At this point in the fall, most NFL evaluators have finished scouting their primary schools and are now cross-checking certain positions around the country or checking out pop-up players (scouting slang for late-bloomer prospects that emerge during the fall).
With that in mind, I reached out to five executives and asked them this question: Who is the most underrated QB in college football? Here are their answers.
Executive 1: Virginia QB Kurt Benkert
"He has good size, athletic ability and arm strength. He gets the ball out. He's accurate on three levels. Virginia is 5-2 with no real skill-player talent around him."
Executive 2: Oregon QB Justin Herbert
"I'd say Justin Herbert at Oregon. Dude can sling it and the Ducks really fell off after he went down (with an injury)."
Executive 3: Miami QB Malik Rosier
"Rosier has stepped in for (Brad) Kaaya and the team hasn't missed a beat. In fact, his mobility has probably improved them at the position. He shows the arm talent to develop into a next-level prospect with another year under (coach Mark) Richt."
Executive 4: Benkert
"I think Virginia's QB is pretty good. Nobody has been talking about him."
Executive 5: Benkert
"I didn't know much about Benkert before the season. He's been pretty impressive. He makes all of the throws."
Summary: That's three votes for Benkert and one apiece for Herbert and Rosier.
Conclusion: There has been a quiet chatter about Benkert throughout the fall -- our own Chad Reuter identified him as a prospect on the rise after the first month of the season -- and now the buzz is reaching a whole new level.
Herbert is recovering from the fractured collarbone he suffered earlier this season, but I was very impressed with the Ducks QB after meeting him at the Pac-12 media event in the summer. He's huge and he's shown tremendous athleticism as well as arm talent when he's been on the field. I haven't seen much of Rosier, but you can't argue with his results. Miami is currently undefeated and chasing an ACC title. I look forward to digging in and studying these QBs down the road.
Follow Daniel Jeremiah on Twitter @MoveTheSticks.
