Micale Cunningham

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- If you’re weary of discussing whether the Atlantic Coast, the Southeastern Conference and four other FBS college football leagues can keep their chinstraps buckled and push through the challenges of playing during the novel coronavirus pandemic, here is something else to fuss about:

Quarterback play.

That’s always good for a radio talk show segment — or more.

The good folks at Pro Football Focus, a splendid subscription-only analytics site that I recommend, has shared their rankings of all 130 starting FBS Division quarterbacks.

If you believe quarterback play is where you start to separate teams, the news is better for Scott Satterfield and the University of Louisville than it is for Mark Stoops and the University of Kentucky.

PFF ranked Louisville starter Micale Cunningham the 22nd-best quarterback in America. That's 54 spots ahead of Kentucky starter Terry Wilson.

Here is the edge for the Cardinals: Cunningham is ranked higher than all but two quarterbacks Louisville must defend.

Those two guys are D’Eriq King of Miami, who will lead the Hurricanes into Cardinal Stadium on Louisville’s home opener Sept. 26. King is projected to be a dynamo, ranked No. 11 nationally because he ran the ball for 10 yards or more on 26% of his carries.

In fact, in 2018, the last full season King played before he transferred from Houston, he was ranked second (to Heisman winner Kyler Murray of Oklahoma) among all dual-threat quarterbacks.

The other top quarterback the Cards must face (on the road) is Ian Book, the Notre Dame veteran who is a more traditional passer. He ranked No. 17.

The rest of the story?

No quarterbacks on Louisville’s schedule made PFF’s Top 30.

The truth is that five (Phil Jurkovec, Boston College, 61; Brennan Armstrong, Virginia, 75; James Blackman, Florida State, 79; Devin Leary, North Carolina State, 92; and Tommy Devito, Syracuse, 99) all failed to make the Top 100.

What does PFF like about Cunningham?

His running ability. They credited Cunningham with a rushing average of more than 7 yards per carry on read-option plays.

Kentucky will face a more daunting challenge. According to PFF, the Wildcats will face a pair of Top-20 quarterbacks: Jamie Newman of Georgia, No. 3, and K.J. Costello of Mississippi State, No. 18. (Both are transfers — Newman from Wake Forest and Costello from Stanford.)

Add three more Top-40 quarterbacks: Mac Jones of Alabama, No. 24, John Rhys Plumlee of Ole Miss, No. 29, and Tennessee’s dynamic Jarrett Guarantano, No. 39.

Throw in No. 48, Kyle Trask of Florida, and PFF believes that Kentucky will face a solid disadvantage at quarterback in six of 10 games.

UK coach Mark Stoops said Tuesday that his quarterback, Terry Wilson, is medically clear and eager to compete after completing rehab from knee surgery.

But PFF ranked Wilson No. 76 overall and 10th best in the SEC, noting that while Wilson was a talented runner he was a notch below the departed Lynn Bowden Jr. in that category. Isn’t everybody?

PFF described Wilson as an inconsistent passer, while labeling his performance while throwing under defensive pressure “frightening.” Wilson’s passing grade ranked 129 in 2018, his last full season.

The uplifting news for Kentucky is the Wildcats will face three quarterbacks that PFF ranked No. 100 or worse: Ryan Hilinski of South Carolina, 100, Ken Seals, Vanderbilt, 104 and Shawn Robinson of Mississippi State, 110.

The Wildcats also have a crack at a below-average quarterback when they open against Bo Nix (No. 95) at Auburn on Sept. 26.

I have not forgotten Western Kentucky, which is scheduled to open against Louisville, or Indiana, which had its season canceled by the Big Ten.

PFF is not dazzled by WKU’s Tyrrell Pigrome, the transfer from Maryland. He is ranked 94th.

PFF is dazzled by Indiana quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who they ranked the third-best quarterback in the Big Ten, trailing only Justin Fields of Ohio State, No. 2, and Kentucky native Tanner Morgan, who earned the No. 5 spot at Minnesota.

Penix earned the No. 12 spot, saying that the IU QB “has every trait that you want in a quarterback.”

Every trait but one: The opportunity to compete this season.

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