The Bay Area has something special on their hands going into the 2015 college football season. They have the opportunity to watch two of the most intriguing college quarterbacks. Jared Goff who plays for California and Kevin Hogan who plays for Stanford are some of the top quarterbacks in the Pac-12 Conference. Who would you rather have quarterbacking your team? If you're not a Cal or Stanford fan who would want?
Now, it's pretty easy to figure out who a Stanford or California fan is going to choose to lead their team, but for the rest of us it may take a little bit longer. Both quarterbacks have impressive resumes, but to make a decision like this, what is going to be the deciding factor? Experience? Completion percentage? Leadership skills?
First of all, lets look at their statistics. Kevin Hogan, Cardinal quarterback is going into his 5th year of eligibility due to his graduation from Stanford this past spring. Hogan has the measurables in terms of size and weight. He is 6'4", 225lbs and has some quick feet to run around to escape pressure. I'm not saying he is Marcus Mariota back there to run away from people, but he can move around to extend the play. His career stats at Stanford are decent. He has passed for 6,518 career yards, with 48 touchdowns and 21 interceptions, and a quarterback rating that averages 148.4. Now, however, the quarterback rating is figured I know the better the number, the better the QB performed during the year. Hogan's rating was about 20 points lower on the road than at home, but that is almost to be expected because it typically more difficult to win on the road rather than at home.
Leadership qualities are something that most people look at when they are evaluating quarterbacks. Hogan has great leadership qualities. He's been there at Stanford his whole career. He is a stabilizing force with the team. He's been in big games, he's won big games. Any Oregon Duck fan can tell you that. UCLA can remind you of what Hogan can do in a game from last year. He kept the Bruins from winning the Pac-12 South when the Cardinal went into the Rose Bowl and beat up UCLA. It's experience that you can't replace or manufacture. He's helped lead his team to win the Pac-12 Conference title as well, been to The Rose Bowl game, and won The Rose Bowl against Wisconsin.
If you are looking for a guy with a big arm, he's not your guy. His arm is ok, but won't win him any awards in the professional ranks. He's good at the intermediate passing game and that is what the Stanford passing game is all about. The Cardinal doesn't go deep much, they are a ball control, controlled passing game type of team and Hogan fits that mold to a tee. Now, what about Jared Goff?
Goff is another very good Pac-12 quarterback that has come through the California program. Everybody that comes through Cal is now being compared to Aaron Rodgers whether that is fair or not. Goff is setting himself apart already from Rodgers.
Jared Goff already owns 16 records at Cal. The records are for single season passing, touchdowns in a single season, and total offense in a single season. He's only going to be a junior at California, so if he already has all these records after two years, imagine what he may have after three years? It could be some all-time stuff in Berkely. Getting to the things that matter.
Goff has the height at 6'4" and weighs in at 215lbs. The weight is a little slender, but that is something that can be added on with weight training and proper diet, but that to me is not going to hold this athlete back from becoming a great one.
In only two years he has thrown for more yards (7,481), than Hogan has in three years, has 53 touchdowns, 17 interceptions, and a QB rating of 135.1. Besides the quarterback rating, Goff's stats are greater than Hogan's at this point and there is no reason to believe that these stats will continue to be greater than Hogan's. Looking at his stats, you can certainly make the argument that if Goff wasn't splitting time with Luke Rubenzer early in his career, he may have a few more touchdown passes, more yards passing yards and a greater QB rating.
Now, there are differences in how these two guys play because the teams that they play for run different types of offense. Sonny Dykes likes to run the hurry-up, spread offense and that helps Goff get the statistics that he has already attained in his young career. Stanford runs ball control with their offense, so Hogan isn't getting the opportunities like Goff is to throw the ball around the field. Can't blame either guy with this, it just is what it is for them.
Leadership with Goff is becoming better. He's becoming more vocal on the field and off the field. The Golden Bears haven't reached a bowl or had much success the last few years and Goff is looking to end that streak for Cal. His leadership is getting better everyday that passes. There is no question that he feels comfortable in the offense, now he is learning how to press the buttons that need to be pressed with his teammates when the pressure is on during the game. I have faith in Jared that he will learn this skill because on the next level he's going to have to have it if he wants to be successful.
Arm strength. That's always something evaluators look at with quarterbacks. He doesn't have a cannon for an arm and he hasn't shown the accuracy that you need. As I have stated in an earlier column, he doesn't throw with much accuracy over 30 yards, but when it comes to the intermediate game, he has shown the accuracy that is needed to march his team downfield to a touchdown. Is he going to have improve this part of his game? Of course, but there have been plenty of pro quarterbacks that didn't have great arm strength coming out. Peyton Manning comes to mind.
In the end, it's a tough call. Both of these athletes bring different things to the table that you would want out of your teams quarterback. I would take Hogan at this point because he is a little more polished than Goff. Experience has to count for something at this point, but if I am a college football fan in the Bay Area you are spoiled with the amount of talent you can watch on a weekly basis at the college level. The Big Game should be fantastic game to watch this year. I will be watching that game for certain.
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