Have we been the least productive team in the SEC at the QB position?

[18IsTheMan]

This is in light of us looking forward to Rattler being drafted at some point...

Of course, there are a myriad of ways to evaluate productivity, but one way is looking at players drafted at that position. In that respect, we have, as our "fight" song would say, stepped to the rear of the SEC. We stand alone in the SEC by not having one single QB drafted since we joined the SEC. Not one. We have had some pretty good QBs...Taneyhill, Wright, Petty, Shaw...but none draftable. Wright and Shaw, of course, did get there as UDFAs and Wright hung around for a decade, mostly in a backup role.

It begs the question, though, how we have not managed one NFL draftable QB in this whole time. Shoot, even Mississippi State had Dak Prescott and Vandy had Jay Cutler. Arkansas has had 5 drafted in that time. Those programs are certainly not vastly superior to use in any significant way. Many of the other SEC teams have multiple QBs drafted in that time frame. It looks like that's the ONLY position for which we have not sent a player to the draft since we joined. Not all early rounders, obviously, and many mid to late round guys, but we haven't even managed one of those.

Is it just bad luck? I would say most years we have been in the league we have not had the worst QB in the conference, maybe a couple seasons. A few years, we've had one of the better QBs in the conference. Just kind of puzzling that we've never sent one to the draft since we joined. Ellis, of course, was our last QB drafted, all the way back in 1990.

 

[18IsTheMan]

If you expand it to include the ACC, the only other team that matches us is Wake Forest.

 

[Big JC]

Sellers is going to win the Heisman twice and be the #1 pick in 2026.

 

[18IsTheMan]

Sellers is going to win the Heisman twice and be the #1 pick in 2026.

I'd take that.

 

[Big JC]

I'd take that.

How could you doubt it? Didn't you see those passes he threw against Furman?

 

[18IsTheMan]

If you expand it to include the ACC, the only other team that matches us is Wake Forest.

Even Ga Tech has had a QB drafted, and they barely even threw the ball.

Just seems baffling that in 30 years, we haven't managed to stumble across even one late-round draftable QB.

 

[Prestonyte]

Even Arch Manning has his doubters.

 

[will110]

I believe Ellis is our ONLY quarterback drafted.

It's definitely an interesting conversation that I have no clue what the answer is. At least Rattler will break that trend this weekend.

 

[18IsTheMan]

I believe Ellis is our ONLY quarterback drafted.

It's definitely an interesting conversation that I have no clue what the answer is. At least Rattler will break that trend this weekend.

Grantz was drafted in 1976 at pick # 480, lol, back when they had 17 rounds with 487 total picks.

Technically, that counts, I guess since he was drafted, but obviously, with 7 rounds, he wouldn't have sniffed being drafted and not even be a UDFA.

Realistically, yes, we have produced one NFL drafted QB in our history. One. Even if you factor in UDFA, we've only put 3 QBs total into the NFL, right? Ellis, Wright and Shaw? Is there anyone I'm missing?

How have we been so bad at the QB position? Simply bizarre. And we had THE QB guru here for a decade.

 

[Big JC]

I believe Ellis is our ONLY quarterback drafted.

It's definitely an interesting conversation that I have no clue what the answer is. At least Rattler will break that trend this weekend.

I'm sure Oklahoma will claim him too.

 

[will110]

Grantz was drafted in 1976 at pick # 480, lol, back when they had 17 rounds with 487 total picks.

Technically, that counts, I guess since he was drafted, but obviously, with 7 rounds, he wouldn't have sniffed being drafted and not even be a UDFA.

Realistically, yes, we have produced one NFL drafted QB in our history. One. Even if you factor in UDFA, we've only put 3 QBs total into the NFL, right? Ellis, Wright and Shaw? Is there anyone I'm missing?

How have we been so bad at the QB position? Simply bizarre. And we had THE QB guru here for a decade.

I didn't realize that about Grantz. Ellis was a 9th round pick, so he wouldn't have been drafted today either.

I think Thompson was on the roster with the 49ers for a few games but never played.

 

[18IsTheMan]

I didn't realize that about Grantz. Ellis was a 9th round pick, so he wouldn't have been drafted today either.

I think Thompson was on the roster with the 49ers for a few games but never played.

Ah, good catch on Ellis. Dadgum, lol. It's worse than I thought.

 

[Prestonyte]

We are obviously DBU not QBU. lol

 

[18IsTheMan]

We are obviously DBU not QBU. lol

Shoot, there are FCS schools that have had QBs drafted.

This might explain why we've never seriously contended. The secret of our lack of success.

 

[Prestonyte]

Shoot, there are FCS schools that have had QBs drafted.

This might explain why we've never seriously contended. The secret of our lack of success.

