Where does Tyler Huntley stack among other QBs around the country?

We were all blown away by the playmaking ability and potential that Tyler Huntley showed off during his first season as a starter at Utah. Jaw dropping plays weren’t uncommon, but as with any QB there were some growing pains — and some actual pain for the young QB. He did make some poor throws and decisions at times, and he did miss some time due to some injuries, but his potential was on display when he was between the lines. A healthy, good season by Huntley and Utah may be playing for a Pac-12 title in December. It appears that Huntley has caught the attention by some of the media too, especially Athlon Sports.

Athlon ranked all of the starting QBs across the country, and they thought rather highly of Huntley by placing him No. 31. Here’s what they said about the Utah signal caller:

“For Utah to win its first Pac-12 South title, the offense needs Huntley to develop into one of the league’s top quarterbacks. That’s a reasonable expectation considering Huntley threw for 2,411 yards and 15 touchdowns and rushed for 537 yards and six scores in his first year as the team’s starter. Huntley completed 63.8 percent of his throws and will benefit from another offseason to work with offensive coordinator Troy Taylor.”

That completion percentage as a first year starter is very encouraging by itself. He needs to keep inching that up, but he showed he has the ability to do just that. Looking at the rest of the Athlon’s rankings, I see some names that are above Huntley’s that look a bit out of place, but I suppose that he’s still in a “show me what you’ve got” phase, and has to prove himself more, which I can understand that. The biggest jump for many QBs is between year one and year two, and the fact that Huntley has most of his supporting cast around him, that will help a lot. I believe Athlon has Utah’s QB in about the right spot right now. Yeah, I think he’s better than some of the QBs ahead of him, but he needs to put together a complete 13 (or hopefully more) game season to move up toward the top-20/15/10 catagory of QBs across the land.

I can’t wait to see what he has in store for us going into next season. He already looked improved and more comfortable in spring, and with a full off season as “the guy,” I think the sky is the limit for the kid.