Sports Illustrated just ranked every starting quarterback in the Power Four, and Steve Angeli checks in at No. 35.
Angeli played only three-and-a-half games last season before tearing his Achilles. There are legitimate questions about how he’ll look coming back from a major injury.
But then you read SI’s own explanation.
And you start wondering:
Wait. No. 35? Really?
Angeli threw for 1,317 yards, 10 touchdowns and only two interceptions before getting hurt. He went on the road in one of the most hostile environments in the ACC and won. In the remaining eight-plus games, Syracuse’s other three quarterbacks combined for fewer yards (1,290), fewer touchdowns (seven) and 13 interceptions.
Angeli was on pace for monster numbers, and SI itself acknowledges that what he accomplished was “fairly impressive.” SI writes, “Fran Brown went from 10–3 in his first year as a coach to 3–9 last season, a feat that shouldn’t happen again if Angeli is healthy.”
So how did we get all the way down to No. 35?
It gets more puzzling when you start looking directly above him.
No. 34: Aaron Philo, Florida.
Wait, what?
Philo attempted 28 passes last season. His meaningful action came against Gardner-Webb. SI literally calls him the “prime test case for a small sample size.”
Angeli has a small sample, too. Except his produced 1,317 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Somehow, Philo is still ahead of him.
Then there’s No. 30 Keelon Russell at Alabama.
Russell went 11-of-15 for 143 yards and two touchdowns last season.
That’s it.
He hasn’t even officially beaten out Austin Mack for Alabama’s starting job, according to SI. Yet the former five-star gets the benefit of projection, Alabama’s surrounding talent and Kalen DeBoer’s history developing quarterbacks.
Why doesn’t Angeli get some projection, too?
No. 31 Beau Pribula at Virginia threw 11 touchdowns against nine interceptions last year and fumbled five times. SI notes his 3.3% interception rate is fourth-worst among returning Power Four quarterbacks.
Angeli threw 10 touchdowns against two interceptions.
No. 35.
Then there’s Nico Iamaleava at No. 26.
The former five-star threw 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions in an entire season at UCLA and had most of the college football world doing victory laps after his offseason power play.
Angeli nearly matched his touchdown total in three-and-a-half games while throwing five fewer interceptions.
And if we’re handing out points for enormous upside, look at Bryce Underwood at No. 23.
Nobody disputes Underwood’s talent. But he threw 11 touchdowns against nine interceptions last season. SI itself notes that against Oklahoma, USC, Ohio State and Texas, Underwood completed only 50.9% of his passes with four touchdowns and four interceptions.
He’s 12 spots ahead of Angeli.
There’s a pattern here.
SI appears willing to look past incomplete résumés, turnovers and small samples when it believes in a quarterback’s pedigree or future upside.
That’s perfectly reasonable in a preseason ranking.
But then why isn’t Angeli getting the same treatment?
Fran Brown recently said he believes Angeli will become an NFL Draft pick.
Sports Illustrated sees the 35th-best starting quarterback in the Power Four.
If we’re willing to project what Russell might become at Alabama, what Underwood could become in a new Michigan offense, or what Philo might do after 28 passes…
why aren’t we projecting what Angeli might become after he already showed us something?
That’s what makes No. 35 hard to swallow.
If Angeli is healthy and anything close to the quarterback Syracuse saw before the injury, this ranking could look awfully silly by October.