Yep, we've never had a QB who was really the focal point of the team.
Other positions yes, but QB no.

 

[18IsTheMan]

Yep, we've never had a QB who was really the focal point of the team.
Other positions yes, but QB no.

Our state has not really ever produced much QB talent, which is part of the problem, I guess.

Tyler Thigpen is a SC native, played at Coastal and was drafted as a QB.
Armanti Edwards was born in SC and played ball at App St b/c they let him stay at QB (I think we recruited him for WR). He was drafted into the NFL as a WR.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson was born in SC while his mom was in grad school at USC, but he played high school ball in Nevada.
Mason Rudolph is obviously the big one that got away in a head scratcher of all-time.

So really just 2 players ever in the history of our state who were drafted to the NFL as QB.

 

[will110]

Our state has not really ever produced much QB talent, which is part of the problem, I guess.

Tyler Thigpen is a SC native, played at Coastal and was drafted as a QB.
Armanti Edwards was born in SC and played ball at App St b/c they let him stay at QB (I think we recruited him for WR). He was drafted into the NFL as a WR.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson was born in SC while his mom was in grad school at USC, but he played high school ball in Nevada.
Mason Rudolph is obviously the big one that got away in a head scratcher of all-time.

So really just 2 players ever in the history of our state who were drafted to the NFL as QB.

I think this is probably your answer.

Out of curiosity I checked Clemson's NFL quarterback history. It's better than ours, of course, but they've only put 5 QBs into the NFL. They've made up for the lack of numbers with quality - 3 of those 5 were first round picks.

 

[Big JC]

Spurrier was supposed to be the qb whisperer and, outside of Shaw who was a good qb but not close to an NFL type, all of his qbs were mediocre at best.

 

[18IsTheMan]

Spurrier was supposed to be the qb whisperer and, outside of Shaw who was a good qb but not close to an NFL type, all of his qbs were mediocre at best.

Massive disappointment in that respect.

 

[Gradstudent]

ESPN did a very good article in 2021 on where NFL QB's come from

The state of South Carolina hasn't produced many



https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/s...arterbacks-come-best-worst-states-how-changed

South Carolina (6)​

Games: 177 | Super Bowl starts: 0| SB wins: 0 | Hall of Famers: 0

Armanti Edwards, Greenwood, (Panthers)
Joe Hamilton, Macedonia, (Bucs)
Mason Rudolph, Northwestern, (Steelers)
Steve Fuller, Spartanburg, (Chiefs, Bears)
Tyler Thigpen, Fairfield Central, (Chiefs, Dolphins, Bills, Browns)
Wally Richardson, Sumter, (Ravens)

 

[Irvin Snibbley]

I thought he mishandled Blake Mitchell,who I think had the ability to a very good qb.At Florida he left Danny Wuerffel alone like he did Shaw at Carolina and he performed.But there was a bunch of guys at Glorida and Carolina he was really hard on.

 

[kidrobinski]

I thought he mishandled Blake Mitchell,who I think had the ability to a very good qb.At Florida he left Danny Wuerffel alone like he did Shaw at Carolina and he performed.But there was a bunch of guys at Glorida and Carolina he was really hard on.

He mishandled more than Mitchell. A coach we got lucky to have but did more harm than good QB-wise.

 

[Big JC]

I thought he mishandled Blake Mitchell,who I think had the ability to a very good qb.At Florida he left Danny Wuerffel alone like he did Shaw at Carolina and he performed.But there was a bunch of guys at Glorida and Carolina he was really hard on.

He was well known at UF for pulling a qb mid game if he wasn't happy with their play. He was super successful at UF because he brought a whole new game to the SEC and the rest of the conference couldn't adapt quickly. SEC football was smash mouth I formation, run based, low scoring offensive football. Most teams always had 2 TEs, 2 RBs, 5 OL, one wideout and a qb. Defenses were 5-3-3 with two safeties who were more like run stopping smaller LBs. Spurrier showed up with 3 and 4 WR sets, no TEs, 1 RB and SEC defenses had no clue what to do. He was a master at finding mismatches where a LB was forced to cover a WR or a safety was trying to cover a WR.

When he came to Carolina, his game was pretty much the same as everyone else's. That is why he didn't have the amazing success as he did at UF. He was a notoriously lazy recruiter but he hit the talent lottery for the 3-4 year run when he got Lattimore, Clowney, Ingraham, Jeffery, etc.. After that group left it was back to good but not great.

 

[Yemacock]

Grantz was drafted in 1976 at pick # 480, lol, back when they had 17 rounds with 487 total picks.

Technically, that counts, I guess since he was drafted, but obviously, with 7 rounds, he wouldn't have sniffed being drafted and not even be a UDFA.

