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USA Today

Trevor Lawrence didn't play in Clemson's come-from-behind win over Boston College because he tested positive for COVID-19 last week, but it did give us an opportunity to watch a player who will appear in this space in 2022: DJ Uiagalelei, who was impressive. Also impressive: more familiar names like Ohio State's Justin Fields, Alabama's Mac Jones and BYU's Zach Wilson.

Texas' Sam Ehlinger also had a big afternoon, while Iowa State's Brock Purdy was steady-as-she-goes in an easy win over Kansas. Let's take a look at how the top college quarterbacks fared.

Justin Fields, Ohio State

Fields is a better player than he was last fall. There aren't glaring differences, but the subtle ones start to show themselves the more you watch him. He was damn-near clinical against Nebraska in Ohio State's opener last week and he was even more prolific against Penn State on Saturday night.

Fields finished 28 of 34 for 318 yards with four more touchdowns and for some perspective on just how good he's been consider this: Fields has seven incompletions on the season, six touchdowns and no interceptions. And he's somehow better than 2019 when he tossed 41 touchdowns and just three picks!

You see those improvements in areas like his footwork in the pocket, his ability to process what the defense is doing, keeping his eyes downfield and going through his progressions, and then finding his his targets with laser-guided precision.

If you just read the box score you'd no doubt be impressed by "49-yard touchdown pass from Justin Fields to Chris Olave." And, yeah, that's technically true, but it might be more accurate to call that 49-yard handoff from Fields to Olave because that's what it felt like. At no point was there any doubt that the ball was going to fall out of the sky right into Olave's hands, well clear of the closest defender who had a better chance of sprouting wings at that point than breaking up that pass.

Barton Simmons, 247Sports.com's director of scouting, said this in the spring and it still holds true: Fields will have a chance to challenge Lawrence as the first quarterback drafted in 2021 because last year was his first year in Ohio State's system and he balled out. And as we've noted, Fields is better in Year 2 and he looks like he's only scratching the surface of what he's capable of.

And while his arm strength is off the charts, Fields also shows patience and touch and this touchdown pass is an example of that:

Even Fields' misses are good -- two of those seven incompletions on the year should have been touchdowns but were instead dropped. If you're looking for areas of improvement, it starts with Fields still holding the ball too long in the pocket. It was an issue last season but we also understand why: He is so incredibly athletic that he feels no play is ever truly over. That's not how it works, especially at the next level, but of things NFL teams concern themselves with when going through the Franchise QB checklist, this ranks pretty low.

For us, Fields has somehow exceeded our already lofty expectations for 2020 and you NFL teams are noticing too.

Mac Jones, Alabama

Mac Jones' best attribute might be his arm -- specifically his deep-ball accuracy -- but pretty high on the list is his calm and patience in the pocket. He's rarely rattled and that serves him well before the snap and after he has the ball in his hands.

We made similar remarks about Joe Burrow a year ago when he, like Jones, was playing behind an all-star offensive line and, like Jones, was throwing to a bunch of future NFL pass catchers. And while Burrow has struggled at times with the Bengals, we still see the aforementioned calm and patience even as he spends most Sunday's running for his life.

(To put it another way: Sam Darnold has spent much of his NFL career with a deer-in-headlights look behind that Jets offensive line -- and understandably so. But you don't see that from Burrow even as he faces similarly harrowing circumstances. We get that some of that from Jones too though in no way are we saying he's the next coming of Joe Burrow.)

Jones and the Crimson Tide had little trouble with Mississippi State, who continue to struggle to score points. In three quarters of work he finished 24 of 31 for 291 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. Those four touchdowns were courtesy of DeVonta Smith, who is making his case as the No. 1 wideout in this class and -- despite the 175-pound frame and the 4.52 40 time -- he has a very strong case. Behold:

Touchdown No. 1:

Touchdown No. 2:

Touchdown No. 3:

Touchdown No. 4:

Yes, we know, this isn't DeVonta Smith Watch, but maybe it should be (that route on TD No. 3 is filthy). As for Jones, TD No. 4 was a fantastic throw into a tight window with pinpoint accuracy. We know about his deep-ball skills but we continued to be impressed by his arm strength on intermediate throws.

We also saw Jones' willingness to take more chances downfield with 50-50 balls, primarily because his wide receivers are so good that the expectation is that they'll always come down with it. Even when it doesn't happen you like to see that aggressiveness from your quarterback, especially when he understands the matchup. Jones continues to make his way up draft boards and at this rate could end up being the third quarterback selected next spring.

