Oklahoma Sooners

Colleague Brock Huard checked in with the next installment of the top 10 at each position nationally, offering up his list of the nation's best quarterbacks .

Huard pegged three Big 12 quarterbacks in the nation's top 10, with surprises on who got in and who got left out.

The first no-brainers are Oklahoma's Landry Jones at No. 4 and West Virginia's Geno Smith at No. 5. They trail USC's Matt Barkley, Virginia Tech's Logan Thomas and Arkansas' Tyler Wilson.

Color me skeptical of Thomas, but Jones and Smith will be a season-long debate. You can rank them either way for now. Smith got the edge in the Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year Award, but the voting was pretty close.

For Huard, 2012 is about Jones validating the top-five grade NFL scouts placed on him previously.

Smith is another gunslinger like ones Mountaineers coach Dana Holgorsen had during assistant-coaching stints at Houston and Texas Tech, but Smith possesses the arm strength and size that guys like Case Keenum and Graham Harrell didn't have, writes Huard.

The most conspicuous absence from his top 10 list? Kansas State's Collin Klein. No surprise, really. Huard, a former quarterback himself, clearly defines best quarterbacks as "best passers." Klein doesn't fit that mold, but he does fit the mold of a great football player and quarterback.

TCU's Casey Pachall snuck in and grabbed the No. 10 spot. Nice pick. I love what Pachall was able to do last season, even though he didn't have a ton of pressure. When his team needed him most (Baylor, Boise State), he was at his best. I'd probably lean Seth Doege ahead of Pachall, but it's close.

Check out Huard's full list with his comments. Good stuff.

We'll be walking through the top 10 players at each position in the Big 12 before the season, but we'll start with the most important, especially in this league.

Let's do this:

1. Geno Smith, West Virginia: Smith put up huge numbers (4,385 yards, 31 TD, 7 INT, 65.8 completion percentage) and did so efficiently last season. Both of his top two targets are back and the adjustment to Big 12 defenses shouldn't be too difficult.

2. Landry Jones, Oklahoma: Jones and Smith will go head-to-head all season for honors as the Big 12's top passer. Who comes out on top is anyone's guess, but Jones regressed last season, and his receivers let him down after Ryan Broyles' season ended with a knee injury. He'll try to bounce back with just one reliable target (Kenny Stills) to start the season. The rest of the receiving corps is loaded with potential, but very inexperienced.

3. Collin Klein, Kansas State: Clearly, I'm taking more than just passing acumen into account here. Klein is the Big 12's No. 2 returning rusher, and also threw for just under 2,000 yards last season, adding 13 passing touchdowns to the 27 he scored rushing. We'll see how much better he is as a passer this fall.

4. Seth Doege, Texas Tech: I refuse to hang last year's failures on Doege's shoulders. Absolutely not. He played well, at least as well as he could. The running game struggled and offered almost no support after Eric Stephens' injury. The defense was a disaster and there were injuries all over the place. Doege still went for more than 4,000 yards, 28 scores and just 10 picks. Don't be surprised if Doege throws his hat in the ring as the Big 12's best passer by season's end.

5. Casey Pachall, TCU: Pachall didn't have eye-popping numbers, but only because TCU rode on the shoulders of its trio of running backs. Still, Pachall's numbers are going to be better this year, and he's got great targets in Josh Boyce, Skye Dawson and Brandon Carter, not to mention youngster LaDarius Brown.

6. Nick Florence, Baylor: I like Florence to have a big year with really good receivers, but he's got too much to prove for now. He looked good in spot duty for RG3 against Texas Tech last season, but his senior season will look much, much different than his inconsistent freshman year all the way back in 2009.

7. Wes Lunt, Oklahoma State: The Big 12's only freshman quarterback is a true freshman, and Lunt earned this spot by beating out some really tough competition in J.W. Walsh and Colton Chelf this spring. Amazing stuff, and his coaches know good quarterbacks. Zac Robinson and Brandon Weeden have established quite the QB tradition in Stillwater. Here's guessing Lunt continues it.

8. Dayne Crist, Kansas: Crist's college career hasn't been what he imagined after coming to Notre Dame as one of the most highly recruited signal-calling prospects in his class, but he's got a chance to start something special at Kansas in his senior year, reunited with former coach Charlie Weis. Crist won't have the weapons some of the other guys on this list have, but he gives KU a big, big upgrade at the position.

9. Steele Jantz/Jared Barnett, Iowa State: These two have to cut down the turnovers, but they've both shown the ability to be playmakers. There's no guessing who wins this legitimate battle in the fall, but coach Paul Rhoads isn't afraid to bench either one if the turnovers don't stop.

10. David Ash/Case McCoy, Texas: Mack Brown insists it's still a contest. My jaw will be on the floor if Ash doesn't trot out on the field for the first game of the season. Ash has some potential and promising targets in Mike Davis and Jaxon Shipley, but he hasn't shown the big-play ability of Jantz or Barnett. Expect Ash to move up this list by season's end, but for now, it's all just potential.

Last season, Oklahoma or Texas failed to win the Big 12 for the first time since 2003.

How?

Well, Oklahoma State had a little something to do with it, but so did two huge positions in need of improvement.

Both cracked colleague Travis Haney's list of positions with the potential for huge growth in 2012.

First up, the Texas quarterbacks.

Texas seemed to indicate it would like for the more athletic [David] Ash to be the guy, even as a freshman, but he could not sustain enough consistency to win the job outright. And, really, Ash simply could not take care of the ball. He threw an interception every 21.8 passes. (The most efficient quarterback in 2011, Wisconsin's Russell Wilson, threw one every 77.3 throws.

