clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

March Badness Round One, Interception Region: Matt Jones vs. Tate Forcier

A pair of gifted, if often misguided playmakers.

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Closing out our first region in our Good/Bad QB Bracket with a pair of playmaking quarterbacks that were known for being explosive in good and bad ways.

No. 2 Matt Jones

What was good: Simply put, Matt Jones is one of the scariest dual-threat quarterbacks that I've ever seen in the Southeastern Conference. Jones was a 6-6, 225-pound athlete who was timed at 4.37 at the 2005 NFL combine, and would be drafted in the first round as a wide receiver. In four seasons at Arkansas, three as the full-time starting quarterback, Jones accounted for 77 combined rushing and passing touchdowns. He also led the Razorbacks to the SEC title game in 2002 after completing not one, but two hail-mary passes in the final minutes of a game against LSU, dubbed "The Miracle on Markham."

What was bad: Well, a big reason 2002 was such a miracle for the Hogs was because Jones completed just 4-of-16 passes in the game. For as dangerous of a runner as he was, Jones was never a particularly prolific passer, and his talents often led to him trying to do so much that Arkansas usually wound up in holes that were just too deep for him to pull them out of. Arkansas would go just 5-6 his senior year. And that's before we get into a colorful off-field history that contributed to a short NFL career as well.

No. 3 Tate Forcier

What was good: a consensus four-star recruit, Forcier was one of the first marquee recruits for Rich Rodriguez at the University of Michigan. He'd enroll early and start quickly in Ann Arbor, earning freshman All-Big-10 honors with more than 2,000 yards of total offense, including a spectacular 240 passing/190 rushing performance in a 38-34 shootout win for the Wolverines against Notre Dame.

What was bad: Sadly, things peaked quickly for QBFORCE. Michigan finished just 5-7 in '09 despite a 4-0 start, and Forcier would be benched not long after for Denard Robinson, who proved to be a much more consistent and prolific player. Forcier transferred when RichRod got the boot following the 2010 season, and his departure would be long on drama, with a long list of schools, only to ultimately wind up at San Jose State University, where he'd later be ruled academically ineligible. Ultimately, for all his promise, Forcier threw for just 17 touchdowns against 14 picks, with a career rating of 128.6.