Marcus Stokes moves into top 25 in CBS Sports QB power rankings

CBS Sports’ David Cobb has updated his college football power rankings every week throughout the season, and Memphis’ Marcus Stokes continues to move up in the rankings. Stokes sat at No. 28 last week, but after another win over UAB, he moved up four spots to No. 24.

He is one of 14 Group of Six quarterbacks in the rankings, and he ranks No. 3 among those G6 quarterbacks. Oregon State’s Braden Atkinson and Boise State’s Maddux Madsen are both ahead of Stokes.

This season, the Tigers’ quarterback has thrown for 1,535 yards, 16 touchdowns and three interceptions in five games. He threw for 164 yards and two touchdowns in Saturday’s win over UAB.

Stokes ranks No. 16 in passing yards, No. 6 in touchdowns and No. 20 in quarterback rating, and he has completed 70.1 percent of his passes this year.

Before the game against the Blazers, Stokes had back-to-back games where he threw for four or more touchdowns and completed 80 or more of his passes in games against UT Martin and Charlotte.

He threw for 258 yards and four touchdowns at home against the Skyhawks and 318 yards and five touchdowns against the 49ers. Charles Huff inserted Air Noland in the second half of both games.

Like Stokes, Atkinson made the jump to the FBS after starting his career at a lower level. He started his career at FCS Mercer before transferring to Oregon State ahead of the season.

He has put together one of the most impressive seasons at the quarterback position and leads the country in passing yards and passing touchdowns. Atkinson has thrown for 2,257 yards, 21 touchdowns and on two interceptions, and he was ranked No. 2 in the CBS Sports QB power ranking.

Maddux Madsen is also ahead of Stokes at No. 23, and he has thrown for 1,296 yards and 13 interceptions. While he doesn’t have the passing numbers of other quarterbacks in the rankings, he has done a great job protecting the ball and has the sixth best quarterback rating at the FBS level.

It will be interesting to see if Stokes can move up the rankings with another impressive performance Friday night against Tulane. The Green Wave rank No. 5 in the American in passing defense, but they have yet to record an interception through five games.

Stokes has done a nice job creating advantages in the offense, and it will be interesting to see if he can do that again on the road on Friday.