Ranking the Big Ten: Quarterback

As the 2019 season draws nearer by the day, it’s time to start taking a look at some of the top players to watch in the Big Ten Conference.

We begin our annual Ranking the Big Ten series today with the quarterbacks, which feature a crop of young talent that could be on the cusp of greatness.

Unlike a year ago, there is zero question who Nebraska's quarterback is and who will be the face of the program in 2019. Martinez broke onto the scene last fall by winning the top job for the season opener as a true freshman and only got better and better with every game he played.

The Fresno, Calif., native completed 224-of-347 passes (64.6 percent) for 2,617 yards and 17 touchdowns with just eight interceptions while rushing for 629 more yards and eight scores.

Martinez's rapid development was so impressive that many are already mentioning his name in early Heisman Trophy talk entering this season. That's a lot of pressure to put on a young player, but Martinez seems ready for the task with his play on the field and confident leadership and maturity off of it.

Patterson came to Michigan as a transfer from Ole Miss, and when he was ruled immediately eligible for the 2018 season, expectations soared for his first year as the starter in Ann Arbor.

While the Wolverines fell short of their goal of a Big Ten title, Patterson definitely did his part. He ended the year having completed 210-of-325 passes for 2,600 yards and 22 touchdowns while rushing 76 times for 273 yards and two more scores.

As a result, Patterson was a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, a semifinalist for the Davey and Maxwell awards, and a third-team All-Big Ten selection. He returns for his senior season and one of the most experienced and accomplished quarterbacks in the conference, and he'll be the driving force once again for Michigan's league title hopes.

Fields originally committed to his home-state Georgia as a five-star recruit ranked as the No. 2 overall player in the 2018 class and the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback in the country.

His freshman season in Athens wasn't a bust by any stretch, as he appeared in 12 of 14 games and completed 27-of-39 passes for 328 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for four more scores, earning Freshman All-SEC honors. But an incident that involved a reported racial slur directed at Fields from a UGA baseball player led Fields to explore his options as a transfer, and the list of suitors was obviously lengthy.

Ohio State ended up landing his services, and Fields received a waiver to be immediately eligible for the 2019 season. Given OSU's run of reloading one all-conference QB after another, Fields should be poised for an instant impact in Columbus. In fact, he's already been listed as high as the third-best odds to win the Heisman Trophy by sports betting sites.

Iowa's offense is rarely going to light up the scoreboard and final stat sheet, but it does return one of the most efficient and productive signal callers in the Big Ten in Stanley.

Entering his third year as the starter, Stanley ranked fifth in the conference last season in passing yards (2,852) and pass efficiency (136.5) and 22nd nationally with 26 touchdown throws. His 52 scoring passes as a starter rank as the most in school history over a two-year period.

At 6-4, 243, he's one of the biggest QBs in the league, and he'll give the Hawkeyes a veteran presence under center, which generally bodes well for head coach Kirk Ferentz's teams.

With four-year starter Clayton Thorson moved on, Northwestern figured to have a clear replacement in the former five-star recruit and Clemson transfer Johnson, who was rated the nation's No. 2 QB prospect in the 2017 class.

But even though head coach Pat Fitzgerald declined to anoint Johnson as the starter coming out of spring ball, it seems like a foregone conclusion.

The Wildcats didn't hold a formal spring game this year and kept practice access very limited this spring, so the only actual college film fans and media have to evaluate of the redshirt sophomore are the 27 passes he threw at Clemson.

Still, the hype is soaring for the start of the Johnson era in Evanston, and if he can live up to those lofty expectations, the Northwestern will once again be contending for a Big Ten West title.