Michigan State football’s season hasn’t gone as were hoping, and thus it’s resulted in a lower opinion of the Spartans’ starting signal caller.
Quarterback Payton Thorne entered the season as one of the top quarterbacks in the Big Ten but subpar play through the first six games has resulted in his stock dropping. But how far has it dropped?
See where Nick Kosko of 247Sports ranks Thorne among the other Big Ten starting quarterbacks at the midway point of the 2022 season:
14
Spencer Petras (Iowa)
Preseason ranking: No. 11
Stats: 87 of 161 (54%), 939 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT
13
Evan Simon (Rutgers)
Preseason ranking: N/A
Stats: 71 of 123 (57.7%), 740 yards, 4 TD, 6 INT
12
Ryan Hilinski (Northwestern)
Preseason ranking: No. 14
Stats: 141 of 244 (57.8%), 6 TD, 6 INT
11
Payton Thorne (Michigan State)
Preseason ranking: No. 4
Stats: 115 of 180 (63.9%), 1,234 yards, 9 TD, 7 INT
10
Graham Mertz (Wisconsin)
Preseason ranking: No. 10
Stats: 92 of 143 (64.3%), 1,296 yards, 13 TD, 5 INT
9
Connor Bazelak (Indiana)
Preseason ranking: No. 9
Stats: 155 of 295 (52.5%), 1,597 yards, 9 TD, 6 INT
8
Casey Thompson (Nebraska)
Preseason ranking: No. 7
Stats: 118 of 180 (65.6%), 1,497 yards, 9 TD, 6 INT, 5 rushing TD
7
Tanner Morgan (Minnesota)
Preseason ranking: No. 8
Stats: 79 of 112 (70.5%), 1,143 yards, 7 TD, 4 INT
6
Tommy DeVito (Illinois)
Preseason ranking: No. 13
Stats: 113 of 164 (68.9%), 1,163 yards, 9 TD, 2 INT
5
Sean Clifford (Penn State)
Preseason ranking: No. 5
Stats: 85 of 137 (62%), 1,030 yards, 9 TD, 2 INT
4
Taulia Tagovailoa (Maryland)
Preseason ranking: No. 3
Stats: 146 of 197 (74.1%), 1,731 yards, 11 TD, 5 INT
3
Aidan O'Connell (Purdue)
Preseason ranking: No. 2
Stats: 143 of 215 (66.5%), 1,559 yards, 10 TD, 4 INT
2
J.J. McCarthy (Michigan)
Preseason ranking: N/A
Stats: 94 of 120 (78.3%), 1,152 yards, 9 TD, 1 INT
1
C.J. Stroud (Ohio State)
Preseason ranking: No. 1
Stats: 133 of 160 (70.6%), 1,737 yards, 24 TD, 3 INT
