Who will be the Mac Jones of the 2021 college football season?

Bill Connelly is a staff writer for ESPN.com.

I express a lot of opinions on the internet, which inevitably means that I’m wrong on the internet quite a bit. (Anyone who read my 20th-century quarterback rankings piece recently and isn’t an Oklahoma fan probably agrees with this.)

However, sometimes I’m right, and I should celebrate that. So allow me to say, I TRIED TO TELL YOU ABOUT MAC JONES. In a small sample size late in 2019, Jones was so much better than he was given credit for; in a larger sample in 2020, all he did was lead the country in Total QBR, finish third in the Heisman voting and lead the best Alabama offense — maybe the best Alabama team — ever. He’ll likely become a first-round draft pick in a few more weeks. Did he have an amazing supporting cast around him? Of course. But he steered the Bama ship impeccably.

So who’s the next Mac Jones?

We’re going to attack that question in a few different ways. First, we’re going to look at QBs who thrived, perhaps under the radar, late in the 2020 season. Then we’re going to look at new starting quarterbacks who made a decent impression in small sample sizes. Finally, we’re going to look beyond the QB position and form a full lineup of new starters with exciting samples of work.

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