USC football produces "good" NFL quarterbacks more than anyone.

Former USC football quarterback Carson Palmer
Former USC football quarterback Carson Palmer / Norm Hall/Getty Images
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Believe it or not, USC football is actually exceptional at producing NFL quarterbacks.

If you're a Jets fan, you might not be particularly pleased with the performance of Sam Darnold and Mark Sanchez, but the numbers say USC quarterbacks are generally "good" more often than most schools.

That's according to Five Thirty Eight's Ty Schalter, who set out to figure out the connection between school and quarterback success.

It turns out (unsurprisingly), there is no such thing as a quarterback school. Most QBs fail at the NFL level. The rare ones who succeed do so because they as individuals are exceptional. Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers are products of themselves and their NFL environments, not Michigan or Cal.

USC quarterbacks make it in the NFL more often than not

USC can take heart though, because even if the Trojans can't guarantee the success of their quarterbacks based on their history in cardinal and gold, they do have a remarkable track record for decency in the NFL.

Here's how Schalter put it:

"On the flip side, if there’s such a thing as a good quarterback school, it’s USC. Carson Palmer’s weighted career AV of 108 anchors a class of eight, but it’s the relatively rich middle class of passers like Matt Cassel (45), Mark Sanchez (34), Sam Darnold (15) and Matt Leinart (12) that has the school’s average at 28.0 — the highest of any school with five or more drafted quarterbacks. That Leinart, a notorious draft bust, doesn’t significantly drag down USC’s average shows how hard it is for a quarterback to accomplish anything in the NFL."

So there you have it. USC quarterbacks generally are set up to make it in the NFL, insofar as "making it" can be defined as "not flaming out." That's basically the best any school can ask for.

Sure, it's not the greatest recruiting tagline, but it's something worth boasting.

For Kedon Slovis and the teams who might consider drafting him in 2022 (or whenever he decides to go), it's something to take to heart.

Next. Ranking the Best USC QBs of All-Time. dark