NC State's Claim to QBU Title

© Tim Peeler, 2017

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When former NC State quarterback Jacoby Brissett was traded by the New England Patriots to the Indianapolis Colts last week, it opened up the possibility that there could be four former Wolfpack quarterbacks starting under center for their NFL teams when the 2017 season opens this weekend.

Philip Rivers begins his 14^th season with the San Diego Chargers, Russell Wilson his sixth season with the Seattle Seahawks and Mike Glennon is in his first season with the Chicago Bears after four seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brissett made two starts for the Super Bowl champion Patriots last season during starter Tom Brady’s NFL suspension and was acquired to help the Colts while regular starter Andrew Luck recovers from a preseason injury.

No other school has more than two former quarterbacks starting for NFL teams.

Four schools have two: Wisconsin, with Seattle’s Wilson (who counts for both the Badgers and the Wolfpack) and Chicago’s Scott Tolzien (who might get bumped this week or next by new acquisition Brissett); California with Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers and the Rams’ Jared Goff; Michigan State with Washington’s Kirk Cousins and San Francisco’s Brian Hoyer; and ACC-partner Pittsburgh, with Baltimore’s Joe Flacco (who began his college career with the Panthers before transferring to Delaware) and Houston’s Tom Savage.

Southern Cal has four former quarterbacks on NFL rosters: Carson Palmer, Mark Sanchez, Cody Kessler and Matt Cassel. Only Carson, however, is a projected starter heading into the season.

Michigan State also has four: starter Kirk Cousins and reserves Connor Cook, Brian Hoyer and Drew Stanton.

Oregon State has three, starter Matt Moore and reserves Derek Anderson and Sean Mannion, as does Michigan with starter Tom Brady and reserves Jake Rudock and Chad Henne.

Tennessee has three, but neither Tyler Bray, Joshua Dobbs nor Matt Simms is a starter.

NC State has now moved into elite territory as one of a dozen college programs to contribute 500 or more regular-season NFL starts at quarterback, thanks to six former Wolfpack signal callers: Roman Gabriel (157 starts), Erik Kramer (67), Rivers (176), Wilson (80), Glennon (18) and Brissett (2).

(Former Wolfpack quarterback Johnny Evans played in 48 games for the Cleveland Browns from 1978-80, but primarily as a punter. He had 214 career punts for an average of 39.5 yards. He attempted three NFL passes with two completions for a total of 14 yards. He also had five career rushes for a total of six yards. But he never started at quarterback.)

The Wolfpack is third among current and former ACC schools in contributing NFL starts at quarterback, behind Miami (581) and Boston College (511). The Pack could move into second place pretty quickly if it adds four starts per week early in the NFL season.

Boston College has alum Matt Ryan starting for the Atlanta Falcons; Miami has not had an alum start in the NFL since Ken Dorsey started three games for the Cleveland Browns in 2008.

North Carolina and Georgia Tech have the fewest NFL quarterback starts among ACC schools. UNC alum T.J. Yates made five starts in 2011 and two starts in 2015 for the Houston Texans, but is currently on the Buffalo Bills injured reserve list.

Georgia Tech alum Mike Kelley, a veteran of the United State Football League’s Tampa Bay Bandits and Memphis Bandits, made one start for the NFL’s San Diego Chargers as a replacement player during the 1987 players’ strike.

With four NC State alumni as potential starters for the opening of the 2017 season, here’s a look at the number of career NFL starts by quarterbacks from ACC schools and a list of the 12 NCAA programs who have contributed 500 regular-season quarterback starts in the NFL, which NC State joined at the end of last season.

Schools with 500 NFL QB starts

Purdue                             1,082
Notre Dame                        931
Southern Cal                       843
Stanford                              811
Washington                         679
Oregon                                627
Alabama                              621
Michigan                             607
UCLA                                 583
Miami                                 581
California                           576
Boston College                   511
NC State                             500

NFL QB starts by ACC schools

Miami                                 581
Boston College                   511
NC State                             500
Maryland^                          442
Pittsburgh                           415
Florida State                       319
Virginia                               308
Louisville                            246
Duke                                    242
Wake Forest                        185
Syracuse                             172
Virginia Tech                      169
Clemson                               52
South Carolina^                   31
North Carolina                       7
Georgia Tech                          1

^ Former ACC members

Starts by QBs from ACC schools

Dan Marino, Pittsburgh%                             240
Vinnie Testaverde, Miami%                         214
Johnny Unitas, Louisville%                         185
Philip Rivers, NC State                                176
Boomer Esiason, Maryland                          173
Donovan McNabb, Syracuse%                    161
Jim Kelley, Miami%                                     160
Matt Hasselbeck, Boston College%             160
Norm Snead, Wake Forest                            159
Roman Gabriel, NC State                             157

