Quarterback Most Important Player

1 comment so far June 11, 2007 by Steve Hanway

A few weeks back, I called the defensive line the most important unit on a football team. But there’s no doubt (and I’m not breaking big news) that the quarterback is the most important single player on a football team. They touch the ball on every offensive play. They can single-handedly lose a football game (and on occasion almost single-handedly win a game). Those who want to trot out the name Trent Dilfer as a Super Bowl champion and counterexample to the centrality of the quarterback must bear in mind that the NFL is a salary cap league (and that Dilfer might have been paired with the best defense in NFL history). Before the cap, Jeff Hostetler might have been the worst quarterback to win a Super Bowl and even he made a Pro-Bowl once.

For those who want to forecast a Big 12 or national championship season for Nebraska this year, there’s an important fact surrounding championship teams at the college level to address. That is the top teams usually have experienced quarterbacks. That would seem to put the Huskers at a disadvantage going into this season, as they will start a new quarterback. Or does it?

Sam Keller, the likely starter in 2007, has appeared in 20 college games, starting eight. In his last season as a starter (where he played only a little over half the season), he averaged 271 passing yards a game and had 20 touchdowns against 9 interceptions. So would that qualify Keller as a “returning starter” at quarterback, even though he’s come to a new school?

If the 2007 Spring game was any indication (and admittedly, that’s dubious), the answer is a resounding “Yes”. It’s hard to imagine any player doing better than 10-13 with 193 yards (and no sacks) in what amounted to about one half of game action. True, it was against the Husker reserves which by itself might be as weak a team as the Huskers will face in 2007. But there was definite pressure to outshine Joe Ganz, who also had a good day and Keller was about perfect.

Keller may still lack the fluency with the Husker offense that a true returning starter would have. But he has played well in real game situations at Arizona State where he was also beginning his career as a starter. Put his numbers up to date against a Josh Freeman (who also has eight starts on his resume) and it’s not even close. Chase Daniel is the only Big 12 North quarterback that’s proven as much at the Division I-A level.

So while I consider Maurice Purfiy our most singularly irreplaceable player for 2007, Keller is clearly the man that will need to play like a veteran to make Nebraska a championship team.

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