Why others deserve to be ranked as the best all-time college quarterback over Baker Mayfield

ESPN’s Bill Connelly made some waves earlier this week with the release of an article ranking the Top-75 QBs in college football of the 2000s. With a stacked position like quarterback, it was always going to cause division when it came to opinion. Even so, the selection of Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield at No. 1 definitely got plenty of people talking, including On3’s JD PicKell.

PicKell broke down the Top-10 on Connelly’s list during a recent episode of ‘The Hard Count’. To start, he gave Mayfield the flowers that he was due considering what he did accomplish overall at the collegiate level as a Sooner.

“Listen – I love Baker Mayfield. Love Baker Mayfield. He’s one of the best college quarterbacks to ever strap it up. I believe that wholeheartedly. I believe he belongs in the Top-10,” PicKell said. “Watching him play ‘ball? The fire, the passion, the way he elevated his teammates? One of the ultimate competitors. I was at the game at Ohio State when he did the flag plant. Like, there’s so much that adds to the legend that is Baker Mayfield. I want to take nothing away from him.”

However, from there, he was of the opinion that the top spot was too high for Mayfield. Mayfield more than earned his respect with over 12,200 passing yards and 138 total touchdowns in three seasons at OU as well as a Heisman win and the designation as the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. Even so, PicKell leaned the way of some other quarterbacks just behind Mayfield who better exemplified the word ‘dominant’ in college.

“The one thing I do want to take away from him is I don’t know that you put him No. 1 on this list. And the number one response that people gave to this was, ‘Well, he never won a national title’. I think that’s fair to a degree. But I would even just look at the guys that are below him,” said PicKell. “Cam Newton, Tim Tebow, Joe Burrow. Tim Tebow for a lot of people, myself included, is the best college football player ever. Ever. He’s got the Heisman, national championship. (He) did it over an extended period of time at the highest level in the SEC.”

“Like, I’m not taking anything away from Baker Mayfield. But to put him at one? Joe Burrow had the best season, a season with LSU. Joe Burrow was the epitome of dominant at the position. Cam Newton was the epitome of dominant at the position. Baker Mayfield? Really, really good. (But) was he ever ‘dominant’? I don’t know that you can say he was the epitome of dominant,” PicKell continued. “He was dominant at times. But, like, I watched Joe Burrow, I watched Cam Newton, I watched Tim Tebow. All three of those cats, for me? You watch them play ball and you felt like, because they were the starting quarterback, no matter what the score was, they had a really good chance to win that football game.”

Everything about rankings like these is subjective. ‘The best’ is in the eye of the beholder, especially when looking at it from a comparative standpoint. With that in mind, Connelly’s choice to have Mayfield at No. 1 is one that’s simply a bit too far for PicKell to buy in to.

“Baker Mayfield? A really good quarterback. A really, really good quarterback, a Top-10 quarterback. I think he belongs in this top-five,” PicKell additionally said. “But at No. 1? It’s a little bit rich for me.”