College Football: Top 10 traditional option quarterbacks of all-time
10. Ell Roberson, Kansas State
Bill Snyder raised the bar at Kansas State from winless in 1988 to nine wins in 1993. By 1998, the Wildcats were expecting eleven wins a season only a decade after back-to-back winless campaigns under Stan Parrish.
Snyder reinvented K-State via scheduling, recruiting JUCO players and keeping his offense fluid. Manhattan, KS was hosting an eleven game winner in six of seven seasons from 1997 through 2003. While Michael Bishop and Jonathan Beasley were household names, Ell Roberson was the man behind the option in Manhattan.
Roberson won twenty-eight games in three seasons including twenty-two over his final two years undercenter. Roberson threw for 5,099 yards in three seasons as a starter. He also tossed 37 touchdowns on 26 interceptions on 8.1 yards per passing attempt. 8.1 yards per attempt for an option quarterback is stellar as even Josh Allen and Dan Marino couldn’t crack eight yards per attempt.
After Roberson graduated from Kansas State, the Wildcats slipped to 4-7 and and by 2006 Ron Prince took over the Wildcats football program from a retired Bill Snyder. Snyder wasn’t done, however, and returned to the helm in his vintage Beef O’Brady’s Bowl windbreakers by the 2009 season.