2017 football: Five best Washington State QBs of all-time

Thu., Aug. 31, 2017

By Theo Lawson theol@spokesman.com (509) 459-5584

Debate on The S-R’s five best QBs series

The Spokesman-Review

High schools proved the most challenging. We enlisted former Spokesman-Review high school writers Dave Trimmer and Mike Vlahovich as well as current staffers Greg Lee and Chris Derrick. In addition, prep historians Mike Schock and Bill Pierce also weighed in. (Note: We limited our selection area to include only Spokane and Coeur d’Alene.)

In the end, our picks combined a number of factors: Statistics, team success and nostalgia – and obviously, the final choices are quite subjective (and for entertainment purposes only). We hope you’ll enjoy.

– Ralph Walter, Sports editor

1) Jason Gesser

1999-2002

611-1,118 (54.7 pct), 8,830 yds, 70 TD, 39 INT: Gesser was calling the shots the last time the Cougars played in “The Granddaddy of Them All.” In 2002, he split Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year honors with USC quarterback Carson Palmer after guiding the Cougars to a second straight 10-win season. Gesser ranks top-five in most passing categories and has 24 career wins (most all-time).

2) Ryan Leaf

1994-97

473-880 (53.7 pct), 7,433 yds, 59 TD, 24 INT: His post-college exploits are a conversation for another day, but Leaf was a 1997 Heisman Trophy finalist, finishing behind Charles Woodson and Peyton Manning after leading the Cougars to 10-2 – the first double-digit win season since 1929. WSU also won its first Pac-12 title with the righty from Montana under center.

3) Drew Bledsoe

1990-92

532-979 (54.3 pct), 7,373 yds, 46 TD, 34 INT: One of two WSU gunslingers to get a starting nod as a true freshman, Bledsoe shattered a number of school records pre-Air Raid, including single-game passing yards (476), single-season completions (241) and single-season passing yards (3,946). He was the Pac-10 Offensive POY before leaving school early to become the No. 1 pick in the 1993 draft.

4) Jack Thompson

1975-78

601-1,086 (55.3 pct) 7,818 yds, 53 TD, 49 INT: Even in today’s college football climate, Thompson’s aerial numbers would turn heads. By the end of his career, The Throwin’ Samoan had passed for an NCAA-record 7,818 yards and had ownership of Pac-10 records for attempts, completions and touchdown passes.

5) Luke Falk

2014-

1,047-1,521 (68.8 pct), 10,893 yds, 89 TD, 26 INT: The former walk-on is on track to shatter every Cougar record that he doesn’t already have and will become the Pac-12’s leading career passer with 2,712 yards this season. How realistic is that? Falk hit that plateau by week eight in 2016.

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Honorable mention

Mark Rypien (1981, ’83-85), led Cougars to one-point win in 1985 Apple Cup … Timm Rosenbach (1987-88), beat No. 1 UCLA and finished career with impressive completion percentage (.601) … Ed Goddard (1934-36), top-10 Heisman finisher in the 1930s … Alex Brink (2004-07), of the non-Air Raid quarterbacks, has most career completions (848) … Connor Halliday (2011-14). WSU’s career leader in attempts (1,633), passing yards (11,304) and passing touchdowns (90).