[Case] McCoy was more consistent in November, but no one was mistaking him for his older brother in terms of arm strength and accuracy. He did put up a 356-yard passing day in the loss to Baylor at the end of the regular season, but McCoy then gave way to Ash for the bowl victory against Cal. It was a yo-yo effect all season for the Horns, who would like to see one of the two emerge -- but still haven't really through spring ball.

My take: I totally agree with this one. How much Ash improves is the big question. An offseason full of first-team reps will be extremely valuable -- he got almost none last year before being thrust into the role of starter as a true freshman. During spring camp last year, he was a fourth-stringer. He could get better, but Ash has never really looked the part of future superstar to me. Fortunately for the Longhorns, the team is good enough everywhere else it doesn't need him to be a superstar. If he's solid, but able to get the ball to Texas' playmakers like Jaxon Shipley and Mike Davis, the Longhorns will be a factor in the Big 12 race.

Second, Haney looks at the Oklahoma defensive backs, who are under new direction this year with Mike Stoops.

Stoops has a variety of options for the different spots in the defensive backfield. Already, he has shifted Tony Jefferson from sam linebacker to free safety, his more natural position, and moved Javon Harris from free to strong safety. Harris was the goat in several games, including the Baylor debacle. Jefferson might be the most underrated defensive player in the Big 12 because he has yet to settle into one, specific position.

Another important piece of the OU defense, Aaron Colvin, missed the spring after minor shoulder surgery. He can play any of the secondary spots, again freeing up Mike Stoops to mix and match to find a solution for the big-play disease.

My take: The league's best quarterbacks gave the Sooners all kinds of trouble last year, and it won't be much easier this year. Yeah, Brandon Weeden and Robert Griffin III are gone, but TCU's Casey Pachall and West Virginia's Geno Smith are the new guys very capable of tearing up anybody's secondary.

It's tough to know exactly what the problem for Oklahoma was. The Sooners could be dominant at times. They have the talent and athleticism. Most importantly, they have lots of experience. For OU, it's a matter of just doing it. Stoops will try to make it happen, but big improvement could result in a big, big year for the Sooners.

A national title, perhaps?

Heisman Pundit is exactly that. Chris Huston knows his stuff about the Heisman, and famously penned The 10 Heismandments, which outline what has to happen for players to earn the greatest individual honor in sports.

He looked at his top 10 candidates from the Big 12, ranking them from top to bottom.

Topping the list?

West Virginia's Geno Smith. Huston pegged Oklahoma's Landry Jones as the No. 3 candidate, but had a moderate surprise at No. 2 with Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein on his list of "Contenders"

"Klein was probably the toughest player in college football last year, pound for pound," wrote Huston. "I can’t remember the last time I saw a player improve as much as Klein did between his sophomore and junior seasons."

No arguments here. The guy carried the ball 317 times, 67 more times than anybody else in the Big 12 and third-most in the nation. He took a beating every week and kept improving, kept running and kept growing as a passer.

I might have Jones ahead of both Klein and Smith, but it's definitely close. Klein needs wins and production to gain some more name recognition, but he's everything to Kansas State's offense.

I liked Huston's picks as the three dark horses, too.

TCU quarterback Casey Pachall topped that list, ahead of running back Joseph Randle at Oklahoma State and receiver Tavon Austin from West Virginia.

I think it'll be tough for Austin to legitimately win as a receiver, but if OSU and TCU start racking up wins by the bushelful, Randle will make an appearance on the short list, as will Pachall, who has three outstanding targets in Josh Boyce, Skye Dawson and Brandon Carter.

Check out Huston's blog for his list of longshots, which includes four boys in burnt orange from Texas.

With the season over, it's time to take a look at the Big 12 in 2012. For now, that means assuming a few things. And we all know what assuming does.

It makes us all look like geniuses.

So, for the purpose of this, I'll assume a few predictions. First, I'll assume Robert Griffin III is heading for the NFL. I'll also assume Mike Stoops lands back at Oklahoma.

That said, it's time to project what this league looks like in 2012.

And, before we start, let me make this clear: The Big 12 from 1-6 is absolutely wide open. Last year, the league only had three legitimate title contenders: Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State. This year, every one of the top six teams (and maybe seven, if RG3 returns) can win the Big 12 in a realistic scenario. The difference between Nos. 2 and 6 is minuscule and could change a ton by the end of spring practice.

And for the curious: I would have Missouri behind Kansas State on this list, and I'd have Texas A&M right behind Texas.

1. Oklahoma: The Sooners moved into the familiar role of favorite after Landry Jones announced he'd return in 2012, but not nearly as heavy a favorite as they were in 2011. Injuries hurt Oklahoma late this season, and replacing Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Frank Alexander, along with linebacker Travis Lewis and corner Jamell Fleming won't be easy. Receivers Kenny Stills and Jaz Reynolds have to play big for the Sooners to get the win.

2. Kansas State: The big question mark for this team is can it take care of business and not get stuck in close games in 2012? The Wildcats were 8-1 in games decided by a touchdown or less this season. They can't count on duplicating that in 2012. They should be better, and return most of the big pieces from this season's 10-win team, most importantly quarterback Collin Klein and linebacker Arthur Brown. Next season is the time to prove it.

3. West Virginia: Who else is excited to see Geno Smith, Dana Holgorsen and the Mountaineer Express show up in Big 12 country next season? Like I wrote last week, giving up 33 points and still winning by five touchdowns is the Big 12 way of life. The Mountaineers broke Baylor's week-old bowl scoring record with 70 points, and bring back most of a good Big East champion team in 2012. The transition won't be easy, but they've got a chance to make a big splash in their inaugural year. The Big 12 and West Virginia are both convinced that the Mountaineers will join the Big 12 in 2012 and are planning as if it will happen, though pending lawsuits with the Big East mean it's still unofficial.

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