Realistically, yes, we have produced one NFL drafted QB in our history. One. Even if you factor in UDFA, we've only put 3 QBs total into the NFL, right? Ellis, Wright and Shaw? Is there anyone I'm missing?

How have we been so bad at the QB position? Simply bizarre. And we had THE QB guru here for a decade.

I was a student at USC when Jeff Grantz beat the upstate farm team at WB 56-20. I think he was the QB at the torrential rain game with Wake Forest which was one for the record books for rainy games and the stadium was full. Everybody knew it was 100% rain that day, but went anyway. The score was 39-38 and we won in a scoring battle with waterfalls coming down the steps at WB the whole game.

 

[18IsTheMan]

He was well known at UF for pulling a qb mid game if he wasn't happy with their play. He was super successful at UF because he brought a whole new game to the SEC and the rest of the conference couldn't adapt quickly. SEC football was smash mouth I formation, run based, low scoring offensive football. Most teams always had 2 TEs, 2 RBs, 5 OL, one wideout and a qb. Defenses were 5-3-3 with two safeties who were more like run stopping smaller LBs. Spurrier showed up with 3 and 4 WR sets, no TEs, 1 RB and SEC defenses had no clue what to do. He was a master at finding mismatches where a LB was forced to cover a WR or a safety was trying to cover a WR.

When he came to Carolina, his game was pretty much the same as everyone else's. That is why he didn't have the amazing success as he did at UF. He was a notoriously lazy recruiter but he hit the talent lottery for the 3-4 year run when he got Lattimore, Clowney, Ingraham, Jeffery, etc.. After that group left it was back to good but not great.

One could argue that Spurrier only found success here b/c we had an unprecedented run of top-shelf, in-state talent. Our state has never really seen anything like that streak of talent before and might not ever again. Clowney, Lattimore, Jeffery, Gilmore, Swearinger...

Prior to all of that in-state talent, he was a middling coach here. After the in-state talent dried up, so did Spurrier.

 

[Yemacock]

Yep, we've never had a QB who was really the focal point of the team.
Other positions yes, but QB no.

Ah, Rattler and Shaw beg to differ.

 

[18IsTheMan]

Ah, Rattler and Shaw beg to differ.

I got the point @Prestonyte was making...we've never had a superstar at QB. I agree with Rattler. He was basically all we had the last 2 seasons on either side of the ball. While Shaw was great (and I've never understood Gamecock fans with revisionist history who talk him down as though he wasn't that good), our offense was more about Lattimore when he was healthy and then we were known more for our defense than our offense.

 

[Big JC]

One could argue that Spurrier only found success here b/c we had an unprecedented run of top-shelf, in-state talent. Our state has never really seen anything like that streak of talent before and might not ever again. Clowney, Lattimore, Jeffery, Gilmore, Swearinger...

Prior to all of that in-state talent, he was a middling coach here. After the in-state talent dried up, so did Spurrier.

The fawning admiration and worship of him is sort of lost on me. Yes, we had our best run ever with him, but as you say, he caught lightning in a bottle with the in state talent during that run. Teams that have continued success bring in players from all over and Carolina has never really been able to do that, even with a "legend" as head coach. Take out the glory years and Spurrier was basically a 7-5 coach here. He caught Clemson, Tennessee and UGA when they went through a down period (UT kept their down period alive for over a decade) and that made things look and feel much better than they probably were.

His walking out mid season was low class and I lost most of the respect I had for him when he did that. I can't think of another major program head coach who has quit mid season unless there was some sort of scandal or health issue. Spurrier abandoning the program like he did is a mark of shame.

 

[will110]

Spurrier was supposed to be the qb whisperer and, outside of Shaw who was a good qb but not close to an NFL type, all of his qbs were mediocre at best.

Shaw could have had a good backup career if it weren't for the injuries. Cleveland had signed him to a multiyear deal, then Chicago gave him an extension. Injuries killed any chance he had of sticking.

 

[Big JC]

Shaw could have had a good backup career if it weren't for the injuries. Cleveland had signed him to a multiyear deal, then Chicago gave him an extension. Injuries killed any chance he had of sticking.

Shaw is still one of the best I've ever seen at scrambling for a first down and getting out of bounds.

 

[18IsTheMan]

The fawning admiration and worship of him is sort of lost on me. Yes, we had our best run ever with him, but as you say, he caught lightning in a bottle with the in state talent during that run. Teams that have continued success bring in players from all over and Carolina has never really been able to do that, even with a "legend" as head coach. Take out the glory years and Spurrier was basically a 7-5 coach here. He caught Clemson, Tennessee and UGA when they went through a down period (UT kept their down period alive for over a decade) and that made things look and feel much better than they probably were.

