Husker QB's 2000-2010

[Hercules]

Crouch, Ganz, Zac Taylor, TMart. As for the rest I really didn't care for, Lord was a RB playing QB. He only passed the ball to his 1st option, while starring them down the whole way. Remember the OU game where they had to bring in the guy with the yellow jersey so he could tell who was calling the plays. The whole offense was dumbed down for him. That defensive squad was not bad either. Had a Ganz been in there they might of had a chance at a NC. With all the 3 and outs they played exceptional for a 10 win season. They also had a slew of RBs.

 

Lord was a safety playing QB because we didn't have anyone else, so of course we had to limit the offense for him.

 

However, Ganz would not have given those teams a shot at a NC, not even close. Say what you will about Lord, he WAS the offense in 2002 and 2003. The defense in 2003, when they brought Pelini in, was an improvement over 2002, but it still wasn't anywhere close to a national championship defense. It got blown away in games against Texas, Kansas State, and Missouri.

 

And by slew of RB's, do you mean David Horne, Josh Davis, Tierre Green? There was a young Cory Ross, but he was the only one that ever amounted to anything.

[suh_fan93]

I'll rank my top three since the rest are pretty interchangeable.

 

1- Joe Ganz - Threw for over 5,125 yards and did it in less than a season and a half. (17 games to be precise) He was the key to Nebraska's comeback after the Callahan era. 2009 Gatorbowl MVP. He's easily my number one pick for quarterback in the last 10 years. Holds the Nebraska record for quarterback rating for a career, 157.38. Holds 23 school records. Ganz could both run and throw. Completed 65% of his passes for his career.

 

2- Eric Crouch - The most amazing runner at quarterback we've ever had. Loved watching him run. Too bad he wasn't a threat at all through the air. Fastest QB at Nebraska until (arguably) Taylor Martinez.

 

3- Zac Taylor - Great passing quarterback. Set the tone for Nebraska's change on offense after Frank Solich. An accurate passer and one of the better passing quarterbacks in Nebraska history.

[Big Red 40]

1. Crouch - by a large margin IMO.If a big play was needed in a big game, through the air or on the ground theres nobody on this list i would give the ball to over him. Awesome NFL career too!

2. Zach Taylor - Best pure passer we have had in the past 10 years and maybe ever. Loved watching him pick defenses apart. Tough as nails too! I went to the Wake Forest game and he was taking hits you could hear in the 35th row. i have no idea how he kept getting up.

3. Ganz - Not the most talented, but a good leader and hard worker. Good feet, and a decent arm. His work in the film-room gave him very good command of the offense.

4. Jammal Lord - GREAT runner, but probably one of the worst passers on the list. Nobody remembers the 3 step drop then gun the ball straight into the ground 15yds away from the receiver? I still cringe when i think about it. Interesting too that he graduated with a degree in communications, since he struggled to put a sentence together in most of his press conferences.

5.Taylor Martinez - ran the Zone read like a mofo for 5 games or so then pee'd himself when that didnt work any more. When not under pressure had a reasonably accurate arm. Just not ready yet. May end up higher.

6 Keller - kind of a primadonna, but another very good pure drop back passer. Didnt play on a good team, got injured, and was only on the field for 1 year. hard to rank him much higher without seeing more.

7. Cody Green - Getting jerked in and out of bad situations messed him up a bit. Not the super running threat i thought he was, but good enough to get positive yds on the correct plays. Think he has strong leadership qualities/work ethic, and if given the reigns he could command an above average offense.

8. Zach Lee - I admire his heart, but not much more. Average passer, good leader, BAD runner.(straight forward til you hit something then fall down, not my favorite)Good game against Arizona made people forget some earlier bad stuff.

9. Patrick Witt - Didnt play much, but was still better than Joe Dailey

10. Joe Dailey - You are the weakest link Goodbye!

Oh yeah i would put Mike Stuntz in there ahead of Patrick and Joe too. Threw "THE" pass to Crouch against Oklahoma, and had that SMOKIN hot girlfriend who tutored Tommy Lee in Tommy goes to College. Thanks for the memories Mike.