%-played prior to school joining ACC

NFL QB starts by school

Miami (Florida)                               581

Vinny Testaverde                  214
Jim Kelly                              160
Bernie Kosar                        108       
Steve Walsh                           38
Craig Erickson                       36
Ken Dorsey                            13
George Mira                            8
Larry Lawrence                      2
Scott Covington                     1
Brock Berlin                          1
Gino Torretta                         0
Jack Del Bello                       0

Boston College                                511

Matt Hasselbeck                  160
Matt Ryan+*                        142
Doug Flutie                            66
Jack Concannon                    45
Butch Songin                        20
Charlie O’Rourke                 19
John McCormick                  15
Don Panciera                        13
Glenn Foley                           9
Gary Marangi                        7
Mike Kruczek                        7
Tim Hasselbeck                     5
Shawn Halloran                     2
Brian St. Pierre                      1
Mark Hartsell                        0
Don Allard                            0
Joe DeVito                             0

NC State                                           500

Philip Rivers+*                     176
Roman Gabriel                      157
Russell Wilson+*                    80
Erik Kramer                            67
Mike Glennon+*                    18
Jacoby Brissett*                       2

Maryland                                          442

Boomer Esiason                     173
Neil O’Donnell                      100
Bob Avelini                              50
Shaun Hill                                35
Dick Shiner                              29
Frank Reich                             20
Stan Gelbaugh                         12
Jack Scarbath                           11
Scott Zolak                                7
Alan Pastrana                            3
Scott Milanovich                       0
Mark Manges                            0
King Corcoran                          0
Tommy Mont                            2

Pittsburgh                                         415

Dan Marino                            240
Joe Flacco+*                          138
Matt Cavanaugh                       19
Alex Van Pelt                           11
Tyler Palko                                4
Tom Savage+*                           2
Matt Lytle                                  1
Paul Rickards                            0
Pete Gonzalez                           0
Rick Trocano                            0

Florida State                                    319

Brad Johnson                         125
Christian Ponder                      36
Steve Tensi                              34
Jameis Winston+*                   32
Gary Huff                                28
Danny Kanell                          24
Chris Weinke                          20
E.J. Manuel*                          17
Peter Tom Willis                      3
Casey Weldon                          0
Kim Hammond                        0
Bill Cappleman                        0

Virginia                                              308

Matt Schaub                              92
Aaron Brooks*                         90
Don Majkowski                       57
Gary Cuozzo                           40
Bob Davis                               14
Bill Troup                                11
Scott Secules                             4
Shawn Moore                            0
Matt Blundin                             0

Louisville                                           246

Johnny Unitas                         185
Teddy Bridgewater                   28
Browning Nagle                       14
Chris Redman                           12
Ed Rubbert                                 3
Brian Brohm                              2
Dave Ragone                             2
Dean May                                  0
Jeff Brohm                                 0
Matt Simms                               0
Benny Russell                           0

Duke                                                  242

Sonny Jurgensen                    147
Dave Brown                             60
Al Woodall                               19
Anthony Dilweg                        7
Thaddeus Lewis                        6
Leo Hart                                    1
Scotty Glacken                          1
Bob Brodhead                           1
Sean Renfree                             0
Ben Bennett                              0

Wake Forest                                     185

Norm Snead                           159
Karl Sweetan                           19
Ron Smith                                 7
Nick Sacrinty                            0
Mike Elkins                              0

Syracuse                                           172

Donovan McNabb                 161
Jim Del Gaizo                           6
Todd Philcox                             5
Ryan Nassib                              0

Virginia Tech                                   169

Michael Vick                         115
Tyrod Taylor+*                       29
Don Strock                              22
Will Furrer                                2
Jim Druckenmiller                    1
Bob Schweickert                       0
Logan Thomas                          0

Clemson                                            52

Steve Fuller                            42
Charlie Whitehurst                  9
Charley Sarratt                        1
Harvey White                          0
DeShaun Watson*                   0

South Carolina                                31

Anthony Wright                    19
Bill Troup                              11
Connor Shaw*                        1
Mike Hold                               0

North Carolina                                  7

T.J. Yates*                               7
Scott Stankavage                     0            
Jim Camp                                0
Mitch Trubisky*                     0

Georgia Tech                                     1

Mike Kelley                            1
Jim Bob Taylor                       0
Rick Strom                              0
Joe Hamilton                           0
Andy Hall                                0

+ current NFL starter; * current NFL player.

Starts as recorded by www.Pro-Football-Reference.com