passes.

"However, while Uiagalelei struggled, not all of the problems from Clemson’s offense fall on his right arm. The Tigers need better play up front and have to get more production and big plays from the receiving corps. Uiagalelei is talented, so a bounce-back season is certainly within reach. And if his level of play is closer to the '20 version, Clemson should return to the CFB Playoff."

The top spot went to reigning division winner Wake Forest and Sam Hartman, who threw for 4,228 yards with 39 touchdowns to 14 interceptions last year. NC State's Devin Leary, Virginia's Brennan Armstrong, Miami's Tyler Van Dyke and Louisville's Malik Cunningham complete the top-5.

Four of the top-5 in the ACC's leading passer rating group return led by Armstrong under Tony Elliott's tutelage now (156.40).

In QBR rating, the top conference QB is also back with Louisville's Cunningham, who finished seventh nationally last year (81.9). Miami's Van Dyke (11th; 79.7) and Wake's Hartman (12th; 79.7) were also in the top-15, while Uiagalelei finished a forgettable 97th in the metric (43.2).