By: Kenneth Harrison

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Clemson has been the dominant program in the ACC for the last six years.

The rest of the conference is a distant second place to the Tigers. There are still some very talented players in the conference. Let’s take a look at the 5 best quarterbacks going into the 2020 season.

5. Kenny Pickett, Pitt: He’s started the last two years for the Panthers. He’s listed on the preseason watchlist for the Davey O’Brien Award and the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm.

In his 12 starts last season, Pickett completed 62% of his passes for 3,098 yards, 13 touchdowns and 9 interceptions.

He led the conference in completions per game (24) and he had five 300-yard passing games.

He’s one of only four QB’s in the ACC entering his third season as the starter. I expect to see major improvement in his touchdown to interception ratio.

4. Sam Hartman, Wake Forest: This might shock the Georgia fans that have fully bought in to the Jamie Newman hype.

You remember him from season 2 of QB 1Beyond the Lights, which got popular when it was picked up by Netflix.

He set a Wake Forest program freshman record with 16 TD’s during the 2018 season. He was injured in early November and that allowed Newman to emerge as the starter.

Hartman has put on 20 pounds of muscle in his time at Wake. He will lead the Demon Deacons as the starter again this Fall.

3. D’Eriq King, Miami: The transfer from Houston is a major addition for the Hurricanes.

He’s a true dual threat so if the offensive line continues to struggle, he can still make plays.

He tore his meniscus and underwent successful surgery in November 2018. At the time of his injury, King was leading college football with 50 total touchdowns (36 pass, 14 rush).

He decided to redshirt last season after Houston started 1-3. In his four starts he threw for 663 yards, 6 TD’s, 2 picks while rushing for 312 yards and 6 scores.

2. Sam Howell, North Carolina: As a true freshman Howell passed for 3,641 yards and 38 touchdowns.

He led multiple game winning drives. His touchdown-pass total was third-most in league single-season history.

He ranked behind future first round picks Deshaun Watson and Jameis Winston. Players typically make the biggest improvement going in to their second year so he should be better in 2020.

Mack Brown is also entering his second season as head coach, in his second term in Chapel Hill. I believe the Tar Heels are one of the best teams in the ACC.

1. Trevor Lawrence, Clemson: This was an obvious choice. He should be the top pick in

the 2021 draft. Lawrence has only lost one game in his two seasons as a starter. At this point he just needs to add a Heisman to his list of accomplishments. He’s passed for 5,778 yards, 58 TD’s and 12 interceptions.

The Tigers are better than every team they will play during the regular season so that will allow Lawrence to have impressive stats.