There are plenty of awards for college athletes, but almost none are as sought after as the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. Wednesday, the foundation released it’s top 10 with the season winding down.
Johnny Unitas Top 10
• J.T. Barrett, Ohio State
• Riley Ferguson, Memphis
• Ryan Finley, NC State
• Nick Fitzgerald, Mississippi St.
• Quinton Flowers, South Florida
• Kenny Hill, TCU
• Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma
• Trace McSorley, Penn St.
• Mason Rudolph, Oklahoma State
• Logan Woodside, Toledo
A majority of these quarterbacks are household names and deservedly so. But for those from Texas, you may recognize three of them above the rest.
Baker Mayfield
Photo: Gordon DeLoach/TexasHSFootball.com
Mayfield has been great since he donned the Red and Black in Lubbock. Thankfully for him, that greatness followed him to Norman and has continued in his last year for the Sooners. The quarterback from Lake Travis has more than 2,600 yards, 23 touchdowns and three picks. So far in his last go-round with the Crimson and Cream, he’s continued to look like a first-round guy.
Mayfield and his Sooners face another top 10 finalist this week in Bedlam. In his three tries against Oklahoma State, Mayfield is 2-1 but has looked every bit of dominate as he always does.
Kenny Hill
Joseph Nguyen/TexasHSFootball
This man keeps surprising everyone. Before the season, many were saying he wasn’t even a top five quarterback in his own conference. His average yards per game (232.875) don’t wow on paper, but he’s led TCU to an unprecedented start in 2017. The senior signal-caller has had a few issues here and there, but for the most part is helping his team win games. The only knock on him? He’s got three games of four-or-more touchdown passes. In his other five games, he has either one or no throws for points.
The ones with four or more? Jackson State, SMU and Kansas. Ouch.
J.T. Barrett
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The S.H. Rider High School alum is putting a pretty nice bow on his tenure in Columbus. A lot of national pundits disrespected Barrett’s game going into the year, but he’s broken record after record at Ohio State and has played exceptionally. After last weeks game against Penn State, the Buckeyes are back in the thick of everything, even with it’s embarrassing earl-season loss to Oklahoma.
Barretts stats are also showing up. The quarterback from Wichita Falls has 25 touchdowns to one interception. 2,166 yards and a win over a top five team gives him a Hiesman moment as well. J.T. Barrett deserves to be near the top of this list and possibly, in New York when it’s time to win the H-word award.
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