Rams Rookie QB Watch: Is Arch Manning-watch back?

This past week of the college football season was uneventful from a quarterback perspective to say the least. Ty Simpson and Dante Moore were on a bye week while Fernando Mendoza was on a virtual bye as Indiana played Maryland. The most notable performances were Arch Manning finding his groove and Carson Beck reminding everybody why he’s probably not a first round pick.

With it being a lighter quarterback week in the college football landscape, I figured it would be a good time to take a step back and look at each quarterback’s seasons as a whole. We can get so focused on watching these players in one-game samples and lose sight of the bigger picture.

1. Ty Simpson, Alabama

One of the biggest concerns with Ty Simpson right now is his lack of experience. He has just 311 career passing attempts and eight career stats. If you follow the Bill Parcells set of quarterback criteria, a player should be three-year starter and have started at least 30 games. While former first-round picks such as Anthony Richardson had just one-year of starting experience, he was always more of a project. The vision with Simpson is much more clear and he’s the obvious best fit for a Sean McVay offense.

Simpson has consistently been one of the best quarterbacks this season under pressure. His pocket movement, ability to remain calm, and make NFL-level throws pop on tape every single week. This isn’t a quarterback simply throwing to a spot. He manipulates defenders with his eyes and has the ability to create outside of structure. Simpson waited his turn at Alabama and has won his last seven games since falling at Florida State in his first career start.

2. Fernando Mendoza, Indiana

There hasn’t been a quarterback that has risen over the last month as much as Fernando Mendoza. Indiana hasn’t played the most daunting of schedules, but he outplayed Dante Moore against Oregon and was very good in the win last week against UCLA.

The arm talent and athleticism is clearly there with Mendoza. He’s shown the ability to make plays outside the pocket and as a runner. While Mendoza showed flashes at Cal, it is worth wondering how much of his success is also Frank Cignetti. Cignetti has called one of the best offenses in college football the last two seasons. That isn’t to say the Cignetti is the sole reason for Mendoza’s success, but it’s part of his situation which is certainly a benefit. Still, if Mendoza continues to have the NFL-level throws and show high-level accuracy and placement, he’ll be the consensus QB1.

3. Cole Payton, North Dakota State

It’s not going to be long before more people start talking about Cole Payton from North Dakota State. Payton was very good in North Dakota State’s win against No. 2 South Dakota State two weeks ago. He continued that against Youngstown State on Saturday. It’s very possible that the Bison roll to another National Championship, but...