C'mon, man! ESPN has USF's Byrum Brown way too low in its preseason football quarterback rankings

The USF football team has something special in quarterback Byrum Brown. I think anyone who paid attention to what he did last season as a red-shirt freshman would agree.

That’s a backhanded way of saying I’m not sure ESPN was paying attention – at least not closely. That’s the only way to explain why the sports behemoth recently placed Brown 44th overall and in Tier 9 in their preseason quarterback rankings for all 134 Division I-A teams. That's right behind former USF and current Texas  State quarterback Jordan McCloud.

Interestingly, Alabama—USF’s second-week opponent—occupies the top spot. Miami, which travels to Tampa in the fourth week of the season, is in Tier 2 and ranks eighth overall.

Anyway, I guess ESPN was considering the whole “room” in making these rankings, and it’s a legitimate question to wonder what will happen to the Bulls’ offense if Brown misses significant time with an injury.

But if he’s healthy, Brown likely would be the starter for several of the teams ranked ahead of him.

Ask Memphis what it thinks about Brown.

Against the Tigers on the road, as a 19-year-old, he went 31-of-38 for 357 yards and five touchdowns. He also rushed for 100 yards as the Bulls put up 50 points on a team that finished 10-3. Alas, USF gave up 59 points that day, but that’s a story for another day.

Head coach Alex Golesh’s zippy offense suits Brown’s multiple skills perfectly, too. He’s not afraid to turn Brown loose on planned runs, and it will be interesting to watch this season how Brown does on longer downfield throws. He was somewhat inconsistent on those last year.

He had the first 3,000-yard passing season in USF history and was the AAC offensive player of the week twice.

And there’s this: Brown was one of only two quarterbacks to throw for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000. The other? Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels of LSU.

That ought to be worth more than Tier No. 9.