The Cougs should have a legitimate chance at having another offensive player featured in the 2015 All True Freshman team for the second consecutive year (C Tejan Koroma - 2014). Let's take a look at some of the top FBS true freshman QBs out there - the ones who played legitimate time for their teams this year and have garnered some national attention.

This is the order in which I see them being ranked by voters as things stand:

1) Josh Rosen - UCLA - Perhaps the most highly touted freshman QB in some time to immediately start for a big program and have success. Rosen showed right out of the gate that he has a big arm and can pick defenses apart when given the opportunity. Rosen's freshman struggles and inexperience began to show in week 2 @ UNLV and even more so in week 3 vs. the Cougars when he threw for 3 picks and looked very pedestrian vs. an aggressive and motivated BYU defense. Rosen posted huge games in wins over Cal & Oregon St., while also leading his team to impressive victories @ UofA and Utah. Home losses against ASU & Wazzu as well as a blowout loss @ Stanford kept UCLA from really reaching the high ceiling many thought they had coming into the season. Overall, an impressive rookie year against tough PAC 12 competition should give Rosen a leg into the 2015 True Freshman QB of 2015 spot.
2015 stats: 3,351 yds 59.5% 20 TDs 9 INTs 15 Sacks 133.2 Rat 70.4 ADJ QBR

2) Tanner Mangum - BYU - While much has been made of Mangum turning 22 at the start of the season, his body and mind were perhaps farther behind that of any other true freshman QB coming into 2015. We all know the story...Taysom Hill goes down in the 1st half of week 1 and Mangum is thrust into action, only to seize the moment in a massive way, leading the Cougs to back to back 4th quarter comeback wins over favored opponents. Mangum would put in a strong performance vs. UCLA and Rosen, but it wasn't enough and may, eventually, be the deciding factor in this race. Impressive, gutty performances at home vs. Cincy & ECU helped Mangum and the Cougars get back on the right track after a week 4 blowout loss @ Michigan where Mangum recorded just 55 yds in the air. The story of Mangum's rookie year may be that he came up big in many key moments to bail the Cougars out, but simply could not do it enough to consistently keep the Cougars in the top 25 and NY6 consideration.
2015 stats: 3,062 yds 62.1% 21 TDs 7 INTs 26 Sacks 142.2 Rat 66.1 ADJ QBR

3) Brett Rypien - Boise St. - Rypien, much like Mangum, was a highly touted recruit from the Northwest, but was expected backup Ryan Finley in 2015. After Finley was injured in week 3, Rypien began his 2015 campaign with huge wins @ Virginia and vs. Hawaii, while posting some impressive stat lines. Many of the BSU fans felt Rypien should have been the QB since week 1, which appeared to be a pretty well supported claim, up until week 7 and a trip up to Logan, UT, where Rypien and the Broncos endured a massive drubbing, ending a potential clean sweep of the MWC and another NY6 bid. Rypien's turnovers against USU as well as poor performances in back to back home losses vs. UNM & AF proved that, while Rypien shows tremendous upside, even a 1 or 2 loss season in the MWC is tough to achieve with a true freshman QB.
2015 stats: 2,976 yds 62.6% 17 TDs 7 INTs 18 Sacks 137.5 Rat 56.8 ADJ QBR

4) Jake Browning - Washington - Many saw Browning having a really good chance at seeing the most time at QB as a true freshman for the Huskies in 2015, and that ended up being the case. Browning started all but 1 game for UW and lead his team to impressive victories over USC, UofA and rival Wazzu, which may have been more than anyone expected during Chris Peterson's early "rebuilding" phase at UW. Browning has above average passing skills, but suffered from some mistakes in big conference games against Oregon and Utah. While UW's defense looks set, Browning could provide the necessary balance to help put UW back into PAC 12 North contention in coming years. Browning is not a factor running the ball, so his success will depend upon his ability to really grow under the coaching staff and orchestrate that offense as the passer.
2015 stats: 2,671 yds 62.9% 16 TDs 10 INTs 29 Sacks 139.9 Rat 59.0 ADJ QBR

5) Jarrett Stidham - Baylor - Baylor proved that its offense is very much a "plug-and-play" scheme when starter Seth Russell went down @ KSU in early November. In comes freshman Jarrett Stidham, a Texas native, and....not much changes for Baylor. Stidham would go on to post monster stat lines in his first starts at Baylor, but could not do enough to beat eventual BIG 12 champs Oklahoma in Waco. Stidham showed a lot of promise for Baylor in his short time as a starter and would likely be much higher on this list had he been granted more time at the helm for maybe CFB's most prolific offense since the BYU Cougars ('79 - '81) under Lavell. Injury vs. Oklahoma St. cut his rookie year short, but the Baylor offense is in good hands for years to come.
2015 stats: 1,265 yds 68.8% 12 TDs 2 INTs 9 Sacks 199.0 Rat 85.7 ADJ QBR

6) Kyler Murray - Texas A&M - Murray hails from Allen, TX, home of the HS Football powerhouse Allen Eagles (home of one Tejan Koroma). Over the past decade or so, Texas has turned into an absolute prospect gold mine for two positions: 1) Dual threat QBs and 2) Elite WRs. This is largely due to the rise of the spread offenses being developed at HS and college levels here in Texas (See Big 12 Football 101). Murray was one of the top dual threat QBs heading into 2015 after winning a state championship at Allen and eventually chose the SEC West and Texas A&M. Texas A&M had been cautiously optimistic in Chandler, AZ product Kyle Allen coming into 2015, but then again, they were also optimistic in previous starter Kenny Hill prior to benching him and eventually letting him transfer to TCU. Murray was one of 3 QBs to see time at QB for A&M, but provided the much-needed spark that many fans believed the offense was missing. While brought in and used only on occasion during the early weeks of the season, Murray displayed play-making ability mostly with his feet. Later in the year when called upon to be the full time starter, his inexperience and raw mechanics as a passer began to show, despite a monster games vs. South Carolina and lowly Western Carolina. A tough home loss to Auburn in which Murray tossed 3 picks showed fans that Murray would need more time and coaching before putting it together consistently. Despite being undersized (5'11, 185 lbs), Murray provides an element of mobility much like Johnny Football did and could be a project for the future.
2015 stats: 686 yds 59.5% 5 TDs 7 INTs 8 Sacks 109.2 Rat 54.0 ADJ QBR *Rushing: 53 CAR 335 yds 1 TD

7) Drew Lock - Mizzou - Yes, another true freshman QB that the Cougars faced, but could not find a way to beat. Lock was a highly recruited QB who played HS ball in the Kansas City area, making Mizzou as close to a "hometown choice" as any other big program offering him. Lock was expected to sit and learn behind a veteran Matty Mauk, who despite his off-the-field issues, was a winner at Mizzou (back to back SEC East championships, in fact). Mauk's 2015 downfall is well documented and so are the Mizzou offensive woes that killed their season. Nevertheless, the Tigers coaching staff felt Lock provided the best chance to win games and would be the QB of the future anyway. Lock had very little highlight moments in 2015, as the Tigers won just 5 games. His best performance was, arguably, back in his hometown in front of many family and friends where he lead the Tigers to upset the Cougars at Arrowhead Stadium - a win that will have Cougar fans shaking their heads in disgust for years to come. Especially considering Lock's final stat line below. While Lock provides some hope for the Tigers in future years, there really is little in 2015 to put him in any serious consideration for the top 2015 freshman QB spot.
2015 stats: 1,339 yds 49.0% 4 TDs 8 INTs 25 Sacks 90.5 Rat 33.3 ADJ QBR