By JOHN KLEIN Senior Sports Columnist on Jul 15, 2013, at 2:23 AM??Updated on 7/15/13 at 7:18 AM
The Big 12 Conference likely will have six alums listed as starting quarterbacks when NFL training camps open, further evidence that the league remains the primary challenger to Southeastern Conference dominance.The SEC has won seven straight national championships. That is proof positive of its legitimate claim as the nation's best football conference.
However, the SEC should not dismiss the Big 12 as some lesser league not worthy of comparison.
Every time the SEC claims superiority over all others, it usually points to the NFL draft and says look at all of the SEC players drafted on defense. We'll concede the fact that the SEC has the best and most defensive stars in college football.
But, because of the success of Big 12 quarterbacks in the NFL, one cannot dismiss the Big 12 as a conference full of "system quarterbacks" or just lousy defenses.
Yes, SEC defenses are better than Big 12 defenses. However, no one in the SEC is playing the type of offenses we've seen in the Big 12 in recent years.
Just take a look at Oklahoma State's much-maligned 2011 defense. The Cowboys won the Big 12 but were denied a spot in the national championship game because SEC critics said OSU's defense was lousy.
Well, it wasn't good, but consider the competition for a moment.
In the 2011 season, OSU's defense played Stanford's Andrew Luck, Baylor's Robert Griffin III, Texas A&M's Ryan Tannehill, Arizona's Nick Foles, Oklahoma's Landry Jones, Kansas State's Collin Klein, Texas Tech's Seth Doege and Tulsa's G.J. Kinne. Four of those quarterbacks have already started games in the NFL.
Did anyone in the SEC play that level of quarterback eight times during the 2011 season?
Alabama and LSU had great defenses in 2011. How would the Tide and Tigers do against that lineup of quarterbacks? Any chance they might have given up a few more yards and TDs?
The bottom line is the Big 12 has been loaded with great quarterbacks in recent years.
So, when the SEC claims defensive superiority, the Big 12 counters with quarterbacks.
If you are starting a football team, what would you want first? Defensive tackle or quarterback?
The Big 12's run of quarterbacks in recent years is amazing. That is expected to change this fall as the league transitions to a handful of new starters.
Yet, no one should discount what has been going on in the Big 12 in recent years. Just last season, there were three Big 12 rookie quarterbacks that started in the NFL (Griffin III, Tannehill and Oklahoma State's Brandon Weeden in Cleveland).
Oklahoma Heisman winner Sam Bradford was the No. 1 pick in the 2010 draft and remains the starter in St. Louis. Missouri's Blaine Gabbert was the top pick of Jacksonville. Kansas State's Josh Freeman was a first round pick in 2009 and starts in Tampa Bay.
Cincinnati starter Andy Dalton played at TCU, formerly a member of the Mountain West but now of the Big 12.
The league also added two more highly-regarded quarterbacks to NFL rosters in the latest draft. West Virginia's Geno Smith may become yet another Big 12 starter in the NFL after being nabbed by the New York Jets in the second round. Oklahoma's Landry Jones was taken by Pittsburgh in the fourth round and is expected to be Ben Roethlisberger's backup.
Two of the Big 12 alums are native Oklahomans. Bradford, from Oklahoma City, is facing some tough questions in St. Louis where he's entering his fourth season.
In defense of Bradford, he hasn't had much help in his first three seasons. So, in the offseason, the Rams got two high draft picks at receiver (Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey) to go with free agent tight end Jared Cook. In addition, the Rams now have left tackle Jake Long to protect Bradford.
So, expectations have skyrocketed.
"I've been waiting for this, just wanting to see this offense succeed, and maybe do some things we haven't been able to do in the past," Bradford told USA Today.
There's also a growing number of NFL experts who believe Weeden, from Edmond, could also be ready for a breakout season.
Most of that is based on new Cleveland offensive coordinator Norv Turner, who is likely to use Weeden's ability to throw deep passes more often.
Cleveland's top passer (Weeden), rusher (Trent Richardson) and receiver (Josh Gordon) were all rookies a year ago.
"All of those guys having a year together, including Brandon having a year playing, will help them a great deal," said Turner.
No one is arguing the overall superiority of the SEC in college football.
However, acting like Big 12 quarterbacks would get stuffed in the SEC just isn't living in the real world. Those Big 12 quarterbacks are proving it in the NFL.
Original Print Headline: Big 12's quarterback success second to none
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