2018 Preseason Award Projections: O’Brien Award

By Charlie Campbell
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Heading into the 2018 college football season, WalterFootball.com will debut our projections for the nation’s leaders during the fall. The All-American teams always have some surprises, and the next fall’s stars could be the headline players next April for the 2019 NFL Draft. We also will project the winners of the postseason awards that are given out to the best of college football.

The Davey O’Brien Award is given to the best quarterback in college football. Last year’s winner was Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield.

Davey O’Brien Award Winner:

Will Grier, West Virginia

While other quarterbacks are likely to be higher-graded NFL prospects, I think Grier could be the most prolific and deadly quarterback in college football during the 2018 season. The 6-foot-2, 214-pounder has a good arm and is a natural passer of the football. Additionally, he has good receiving talent to work with and more experience after starting in 2017. West Virginia has consistently fielded a deadly scoring offense under head coach Dana Holgorsen, and Grier should be more comfortable after starting last year. In 2017, Grier completed 64 percent of his passes for 3,490 yards with 34 touchdowns and 12 interceptions while missing time late in the year with an injury. If he had stayed healthy, he probably would have exceeded 4,000 yards and 40 touchdown passes.

Grier plays in a conference that lacks defensive talent and has shootout games on a weekly basis. During the 2018 season, he is going to see a lot of weak defenses and should put up some massive numbers. It wouldn’t surprise me if Grier is one of the most prolific offensive players in college football and gets a lot of postseason honors, including the Davey O’Brien Award.




Davey O’Brien Award Runner-Up:

Justin Herbert, Oregon

Herbert has an NFL skill set and could up a huge year with his arm and legs. The 6-foot-6, 225-pounder has good size and a strong arm with the ability to loft in touch passes. Herbert can loft in passes with nice ball placement, leading his receivers and beating quality coverage with the location of his passes. With his height and size, Herbert is comfortable to stand tall in the pocket and displays patience to let routes develop. Alongside his arm talent, he is a quality athlete with the ability to pick up yards on the ground and should add a good number of rushing touchdowns to his stat line.

As long as he stays healthy, there is no reason to think that Herbert won’t put up massive numbers in 2018. Even though Oregon plays in one of the best conferences in the nation, Herbert has an easy 2018 schedule. His season starts off with teams that he should pad his stats against, including Bowling Green, Portland State and San Jose State. Stanford, Washington and Utah possess the best defenses that will challenge Herbert on his regular-season schedule. He is fully capable of producing a huge season and winning the Davey O’Brien Award.




Davey O’Brien Award Dark Horse:

Nick Fitzgerald, Mississippi State

Fitzgerald could put up a huge senior-year stat line with lots of touchdowns as a passer and runner. Last year, he totaled 29 combined touchdowns after recording 36 combined touchdowns the previous year. Fitzgerald could easily set a new personal record in 2018. Mississippi State has some good talent to help the senior, and it would not shock me if he has a big enough year to earn some postseason honors like the Davey O’Brien Award.

Honorable Mentions: N.C. State’s Ryan Finley, Missouri’s Drew Lock, Auburn’s Jarrett Stidham, Michigan’s Shea Patterson, Northwestern’s Clayton Thorson, Michigan State’s Brian Lewerke, Iowa State’s Kyle Kempt, North Dakota State’s Easton Stick, Duke’s Daniel Jones, Florida State’s Deondre Francois, Washington’s Jake Browning and Penn State’s Trace McSorley.











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