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Texas Tech football: How Alan Bowman stacked up against other FR QBs in 2018

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TX - OCTOBER 20: Alan Bowman #10 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders calls signals at the line of scrimmage during the first half of the game against the Kansas Jayhawks on October 20, 2018 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TX - OCTOBER 20: Alan Bowman #10 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders calls signals at the line of scrimmage during the first half of the game against the Kansas Jayhawks on October 20, 2018 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) /

Ohio State’s Justin Fields

If you are the type that likes to have their feathers ruffled, consider that Ohio State’s Justin Fields is ranked by The Sporting News as the No. 10 QB in the nation this year.  That’s high praise for a player who made zero starts last year as a true freshman at Georgia.  As for Alan Bowman, he is nowhere to be seen on the 25-player ranking.

This is the ultimate case of high school rankings and the brand name of a school vaulting a player to a position that he has not earned.  See Red Raider fans…it happens for players at schools other than Texas as well.

In the 2018 class, Fields was ranked the No. 1 dual-threat QB and the No. 2 overall player behind Lawrence.  Also, he was given the 8th-highest rating of all-time by 247Sports.com.

But at Georgia, he was unable to unseat incumbent QB Jake Fromm who led the Bulldogs to the 2017 title game as a freshman.  Now he has found a new home in Columbus and people are being rather quick to assume he will blossom under new head coach Ryan Day, who is taking over as head coach of a program for the first time in his career.

This isn’t to suggest that Fields won’t be a great player for the Buckeyes.  He completed 69% of his 39 passes last year, which is exactly what Bowman’s completion percentage was in 2018.  But Bowman attempted 288 more and his did not come in mop-up duty against teams that had already thrown in the towel.

Justin Fields being on any list of best QBs in the nation at this point is absurd.  Whether or not one believes Alan Bowman belongs on such lists is worth considering, (and all Texas Tech football fans will tell you he does).  By December, Fields may have justified this type of praise and Bowman may have worked his way into the national conversation.  But right now, Bowman should be viewed head and shoulders above Fields.

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