QUINTON FLOWERS, QB, SOUTH FLORIDA

Quarterback star power defined the American in 2015. Paxton Lynch had just one FBS scholarship offer coming out of high school, but parlayed his shot at Memphis into marquee wins and a likely early-round selection in the upcoming NFL draft.

Navy retired Keenan Reynolds’ No. 19 this week after a stellar four years. 2015 was his best, and really should have culminated in an invitation to the Heisman Trophy ceremony. Meanwhile, Houston’s returning, dual-threat play-maker Greg Ward Jr. is already generating Heisman hype of his own.

With a crowded cosmos, one can understand how the rising of star of USF’s Quinton Flowers might be out-shined. Next season, Flowers will get his chance to show out as one of the most exciting, two-way quarterbacks in the Group of Five, if not all of college football.

Flowers rushed for 12 touchdowns, matching Clemson’s Deshaun Watson, and passed for another 22. The Bulls quarterback logged almost 2,300 yards through the air, and a hair under 1,000 on the ground.

USF head coach Willie Taggart told the Sun Sentinel, “We tailored our offense around him, and it’s paid off big time.”

And how. The Bulls’ point-per-game production jumped from 17.2 in 2014, one of the lowest yields in the nation, to almost 34 points per game in 2015.