The Best QB’s I watched in 2021

Looking back on the 2021 season, I saw a ton of excellent quarterback play for many teams. From the sidelines, I watched about 18 games this season and watched dozens, maybe hundreds more hours in film. Today, I’ll be going over the best Quarterbacks I watched in person this season. Here are the best of the best in no particular order! <strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Rockford ’22 QB [player_tooltip player_id="54861" first="Zak" last="Ahern"] </span></strong> Ahern will be playing his college ball with DII National Champion Ferris State. Having watched Ahern a couple of times this year, I can confidently say that he deserves every ounce of attention he got. He was among the most excellent at reading defenses and threw accurately at all points of the field, also sporting excellent throw power. Rockford’s offense was among the most balanced I saw all season, and Ahern was a superstar X-Factor for the Rams. Best of luck to Ahern at Ferris State!e https://twitter.com/TheD_Zone/status/1460816169867300864 <strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Rochester Adams ’23 QB [player_tooltip player_id="241265" first="Parker" last="Picot"] </span></strong> Picot took Division 1 by storm this year, with a state championship appearance and 2 amazing victories against then defending champion West Bloomfield. All of Picot and Adams’s accomplishments are spinning in my head and it’s just too much to list off. The bottom line is [player_tooltip player_id="241265" first="Parker" last="Picot"] is likely the best pure Veer quarterback I’ve ever seen. He was the lifeblood of the offense and expressed insane leadership. In terms of play, he consistently made great reads, didn’t turn the ball over, ran like an angry bull, and made accurate throws when they mattered most. There’s a reason why Picot was in the Mr. Football conversation, and there’s a reason why he’s so high in our rankings. Believe it or not, Picot is even better in Baseball, as he’s committed to Alabama. Picot still has a year left, and I am very interested in seeing how he and Adams perform in 2022. <strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Grand Blanc ’22 QB [player_tooltip player_id="93695" first="Hunter" last="Ames"]</span></strong> Ames played with immense poise and clutch ability this season. I watched 3 Grand Blanc games from the sidelines this past season, surprisingly more than any other team in the state. In two of those games, against Forest Hills Central (week 2) and Rockford (Quarterfinals), Ames led his team to exciting down-to-the-wire victories. Grand Blanc went 4 for 4 in one-possession games this season, and they won those games on the backs of senior leaders like Ames. Fundamentally he was one of the best overall passers I saw this season, sporting great accuracy and power, ESPECIALLY in clutch situations. <strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Detroit MLK ’23 QB [player_tooltip player_id="30316" first="Dante" last="Moore"]</span></strong> I don’t need to introduce you to [player_tooltip player_id="30316" first="Dante" last="Moore"]. Mr. Football himself, I was able to see what he was all about during the DIII State Championship. I don’t know how to describe it, but he just didn’t play like a High School quarterback. It truly looked like he was a college QB. With his amazing size, elite fundamentals, work ethic, leadership, etc, [player_tooltip player_id="30316" first="Dante" last="Moore"] led King to a state championship victory. He’ll have the opportunity to play wherever he wants, and I’m immensely excited for his future. https://twitter.com/SWiltfong247/status/1479572078214979596 <strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">De La Salle ’23 QB [player_tooltip player_id="186875" first="Brady" last="Drogosh"]</span></strong> Drogosh was another one of those QB’s who gained more and more press as the season went on. I saw a good amount of film leading up to the DII State Championship, but actually watching him play was something else. As a matter of fact, the press box was buzzing as Drogosh tore up the Traverse City Central offense. Many times I heard fellow media members talking about how great Drogosh was performing, and how much his stock is being raised. In total, he had 142 yards passing and 3TD’s in addition to 177 rushing yards with another TD. He would have gotten much more yardage if the game wasn’t over at halftime. Drogosh is now getting well-deserved media and college attention, and De La Salle is my personal pick for another DII championship. <strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Seaholm ’24 QB [player_tooltip player_id="252599" first="Colton" last="Kinnie"]</span></strong> I watched Kinnie during week 1 of the 2021 season as Seaholm faced the then-defending OK-White champion Byron Center. Seaholm was incredibly young this season, and there were many question marks heading into the year. Kinnie was a big question mark, but he performed incredibly well during week 1. As I said in my game report, Kinnie made great veer reads and was impressive throwing the ball. As the season went on, Kinnie continued to improve though had a few expected hiccups against some of the best programs in the state. Notably, Head Coach Jim DeWald consistently singled out the sophomore QB praising his leadership and work ethic, something I don’t take lightly especially considering the amount of young talent at Seaholm. Colton is also in the Seaholm record books at #12 in single-season rushing yards. With all that being said, [player_tooltip player_id="252599" first="Colton" last="Kinnie"] reminds me a ton of two other very successful quarterbacks I watched this season; [player_tooltip player_id="241265" first="Parker" last="Picot"] and Cameron Chandler. So don’t let his current ranking fool you. [player_tooltip player_id="252599" first="Colton" last="Kinnie"] is tending up and could have a breakout 2022 season. <strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Unity Christian ’22 QB Cameron Chandler</span></strong> Speaking of Cameron Chandler, this dude was a monster for Unity Christian standing at 6’3" 185lbs. I watched him in a pivotal game against West Catholic where the crusaders easily won the "Game of the week". It’s hard to describe, but Cameron Chandler played with a swagger that I didn’t see anybody else play with this season. Focusing on his QB play, he was an absolute monster running the ball oftentimes inviting contact and sporting surprisingly amazing acceleration. He also threw the ball with good accuracy, though was mainly an option-style runner. He and the rest of Unity Christian broke all kinds of school and MHSAA records, and his season is one to be remembered for certain.