College Football: Most underrated QB from each Power Five conference

ACC: Sam Hartman or Jamie Newman, Wake Forest

Whoever wins the Wake Forest quarterback competition between Sam Hartman and Jamie Newman is my pick for the ACC’s most underrated quarterback.

Virginia quarterback Bryce Perkins is no longer underrated as teams know how good he is. Ryan Willis at Virginia Tech is a better quarterback than given credit for, but Hartman and Newman are the most underrated guys in the conference and potentially all of college football in my opinion.

The Wake Forest quarterback battle will be one of the closest in all of college football and if the Demon Deacons were a “blue-blood” type of school, it would be getting a lot of attention. Both Hartman and Newman are legit No. 1 quarterbacks who would be able to start at most other schools in the ACC.

We actually have broken down the Wake Forest quarterback battle, if you’re interested in taking a deeper look at the competition. We will look at each one briefly here.

Hartman started the season off last year as a true freshman and played the majority of the season until he got injured. He helped lead Wake Forest to a bowl game and had right under 2,000 yards passing, 18 total touchdowns and eight interceptions his true freshman season.

Below is a clip of Hartman doing a good job keeping his eyes downfield and throwing an accurate ball for a touchdown.

Newman took over for Hartman once he was injured and led Wake Forest to a 3-1 record in his four games. Those wins included an upset win over NC State and a win in their bowl game over Memphis. Newman had 13 total touchdowns, four interceptions, threw for over 1,000 yards and rushed for just under 250 yards in his limited playing time.

Below is an example of Newman’s strong arm which allows Wake Forest to open up the field.

Whoever wins this starting job will have Wake Forest back in a bowl game with a few upsets under their belt.