NC State Football: Quarterbacks – Upgrade or Downgrade?
2019 will be a downgrade
There’s just no way around it: 2019 will be a downgrade for the Wolfpack quarterbacks. It’s not a lack of faith in any of the Wolfpack’s options, it’s just not fair to expect the type of production that Finley put together.
While McKay is the favorite, the Wolfpack has three really good options and just because someone starts day one doesn’t mean they’ll finish the season as the starter. This will be a fluid competition that will take a full season to shake out.
Finley was the unquestioned leader of the team and an elite college talent. Not every team is blessed like Clemson to have a generational talent like Trevor Lawrence waiting to take the reigns as a freshman. Most teams must go through the growing pains of a young quarterback before reaping the rewards down the line.
Two ACC teams played freshman quarterbacks for a majority of the season, Clemson and the aforementioned Lawrence and Wake Forest with Sam Hartman. Hartman is likely a better case study for what the Wolfpack will receive out of their starter.
Hartman played in nine games, throwing for 1,984 yards and completing 55.3 percent of his passes. He threw 16 touchdowns to eight interceptions. According to Pro Football Focus he was the fourth best freshman quarterback in the nation last season, flashing elite talent in between his growing pains.
The Wolfpack will not be getting Lawrence or Finley level production in 2019 and that’s really okay. It’ll be much more important that the team selects the right quarterback and we see enough from him to be confident that he can lead this team to ACC title contention.