Bakersfield Christian incoming senior Brandon Jones threw for 4,365 yards and 54 touchdowns last season. See where that ranks him among the top 10 returning quarterbacks in the nation, in terms of yardage.
Photo by Louis Lopez
The name of the game is football, but it might as well be passing.
At every level, dropping back and letting loose is what teams do. "Three yards in a cloud of the dust" is passé, Neanderthal, ancient history.
A quick gander at the top 10 returning high school passers from 2013 reveals that. Their numbers are largely absurd, a combined 2,837 completions out of 4,403 attempts (64 percent) for 44,629 yards and 512 touchdowns. The combined yardage totals more than 25 miles, almost the length of a marathon.
The numbers almost mirror those of the returning Top 10 quarterbacks from the NFL. Led by the likes of Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Matthew Stafford, the combined 2013 total of the NFL top 10 was 3,917 completions in 6,076 attempts (64 percent) for 45,366 yards and 315 touchdowns.
Note that all 10 of the NFL's best each played in 16 games, a total of 160 games. The high school kids played a combined 131 games. Also, the high school game is 48 minutes compared to the NFL's 60.
See 2013 MaxPreps national passing leaderboardThe per-game average for the top 10 NFL quarterbacks was 24 of 40 for 285 yards and two touchdowns. The average for the high school quarterbacks was 21 of 34 for 343 yards and 3.9 touchdowns.
Here are the top 10 high school returners based on passing yards from last year, their 2013 statistics and their NFL quarterback counterparts ranked in the same spot.
1. Jake Browning, Folsom (Calif.)The 6-foot-2, 195-pound incoming senior is the top returner by a wide margin after completing 440 of 579 passes for 5,737 yards and 75 touchdowns. He led Folsom — the
nation's No. 43 team last year (ranked
No. 17 heading into this season) to a 14-1 record.
The Washington-bound standout is just 37 passing yards and seven touchdowns from matching California state career records. He's already broken the single-season passing yardage record twice and he has the single-season touchdown passing mark. Last season he threw for more than 300 yards in 14 of 15 games and more than 400 five times, including a 596-yard, eight-TD explosion in a 67-36 win over San Ramon Valley. He's ranked the nation's sixth-best pro style quarterback by
247Sports.
NFL No. 1 passer: Peyton Manning (450 of 659, 5,477 yards, 55 touchdowns)