[JD-Red]

1. Crouch- wasn't old enough to watch him play a lot but judging off his high light vids he must have been something special

 

2. Ganz- was awesome

 

3. Zac Taylor- this guy and the A&M game really got me into husked football

 

4. Taylor Martinez- amazingly fast was looked like a decent passer until the injury IMO

 

5. Zach lee- wonder what would have been if he never got the injury this year..

 

6. Cody Green- seems like a great guy and looks better when he's in the game longer than 3 series and doesn't start on the 2 yard line.

 

7. Joe Daily- didnt watch him play but judging off the other posts he must of sucked

[EZ-E]

That's not a bad ranking. Mine is only slightly different:

 

1. Zac Taylor - the kid had more guts and toughness than every other QB this decade combined. Awe-inspiring toughness.

2. Eric Crouch - Heisman be damned, this guy could flat-out play. Turns out too well - the offense solely went through him, and it killed us.

3. Joey Ganz - Ganz wasn't pretty, he wasn't athletic, and he wasn't immune from poor decisions, but I felt we had a chance to win every game he started because he was under center. Wish we had Joe Ganz right now.

4. Taylor Martinez - Toughest guy to rank. On pure athletic ability he's right up there with Crouch, but the injury-marred season leaves us with an incomplete data set on which to judge him.

5. Sam Keller - Probably the most unfairly maligned Husker QB of all time. He was polite, he said and did the right things, and he had undeniable skills.

6. Jammal Lord - If only he had more talent around him. He was wasted on those teams.

7. Zac Lee - again, only one year to judge the guy, and injuries skew his numbers, but love the guy's heart and attitude.

8. Cody Green - two years in the program and he still looks like it's his first week on campus. Maybe that's his fault, maybe it's his coach's, but the fact is that Green has failed to produce much of anything. He has two more years to make it, but so far... not so good.

9. Joe Dailey - probably doesn't deserve to be down here, but his tenure was the worst of the bunch.

 

 

EDIT - 74Hunter, don't have a conniption when you see my ranking. Zac deserves the #1 spot.

 

 

I think that you are wrong on several of these rankings.

[zoogs]

I ranked Zac Taylor #1 based on heart and guts. There is NO DOUBT Crouch was way more physically gifted, but there's also no doubt that Zac put this shambles of a program on his shoulders and led us through a couple of horrible seasons with class, toughness and character.

 

I love me some Eric Crouch, but Zac Taylor never quit on the Huskers. Zac Taylor never lost the respect of the locker room. Zac Taylor was a consummate team player, tough as all hell, made the most out of a horrible situation (with an historically awful Offensive Line), and kept plugging away, every game.

 

Maybe I'm being overly sentimental ranking Taylor over Crouch. But I'm not basing my rankings purely on talent. The OP never said we had to.

 

Yeah, I am not being objective when I put Zac Taylor over Crouch.

 

I just like Taylor better. And he's my avatar. I am definitely biased about that one. Crouch was a winner and won a lot of games for us. I just can't put my favoritism aside on that point though.

[HeyBurke]

I really don't understand why people are so infatuated with Zac Lee. Other than the fact that he was a good leader last year, what has the guy done? I mean, Cody Green has shown just as much leadership as Zac Lee and he doesn't get nearly the same amount of praise.

[holvy83]

I really don't understand why people are so infatuated with Zac Lee. Other than the fact that he was a good leader last year, what has the guy done? I mean, Cody Green has shown just as much leadership as Zac Lee and he doesn't get nearly the same amount of praise.

 

OU last year, Cody was scared to death and making poor decisions, Zac came in and showed poise and controlled the game hence NU victory. That is why he graded higher than Cody in my book.

[knapplc]

That's not a bad ranking. Mine is only slightly different:

 

1. Zac Taylor - the kid had more guts and toughness than every other QB this decade combined. Awe-inspiring toughness.

2. Eric Crouch - Heisman be damned, this guy could flat-out play. Turns out too well - the offense solely went through him, and it killed us.

3. Joey Ganz - Ganz wasn't pretty, he wasn't athletic, and he wasn't immune from poor decisions, but I felt we had a chance to win every game he started because he was under center. Wish we had Joe Ganz right now.

