Bailey Hockman is the forgotten man in the quarterback battle, but he’s got a pretty great resume for a presumed third-stringer. He was the more highly-touted quarterback prospect in Jimbo Fisher’s 2017 class, but was banged up in the offseason and fell behind Blackman in the backup race. Understandably, a redshirt season ensued.
Now he’s got another shot. Hockman was a four-star prospect and ranked as the 280th-best prospect in the nation, per the 247 Sports Composite. By all indications, new coach Willie Taggart will include Hockman in the quarterback battle this fall, but logic dictates that Blackman and Francois have a decent lead on the redshirt freshman.
Still, there’s plenty to like about Hockman. He performed admirably in the spring game, throwing for 203 yards and a touchdown and leading his team to the win. He’ll have a blank slate with Taggart coming in and instituting a new offensive playbook.
All that said, he’ll have to show something that he hasn’t shown to this point to make up ground on Blackman and Francois.