Kevin Jennings ranked Tier 1 QB by The Athletic

[Big Hoss]

I was pleasantly surprised to see him ranked in Tier 1 on this list, then realized they have him up at #8. Pretty cool pub for Kevin.

From the article....
"The lasting impression of Jennings at the end of 2024 ΓÇö throwing three interceptions, including two pick sixes, in a CFP first-round loss at Penn State ΓÇö is hard to shake. But coaches didnΓÇÖt let that cloud their judgment about his talent and body of work, when he went 9-2 as SMUΓÇÖs starter last year.

Jennings has the arm strength to get the ball to every part of the field and is elite at creating off schedule. He needs to trim his interception total, but most of those occurred in two games (Penn State and Duke).

ΓÇ£The kidΓÇÖs a baller, a gamer, he gets it done,ΓÇ¥ a Power 4 offensive coordinator said. ΓÇ£It doesnΓÇÖt always look the prettiest. HeΓÇÖs a little herky-jerky as a thrower. HeΓÇÖs rail thin. But he wins games and is a great leader. And he can throw the crap out of the ball.ΓÇ¥

Scouting Take
Jennings is too small to be considered a high-tier draft prospect, but heΓÇÖs a great, twitched-up athlete, both in the pocket and on the move, who is capable of escaping backfield trouble with ease. Though most of his best stuff comes off-script, itΓÇÖs all very hard for defenses to deal with, as JenningsΓÇÖ arm talent and physical explosion allow him to take full advantage of Rhett LashleeΓÇÖs veer-and-shoot-inspired attack. ΓÇö Nick Baumgardner"

Link: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/648374 ... Id=2377338

[PerunaPunch]

#8. Just ahead of TCwho's Hoover (#9) and two spots ahead on that Manning kid (#10) at the University of Texas at Auston.

[PonyPride]

I was pleasantly surprised to see him ranked in Tier 1 on this list, then realized they have him up at #8. Pretty cool pub for Kevin.

From the article....
"The lasting impression of Jennings at the end of 2024 ΓÇö throwing three interceptions, including two pick sixes, in a CFP first-round loss at Penn State ΓÇö is hard to shake. But coaches didnΓÇÖt let that cloud their judgment about his talent and body of work, when he went 9-2 as SMUΓÇÖs starter last year.

Jennings has the arm strength to get the ball to every part of the field and is elite at creating off schedule. He needs to trim his interception total, but most of those occurred in two games (Penn State and Duke).

ΓÇ£The kidΓÇÖs a baller, a gamer, he gets it done,ΓÇ¥ a Power 4 offensive coordinator said. ΓÇ£It doesnΓÇÖt always look the prettiest. HeΓÇÖs a little herky-jerky as a thrower. HeΓÇÖs rail thin. But he wins games and is a great leader. And he can throw the crap out of the ball.ΓÇ¥

Scouting Take
Jennings is too small to be considered a high-tier draft prospect, but heΓÇÖs a great, twitched-up athlete, both in the pocket and on the move, who is capable of escaping backfield trouble with ease. Though most of his best stuff comes off-script, itΓÇÖs all very hard for defenses to deal with, as JenningsΓÇÖ arm talent and physical explosion allow him to take full advantage of Rhett LashleeΓÇÖs veer-and-shoot-inspired attack. ΓÇö Nick Baumgardner"

Link: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/648374 ... Id=2377338

It is difficult to debate almost anything in here.

Yes, the interceptions can in bunches in those two games. At Penn State, SMU was behind and maybe he was pressing a little to try to help the Ponies catch up. But in a way, Duke might have been his most impressive game of the year. Everyone has bad days ΓÇö Steph Curry has days when his shot isn't falling ΓÇö and that was the case in Durham. But a lot of QBs, especially in the first year as a team's starter, might have packed it in and handed the ball off for the rest of the day ΓÇö Jennings did not. Yes, they ran the ball for 211 yards (compared to 258 through the air), and some of that involved Jennings tucking it in and taking off. But he also kept throwing. Even if a pass was incomplete, taking shots downfield kept the Duke defense honest, preventing the Blue Devils from stacking so many in the box that the SMU ground game could stall out.

The "throw the crap out of the ball" is dead-on, too. Yes, Jennings is thin, but he has a cannon. Some of his throws are deceptive, because he'll throw a 30- or 40-yard strike with just about no arc at all. He has made much longer throws that seem effortless ΓÇö I remember a couple in spring practice that looked like an easy flick of the wrist ... and turned out to be 60 yards. There was a time that a quarterback who threw the ball 50 yards was thought to have a bazooka of an arm. Now, just about every quarterback can throw that far, or close to it. More often than not, Jennings has very good accuracy ΓÇö his 65.0 percent completion rate last year is solid, especially for a first-year starter ΓÇö and his arm strength is exceptional ... and should only improve as he gets stronger.

[EastStang]

I remember he threw one ball so [deleted] a cold day at Penn State it cost us a TD. One of the pick sixes was a heck of a play by them, the run back was a work of art and was caught in their zone in the middle of the field. Not your normal pick six territory. The temperature and crowd noise really hurt us in that game along with PSU #10.

[Charleston Pony]

Yes, last year ended poorly for Kevin as he was stripped early vs Clemson and that lead to us having to make a stellar comeback late which he helped orchestrate and then he laid an egg @ Penn State in tough weather condition (actually for both games). Hopefully Kevin and the rest of our returning players will be strongly motivated by how last season ended and will take it out on both Baylor and TCU in the non-conference as they get tuned up for ACC play. Promises to be a really challenging season to have anywhere near the success we all enjoyed last year.

[highlander]

Yes, last year ended poorly for Kevin as he was stripped early vs Clemson and that lead to us having to make a stellar comeback late which he helped orchestrate and then he laid an egg @ Penn State in tough weather condition (actually for both games). Hopefully Kevin and the rest of our returning players will be strongly motivated by how last season ended and will take it out on both Baylor and TCU in the non-conference as they get tuned up for ACC play. Promises to be a really challenging season to have anywhere near the success we all enjoyed last year.

@PSU was the second toughest draw for any team in the first round last year (the toughest of course being @ Ohio St, but given the weather at PSU, just barely).

[PonyPride]

Am I the only one who has wondered what that game might look like if played in Dallas at the end of August or beginning of September?

Not saying which team would have won, but at least one of the challenges (temperature) that faced the Mustangs that day would be flipped. Yes, it gets very hot in Pennsylvania, and they get humidity that dwarfs what happens in Dallas ... but if it had been 100 degrees at kickoff, things would have looked a lot different.

That, of course, is one of the reasons teams try to get the best possible record: so they can play important games in the comforts of home.

[highlander]

Am I the only one who has wondered what that game might look like if played in Dallas at the end of August or beginning of September?

Not saying which team would have won, but at least one of the challenges (temperature) that faced the Mustangs that day would be flipped. Yes, it gets very hot in Pennsylvania, and they get humidity that dwarfs what happens in Dallas ... but if it had been 100 degrees at kickoff, things would have looked a lot different.

That, of course, is one of the reasons teams try to get the best possible record: so they can play important games in the comforts of home.

Not only the weather, but their crowd -- which by all accounts is in the top-3 in the country -- really affected us when we got near the goal line. The rest of the offense simply could not hear Jennings.

[EastStang]

Yeah, if they had ranked us 12th. We'd have gotten to play UT in Austin. Instead they ranked Clemson 12th. I think we could have beaten the Whorns in Austin which is why they sent us to PSU. They did not want the Whorns ousted in the first round.