His walking out mid season was low class and I lost most of the respect I had for him when he did that. I can't think of another major program head coach who has quit mid season unless there was some sort of scandal or health issue. Spurrier abandoning the program like he did is a mark of shame.

He was definitely nothing special through his first 5 seasons, and 2 of those seasons were with the highly touted Stephen Garcia.

 

[Yemacock]

I think this is probably your answer.

Out of curiosity I checked Clemson's NFL quarterback history. It's better than ours, of course, but they've only put 5 QBs into the NFL. They've made up for the lack of numbers with quality - 3 of those 5 were first round picks.

Clemson has had NIL for decades. That is why.

 

[18IsTheMan]

I thought he mishandled Blake Mitchell,who I think had the ability to a very good qb.At Florida he left Danny Wuerffel alone like he did Shaw at Carolina and he performed.But there was a bunch of guys at Glorida and Carolina he was really hard on.

Who can forget the Tommy Beecher fiasco? What a disaster of a decision that was by Spurrier.

 

[will110]

The fawning admiration and worship of him is sort of lost on me. Yes, we had our best run ever with him, but as you say, he caught lightning in a bottle with the in state talent during that run. Teams that have continued success bring in players from all over and Carolina has never really been able to do that, even with a "legend" as head coach. Take out the glory years and Spurrier was basically a 7-5 coach here. He caught Clemson, Tennessee and UGA when they went through a down period (UT kept their down period alive for over a decade) and that made things look and feel much better than they probably were.

His walking out mid season was low class and I lost most of the respect I had for him when he did that. I can't think of another major program head coach who has quit mid season unless there was some sort of scandal or health issue. Spurrier abandoning the program like he did is a mark of shame.

If you take out any coach's best years you're going to have a much worse record, so obviously Spurrier's record without his 4 best years doesn't look very good. That's not a very good argument to diss his accomplishments.

Lightning in a bottle is a good description of the 2017 Final Four run, not the 4 year stretch of the best football in Carolina football history. There was a great in-state talent, but Spurrier had to actually get those guys to commit and come to Columbia. There's always been good football players in South Carolina, just not enough of them stayed home. And, of course, there were big parts of those teams that didn't come from instate, like Connor Shaw and Mike Davis.

Spurrier had a 7 year run with a winning record. He had a 10 year run without a losing record. These are runs without precedent in Carolina football history. The best I see glancing through our historical records prior to that is a 4 year run in the 80s, another 4 year run in the 50s, and a 5 year run in the 20s.

Obviously Spurrier's tenure ended poorly, but I've always thought Spurrier did us a favor by resigning. There's no way he was going to be fired, so he made the decision easy on USC and left. You have every right to not like how he left, but that shouldn't discount his prior accomplishments.

Do other teams' fans go out of their way to downplay success, or is that just a Carolina fan thing? It's especially perplexing to me considering just how little success we've had in our history.

 

[Irvin Snibbley]

Spurrier was notoriously tough on his QBs but he was a genius at devising pass patterns to beat what he was seeing with the opposing defenses.Also calling plays.But Steve was not a hard worker and disliked recruiting.Its a testament to his knowledge of offensive football that was as successful as he was.

 

[18IsTheMan]

Spurrier was notoriously tough on his QBs but he was a genius at devising pass patterns to beat what he was seeing with the opposing defenses.Also calling plays.But Steve was not a hard worker and disliked recruiting.Its a testament to his knowledge of offensive football that was as successful as he was.

Good take. I recall when he was here Spurrier jabbed Saban about working too hard and spending late nights in the office. Safe to say, Saban had the last laugh on that one. You don't win 7 titles by playing golf. For all the talent he had, Spurrier probably underachieved at UF.

 

[Irvin Snibbley]

Just about every time he threw his visor in anger was when the Qb missed a wide open receiver and Steve knew they were going to be wide open before the snap.Another thing to his credit was how he managed an effective running game.Thats what sets him apart from the Air Raid guys.If he would have embraced the minutiae of coaching he could have been the Goat.Instead Saban and The Bear have that title.

 

[18IsTheMan]

Just about every time he threw his visor in anger was when the Qb missed a wide open receiver and Steve knew they were going to be wide open before the snap.Another thing to his credit was how he managed an effective running game.Thats what sets him apart from the Air Raid guys.If he would have embraced the minutiae of coaching he could have been the Goat.Instead Saban and The Bear have that title.

There has never been anyone better at calling plays, that's for sure. That was his first love. All the other stuff came with coaching.

 

[lexgamecock]

Was reading somewhere someone predicted Minnesota would pick Rattler at 23.

 

[18IsTheMan]

Was reading somewhere someone predicted Minnesota would pick Rattler at 23.

I think that was PFF.