Who is the best college football quarterback of the 21st century?

Let’s look at how the sport has evolved since the turn of the century. By the early 2000s, the game had moved past the wishbone and run-heavy offenses that dominated the 20th century and teams had settled into running more pro-style systems. The top college quarterbacks in 2000 were conventional pocketpassers like the University of Miami’s Ken Dorsey and Florida State’s Chris Weinke. Then things started to open up.

The dual threat quarterbacks of the 2000s such as Vince Young at Texas were equally adept at passing as they were at running with the football. Stars such as Robert Griffin III emerged. Johnny Football became a household name. Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless argued about Tim Tebow for years every morning on ESPN .

Coaches also stepped up. Schools started running the spread offense, the zone-read, and variations of the run n’ shoot. There was more improvisation than the pro game. More innovation.…