Nebraska Football: Athlon not convinced Jeff Sims is among top B1G QBs
The Nebraska football team is going to have a new quarterback in Jeff Sims and while the coaching staff is confident in his abilities, not everyone is.
All spring, summer and Fall Camp, the Nebraska coachces have talked quite a bit about the strides Jeff Sims has made under center. However, it appears that he’s going to have to prove that he’s as good as his billing to those outside of Lincoln.
Athlon Sports recently put out the listing of its Big Ten quarterback rankings and Sims is most definitely not in the top half. In fact, the Huskers’ quarterback looks like he is closer to the bottom of the list than the top.
Sims is ranked 8th on the list, right behind Purdue’s Hudson Card.
"Getting Sims to reach his potential is the top priority for new Nebraska coordinator Marcus Satterfield in ’23. The Jacksonville native ranked as the No. 223 overall prospect in the ’20 signing class but had an up-and-down three years at Georgia Tech. Over 25 games, Sims threw for 4,464 yards (7.1 yards per attempt) and 30 scores. He also ran for 1,152 yards and 11 touchdowns. Cutting down on the interceptions (23 over 364 pass attempts) and showing more efficiency and consistency through the air (career 57.5 completion rate) is a must."
Nebraska football is going to need a better performance than 8th in the conference in 2023
As far as improvements go, the Huskers’ coaching staff has talked quite a bit about how Sims has gotten to the next level. It just feels a bit hard to believe he’s taken that next step in just a few months time.
Of course, it’s worth pointing out that the situations are different in Georgia Tech and Nebraska. Sims said as much during Big Ten Media Days. Perhaps the more pressure cooker situation in Lincoln has actually helped the dual-threat quarterback grow.
Husker fans certainly hope he can jump up the ladder. The full rankings are below:
- J.J. McCarthy, Michigan
- Taulia Tagovailoa, Maryland
- Kyle McCord, Ohio State
- Drew Allar, Penn State
- Tanner Mordecai, Wisconsin
- Cade McNamara, Iowa
- Hudson Card, Purdue
- Jeff Sims, Nebraska
- Athan Kaliakmanis, Minnesota
- Luke Altmyer, Illinois
- Ben Bryant, Northwestern
- Noah Kim, Michigan State
- Gavin Wimsatt, Rutgers
- Tayven Jackson, Indiana
Perhaps the good news here is that the Nebraska football signal caller isn’t that many rungs below the top Big Ten West QB. Also perhaps a positive that Athlon believes he’s at least a bit better than the quarterback he’ll be facing off against on August 31.