Greg McElroy makes the case against Will Rogers as a system quarterback

ESPN analyst Greg McElroy recently broke down the top quarterbacks heading into this college football season. During his assessment, he took a deep look into the signal callers of the SEC and did his best to dispel the notion of Mississippi State Bulldogs quarterback Will Rogers being ‘a product of the system.’

“Let’s go to a guy that some say he’s a product of the system. Is he? It’s impossible to tell; he’s Will Rogers of Mississippi State. Statistically speaking, what more do you want from him? Last year, he completed almost 74% of his passes. Probably gonna throw for over 4,500 and throw for over 40 touchdowns. He’s going to get ample opportunities in Mike Leach’s system,” said McElroy.

Leach is known for having one of the most dynamic air raid offensive systems in college football. And that system allows his quarterbacks to put up ridiculous numbers, which Rogers did. But it still requires the quarterback to be able to put the ball in the right place at the right time. And time and time again, Rogers delivered strike after strike to his pass-catching threats last season.

“When you watch what Will Rogers does, he throws guys open and has pinpoint accuracy. And it’s not just a bunch of dink-in-dunk, four or five six yards, at the line of scrimmage, behind the line of scrimmage. He’s pushing the ball downfield,” McElroy continued. “He can layer the football, got sneaky mobility, and has a little bit of a cowboy type of approach with how he can create and how he can keep plays alive.”

“If you look back at just some of his difficult performances last year, you can almost always chalk it up to the fact that he was just in over his head because his supporting cast wasn’t up to snuff. Alabama comes to mind. I think Will Anderson and Will Rogers might be best friends because he lived in the backfield the entire game. The tackle spot, especially the right side for Mississippi State, struggled last year, and they just couldn’t get in much of a rhythm against a couple of different teams.”

Rogers paid the price last season against quality opponents because of his team’s inability to protect him in the pocket. Despite these struggles, he still put up impressive numbers, even for a Mike Leach air raid offense. On top of the gaudy passing stats compiled, Rogers was deadly accurate, completing nearly 74% of his passes. And that number is inclusive of the large number of dropped passes on the season. He also finished the year with a 147 passer rating and averaged nearly seven yards per attempt.

Rogers might benefit from being in Leach’s air raid offense, but he has proven to be a talented quarterback nonetheless. And if the Bulldogs can do a better job of protecting him this season, Mississippi State could be in contention for a New Year’s six Bowl game at the very least.