College Football: Five big name quarterbacks likely to be benched quickly

There are some big name quarterbacks receiving plenty of hype entering the 2017 college football season. Which guys will disappoint early and be benched?

College football is a cruel world to be a part of, especially for quarterbacks. One minute everyone loves you when you’re playing well, then one bad game can make an entire fan base turn on you. That pressure brings out the best in some quarterbacks and causes others to collapse. Preseason hype builds up many young quarterbacks to heights that they might not deserve at this point in their career.

Programs like Texas, Notre Dame, Georgia, Michigan, Florida, and LSU consistently have high expectations for their quarterbacks with some disappointing recent results. Whether you look at LSU’s Danny Etling, Florida’s Luke del Rio, or Michigan’s Wilton Speight, none of those guys have really lived up to the expectation that their fans place on them each and every week.

Win or go home

When a blue blood program has a dearth of talent at its disposal the leash of their starting quarterback becomes a lot shorter. Texas’ Shane Buechele and Notre Dame’s Brandon Wimbush have a lot of hype to live up to in 2017 but just a few failures early in the season could cost them their job very quick.

In this list, we look at not only the biggest programs in the country but some of the bigger name quarterbacks that could hit the bench really fast this season. It happens every year where backup quarterbacks ultimately emerge as breakout stars and turn around entire seasons for a few lucky programs. Miami OH’s Gus Ragland took a winless RedHawk team and led them to a 6-1 record after he took over. That’s just one example of how benching a quarterback can ultimately benefit your team.

Yet, coaches should be careful switching between quarterbacks all the time. Benching a QB can make him lose all confidence in his ability to lead his team and could put another younger player in who might not be ready yet.

Now, let’s take a look at the five big name quarterbacks likely to get benched quickly in 2017.