4. Taylor Martinez - Toughest guy to rank. On pure athletic ability he's right up there with Crouch, but the injury-marred season leaves us with an incomplete data set on which to judge him.

5. Sam Keller - Probably the most unfairly maligned Husker QB of all time. He was polite, he said and did the right things, and he had undeniable skills.

6. Jammal Lord - If only he had more talent around him. He was wasted on those teams.

7. Zac Lee - again, only one year to judge the guy, and injuries skew his numbers, but love the guy's heart and attitude.

8. Cody Green - two years in the program and he still looks like it's his first week on campus. Maybe that's his fault, maybe it's his coach's, but the fact is that Green has failed to produce much of anything. He has two more years to make it, but so far... not so good.

9. Joe Dailey - probably doesn't deserve to be down here, but his tenure was the worst of the bunch.

 

 

EDIT - 74Hunter, don't have a conniption when you see my ranking. Zac deserves the #1 spot.

 

 

I think that you are wrong on several of these rankings.

 

Weird that you pull mine out of the pile to state that. Where would you rank them, and why?

[throwthebones1521]

1. Crouch... he was a stud! He lead us to the national championship... granted we got killed\

 

2. Zac Taylor... He was great... good kid, good leader but not comparable to Crouch

 

3. Joe Ganz... gunslinger i liked him a lot personally

 

4. Martinez... he is a stud just one dimensional

 

5. Jammal Lord... stud just didnt have the team so i cant put him any higher cuz he just didnt win

 

6. Zac Lee... basically he can thank the defense for any of the success last year but he impressed me in the Holiday bowl win against zona

 

7. Cody Green... I heard he's a team fav... i like the kid a lot just looks nervous out there.

 

8. Sam Keller... by far the worst QB in this decade! awful arm and release terrible! thank god he got hurt and Joey replaced him!!!!

[74Hunter]

Anyone who does NOT have Crouch as the clear and away #1 is not only drunk, they are blunted, high, trippin, and tweaked out, all at the same time.

 

Ganz was even better than Zac Taylor. ZT had a ton of guts and was tough, but he couldn't hold Crouch's jock on Eric's worst day.

 

And that's all I have to say about that.

[HeyBurke]

I really don't understand why people are so infatuated with Zac Lee. Other than the fact that he was a good leader last year, what has the guy done? I mean, Cody Green has shown just as much leadership as Zac Lee and he doesn't get nearly the same amount of praise.

 

OU last year, Cody was scared to death and making poor decisions, Zac came in and showed poise and controlled the game hence NU victory. That is why he graded higher than Cody in my book.

 

Oh, yeah, Zac definitely was the reason Nebraska won. Forget the fact that the defense intercepted Landry Jones 5 times and held OU to without a touchdown for the first time since, what, 1999? But, no, you're right, Zac managed that 1 yard touchdown drive like a pro!

[HeyBurke]

Aargh, damn mobile site...

[holvy83]

I really don't understand why people are so infatuated with Zac Lee. Other than the fact that he was a good leader last year, what has the guy done? I mean, Cody Green has shown just as much leadership as Zac Lee and he doesn't get nearly the same amount of praise.

 

OU last year, Cody was scared to death and making poor decisions, Zac came in and showed poise and controlled the game hence NU victory. That is why he graded higher than Cody in my book.

 

Oh, yeah, Zac definitely was the reason Nebraska won. Forget the fact that the defense intercepted Landry Jones 5 times and held OU to without a touchdown for the first time since, what, 1999? But, no, you're right, Zac managed that 1 yard touchdown drive like a pro!

 

To say CG would have given NU the same chance in games last year is a false statement. Also why did they pull Green then? Also did Zac not start the rest of the season after that? Green has all the tools, but it remains to be seen if he will get to shine at NU, and his chances are getting slimmer. So far as rankings go yes, Zac ranks higher than Cody.

[HeyBurke]

@holvy83

 

I never said anything about Zac being better than Cody. I just said that I don't understand why people are so infatuated by him.

 

By your logic, since Zac was benched in favor of Cody, then doesn't that mean Cody is better than Zac? Fact is that Zac didn't do anything special last year and I don't doubt Cody could have done the same thing if he had started 12 games last year.