Marcus Stokes

#2 · QB · Fr. · Memphis6′2″ · 209 lb · Saint Augustine, FL · Nease

ZPR7411th of 119 QBsLast gameW 49–22vs Army · Oct 31
Nextat South FloridaThu Nov 12 · 8 pm ET

Graded Solid or better in each of the last two games.

Last game: W 49-22 vs Army, Oct 31 · 29 of 35 for 371 yards, 4 touchdowns · 7 carries for 30 yards, a rushing touchdown. Started all nine of Memphis’s games.

Memphis’s next game: at South Florida, Thu Nov 12, 8:00 p.m. ET · ESPN

Memphis is 7-2 in the nine games played. A chain-mover who throws deeper than most.

Strongest: a touchdown on 8.8% of throws, 6th best of 158 starters.

Passing yards

2,532

179 of 259, 69%

TD–INT

25–6

9.8 per throw

NCAA rating

178.5

4th of 119

ZPR

74

11th of 119

How ZPR works

Solid or better in 7 of 9 graded games.

  • 300 or more passing yards in the last three games.

Best by our grade: at Boise State. Lowest: at Tulane, with 3 interceptions and sacked 6 times. Best play: Completion for 76 yards, touchdown, at Tulane, Q2 14:08. Win chance 66% to 89%. Costliest play: Interception, returned for a touchdown, at Tulane, Q2 0:00. Win chance 44% to 19%.

Tap a game for its plays

Q1Q2Q3Q4

Season

Fades after halftime

How to read this

Each column is a quarter. Blue and up is a good stretch for the quarterback, red and down a bad one, hatched means the game was already decided. A red cross is a turnover and a black dot a touchdown. The word on the right grades the whole game. A gold line means the r/CFB game thread kept naming the quarterback. Tap a game to open its plays: each bar is one of the quarterback’s plays, up helped the team’s chance of winning and down hurt it, and the grey line is that chance.

The word grades the game against every FBS quarterback start, from Rough to Great, using the same throws as the season Zeitgeist Passer Rating and adjusting for the defense faced. Bars are points added per throw in that quarter. The Season row leaves out quarters after a game was decided.

Style of play

Chain-mover

Also: explosive runner, deep thrower, accurate

Why this word
Runs5.9 a gameRarelyA lot
Throws10.9 yards past the lineShortDeep
Completes69%FewerMore
Takes sacks5% of dropbacksRarelyOften

The dot is this quarterback, among this season’s starters; the tick is the middle.

Throws deeper than most and runs some. 5.9 carries a game. Closest matches: Sayin, Mendoza ’25, Lonergan, Minicucci.

Where the throws go

Behind the line11%typical 17%
Short43%typical 47%
Middle31%typical 22%
Deep16%typical 14%

Runs 5.9 times a game; 68% of starters run less.

Closest in style

SayinMendoza ’25LonerganMinicucciThis QB

Nearer the middle means more alike.

  • Sayin Ohio State · Vertical passer
    2,007 yards, 19 TD, 4 INT so far. Both throw deep and are efficient.
  • Mendoza ’25 Indiana 2025 · Chain-mover
    3,535 yards, 41 TD, 6 INT. Drafted in round 1 (No. 1 overall) by Las Vegas, 2026. Both are efficient and hit big plays.
  • Lonergan Rutgers · Vertical passer
    1,066 yards, 10 TD, 6 INT so far. Both score a lot and are efficient.
  • Minicucci Delaware · Chain-mover
    1,477 yards, 14 TD, 4 INT so far. Both complete a lot and are efficient.

Compared with the 158 FBS starters this season for throws and running, and with 219 quarterbacks across 2 seasons for the matches, on how they play and how they have done.

This week

  • RecordMemphis is 7-2.
  • Fans after East Carolina

    Let’s goooo stokes was struggling but turned it around

    Memphis fan

What’s being said

4 stories this week, from 4 outlets.

Oct 30: 1Nov 1: 1Nov 2: 1Nov 3: 1W 49-22 vs ArmyWOct 29Nov 4Most in a day: 1
Oct 30: 1Nov 1: 1Nov 2: 1Nov 3: 1W 49-22 vs ArmyWOct 29Nov 4Most in a day: 1
Stories per day. W and L: the team’s results.

All 39 stories this season

Worth knowing

  • Marcus Stokes has 260.2 passing yards a game at home, 307.8 on the road.

His most important play this season

  1. Q2, 14:08 · Memphis breaks the tieMarcus Stokes finds Braylon Burnside for a 76-yard touchdownMemphis at Tulane, week 7Q2, 14:08 · Memphis 10, Tulane 37676-yard touchdown pass7676-yard touchdown pass76-yard touchdown passM.Stokes pass complete short middle to S.Burnside caught at MEM40, for 76 yards to the TLN00 touchdown, 1ST DOWN, kick goodWatch from this playESPN College Football

All 12 of his plays on video

Marcus Stokes

QB · Memphis · Fr · #2

Filling the Shoesas of Nov 4

Marcus Stokes takes over from Brendon Lewis at Memphis.

2,532passing yards25passing TD267rushing yards

PRODUCES ABOVE PERCEPTION · PCTL GAP

+48

perception vs production percentile · 2026

The production (97th) is outrunning the reputation (49th). The recognition is the thing lagging behind.

Read the story so far

Marcus Stokes lines up at QB for Memphis.

On the field, the headline is 2,532 pass yds, with 25 pass td.

Marcus Stokes inherited the QB job from Brendon Lewis (3-star).

The number to watch: +48 — produces above perception · pctl gap.

QB successionleap of faith
  • Inherited fromBrendon Lewis 3★

AI-generated narrative · may contain errors · not journalism · updated 2026-11-04