Greg McElroy defends leaving Taylen Green off his Top 10 quarterback list

ESPN’s Greg McElroy turned some heads when he left Taylen Green off his top 10 quarterbacks list going into the 2025 season. There were four SEC quarterbacks on the list, but none of them were the Arkansas signal caller.

Ironically, McElroy thinks Green is underrated. He’s also underrated in terms of McElroy’s top 10 list that doesn’t give the Razorbacks’ QB his flowers.

Still, the former Alabama QB likes the way Green plays and he could certainly vault into a larger national conversation. So long as the consistency is there.

“I think Taylen Green is painfully underrated, like when you think about some of the most naturally gifted players in the sport,” McElroy said on Always College Football. “Like a naturally gifted guy that can run, but a guy that can throw, a guy that looks the part. He’s big, he’s physical, he’s smooth. He had over 3,000 yards passing. He had nearly 3,800 total yards last year, that’s pretty dang impressive. He had 23 touchdowns last year. His performance last year, in year one with Bobby Petrino, was the second best in the history of Arkansas football, behind Ryan Mallett in 2010. So if you look at what he did statistically, it was amazing.”

McElory does see a Year 2 jump with Green though. Since he’s in the same offense, there’s a lot of potential.

That was his first season at Arkansas after three at Boise State. Last year, Green had 3,154 yards, 15 touchdowns, nine interceptions, a 60.4% completion percentage, 602 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns.

“Now, here’s the thing with Taylen Green, there are moments where he flashes and you’re like, oh my gosh, wow, there’s two guys in the country that can make that throw,” McElroy said. “There’s three guys in the country that can make that play. That’s Lamar Jackson reincarnated. Like, how do you do that? And there’s other moments where you watch him and he’ll throw one that’s like, what was that? Why’d he throw it there that was way behind or too low, or whatever the circumstances may be. 

“So the inconsistency is there. It exists, but the ceiling is outrageous. And I’m banking with Taylen Green on a pretty considerable jump in year number two with Bobby Petrino.”

As a member of the Class of 2021, Green was a three-star recruit out of Lewisville (Texas) High, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 101 overall prospect in the state, the No. 48 quarterback in the class and the No. 660 overall prospect in the class.