Patrick Mahomes is gone after dominating Big 12 passing charts for the last two years. The Texas Tech quarterback was the conference's only player to top 4,000 yards in 2015 and the only to top 5,000 yards in 2016. He won the passing title by 1,844 combined yards the last two years.
With Mahomes leaving Lubbock early for the NFL, the Big 12 will have a new passing champ, and there is no shortage of candidates. The conference is loaded with big arms, including two Heisman Trophy candidates, one rising sophomore and Mahomes' yet-to-start-a-game replacement.
MORE: Ranking the Top 100 Teams in College Football for 2017
Here are five players that could lead the Big 12 in passing this season, ranked.
[divider]
5. Kenny Hill – TCU
Kenny Hill ranked fifth in the conference in passing (246.8 yards per game) in his first season at TCU. He did, however, top 400 yards three times and averaged 387.2 yards through the first five games — two of which were conference games and one was against Arkansas.
Hill's volume (440 total attempts) is there but yards per attempt (7.3) is a big concern in chasing the Big 12 passing title. He'll need to top the 8.3 mark from his 2014 season at TCU to have a chance.
[divider]
4. Shane Buechele – Texas
Shane Buechele played well as a true freshman in 2016, completing 60 percent of his passes for 21 touchdowns and nearly 3,000 yards. He is capable of throwing for 4,500 yards; it's a matter of volume and having a few gigantic performances.
Buechele didn't throw for more than 318 yards all season — his lone 300-yard game — and twice failed to top 200. For comparison, Patrick Mahomes had more 500-yard games (four) than sub-300-yard games (three).
He must light up Maryland and San Jose State in the first two weeks to have any chance.
[divider]
3. Baker Mayfield – Oklahoma
Baker Mayfield averaged a staggering 11.08 yards per attempt, a half a yard more than the next best in the FBS. He was third in the Big 12 in both passing yards (3,965 yards) and average (305) despite just 358 pass attempts.
Mayfield's biggest detractor is not having gaudy stats in their blowout wins. In three games won by at least 28 points last year, he threw for a total of 649 yards on just 59 attempts. That needs to nearly double.
[divider]
2. Mason Rudolph – Oklahoma State
Mason Rudolph had a monster junior season, bumping his passing yards (4,091), completion percentage (63.4), yards per attempt (9.1) and touchdown-to-interception ratio (7:1). He finished second to Mahomes in yards and average yards (314.7).
There was no catching Mahomes last year but Rudolph could sniff 5,000 yards with fewer mediocre games. He was just 11-for-25 for 186 yards vs. Oklahoma, 27-for-45 for 279 yards vs. Baylor and 17-for-34 for 207 yards vs. TCU.
[divider]
1. Nic Shimonek – Texas Tech
Nic Shimonek has 8,232 fewer career passing yards than Mason Rudolph and 9,498 fewer than Baker Mayfield. He has zero career starts, has thrown more than 20 passes in a game just twice and attempted a total of five passes in Texas Tech's final eight games last year.
While the former Iowa transfer was good in the four games he did appear in — 38-for-58 for 464, six touchdowns and one interception — there is little evidence to suggest he can throw for more than 4,000 yards and lead the Big 12 in passing.
Except for his jersey. He plays for Texas Tech.
The Red Raiders are expected to reduce passing volume slightly and rebuild a run game that was non-existent in 2016, but the strong-armed senior will still attempt around 550 passes if he remains healthy.