Zach Wilson, BYU

Zach Wilson is so much fun to watch. He's the best parts of Texas A&M Johnny Manziel and Oklahoma Baker Mayfield -- strong arm, athletic in the open field but more accurate. The question will continue to be the level of competition; BYU blew the doors off Western Kentucky on Saturday night and Wilson plays at a high level every week.

We couldn't say that last season about Jordan Love, who struggled against similar competition and was completely overmatched against teams like LSU. Granted, few people had standout games against that 2019 LSU squad but if you didn't know who Jordan Love was he certainly didn't strike you as a first-round pick with his performance against the Tigers. And you could say that about some of his games against Mountain West opponents too.

And we point this out as huge Jordan Love supporters; we thought he was a first-round talent who was rough around the edges and would need time to grow into the job at the next level. Our point: If you're willing to make these concessions for Love, who, like Wilson, has a big arm but isn't nearly the athlete, why the hesitation with Wilson, who has very few holes in his game and is playing as well as the Lawerences and Fields of the college football world?

Wilson is a technician who has a good understanding of defenses and how to exploit them. It helps that he has rare arm talent, great vision and the willingness to trust his talent. For instance, this is something else:

The ability to step up in the pocket while keeping his eyes downfield, throwing off-balance and delivering a downfield strike splitting a double team. It takes your breath away. Then there's the more conventional seed on a post pattern.

Yes, his target is wide open but look at the ball placement -- right on the receiver's face, which allows him to saunter into the end zone. Too many times you see the quarterback deliver that pass too low and the receiver has to go to the ground, or behind the receiver and it's either broken up or intercepted. The simple stuff matters too and Wilson is really, really good at the simple stuff.

Sam Ehlinger, Texas

This was the biggest test of the year for Sam Ehlinger and Texas' offense. Oklahoma State has the best defense in the Big 12 and they get after it, especially with their aggressive man-to-man style in the secondary. And things started slowly; Ehlinger started 1 of 5 and was 8 of 15 for just 100 yards at the break. But 41 of those yards game on this rain drop early in the second quarter:

Great touch after underthrowing a deep ball earlier in the game. That score made it 14-14 and up to that point, 14 receptions for Brennan Eagles, four of which were touchdowns.

Ehlinger finished 18 of 34 for just 169 yards. The Longhorns offense was never able to get into a rhythm -- which, again, is a credit to the Cowboys defense -- but Ehlinger made the most of his limited chances. He threw three touchdowns, didn't have an interception, and this throw on fourth down late in the game put Texas ahead.

Ehlinger's athleticism and toughness are his best attributes, but the other side of that coin is that he leaves himself open to too many hits, either in the pocket while trying to buy time or in the open field when he's a ball carrier. But he also does some things well as dropback passer that will intrigue NFL teams. The question, as is often the case with young players, is consistency. Ehlinger has 20 touchdowns this season against just five interceptions, but he's also completing just 60 percent of his throws, his lowest mark since his freshman campaign.

Brock Purdy, Iowa State

We say it every week and we'll repeat it here: We really liked Brock Purdy coming into the season. We studied his 2019 tape over the summer and we felt that if he continued to improve he could end up working his way into the first-round conversation. Through five games there hasn't been much evidence to warrant that kind of talk, and while Purdy hasn't been bad, he hasn't made the leaps we were hoping to see.

Iowa State cruised to a 52-22 victory over winless Kansas and Purdy finished 23 of 34 for 239 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. The offense runs through Breece Hall, who ripped off 185 yards and two scores on the ground, while Purdy and the passing offense focused mostly on short and intermediate throws. In fact, Purdy's first deep ball didn't come until the fourth drive (incidentally, it was a deep out, right on the money ... and was called back because of a penalty).

When Purdy's in rhythm, he's on time and accurate on those short and intermediate routes, usually targeting one of the Cyclones' playmaking tight ends. But other times he struggles to put the ball on his receiver's face, which as we mentioned above with Zach Wilson, maximizes yards after catch (it could be the difference between a 10-yard gain and a 25-yard gain).

His lone interception was an underthrown deep ball into double coverage:

But Purdy has all the tools -- and he's a threat to run as well -- but it hasn't yet come together for him in 2020. That doesn't mean it won't, or that we won't see the quarterback who flashed often in 2019, just that it hasn't yet clicked yet.