By Jim Johnson
SouthernPigskin.com

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Projecting who will be the best quarterbacks in the ACC in 2015.

For the past two years, Jameis Winston dominated the ACC and national headlines. He will likely be the first quarterback taken, and possibly the first player taken, in the upcoming NFL Draft. Hes gone now, and its time to try to figure out who will fill the void. There hasnt been any question as to who was the best ACC quarterback since 2012. Now there is. There was a multitude of promising young quarterback prospects last season, but they all had their flaws. Its unlikely that any one player will fill the void Jameis is leaving behind, but maybe a few of these guys can combine to do it. Here are my projections for the top five quarterbacks in the 2015 season:

5. Marquise Williams, North Carolina — Williams might should be higher on the list. Hes heading into his senior year, he threw for over 3,000 yards last season, and he was second in the conference in rushing touchdowns, but you have to be nervous about him missing spring practice with a hip injury. The school says he will be back at full speed when the season rolls around, but he is missing valuable developmental time. That said, he will be one of the conferences top dual-threat quarterbacks and very well may have me regretting putting him this low.

4. Justin Thomas, Georgia Tech — Hes far from the image of a prototypical quarterback, but he was the engine that ran the Jackets to their best season since 2009. He was one of only five players to run and throw for over 1,000 yards, in 2014. He will be expected to shoulder an even greater load in the coming year as five of Georgia Techs top six running backs are headed out the door. Its hard to project success for triple option teams, and triple option quarterbacks, in particular, but I cant bet against Justin Thomas until he gives me a reason to.

3. Sean Maguire, Florida State — The word out of Florida States spring practice is that Sean Maguire has been exhibiting a tangible presence and command during their fourth quarter drills. We got a taste of Maguire, last season, during the Seminoles miraculous overtime victory over Clemson, but other than that hes a bit of an unknown commodity. Jimbo Fisher has yet to coach an unsuccessful quarterback during his tenure at FSU; that wont change with Maguire. Frankly, choosing between him and Kaaya, from Miami, is splitting hairs. Theyre 2a and 2b, but the difference is that the x98Noles can give the ball to star running back, Dalvin Cook, whenever they need a big play, whereas Kaaya will always have the ball in his hands during crunch time.

2. Brad Kaaya, Miami — Kaaya was the ACCs Freshman of the Year in 2014. He is a true pocket passer that can make just about any throw thats asked of him. Miami will never be x9cThe Ux9d of old, or not any time soon, at least, but Kaaya is as big of a step in the right direction as theyve made in a decade. By the time he graduates, he could go down as one of the best signal callers in the history of the program. With the loss of Duke Johnson, Kaaya will have to carry the bulk of the offensive load for the Hurricanes. Between that and a forgiving schedule, expect Kaaya to light up the stat sheet in 2015.

1. Deshaun Watson, Clemson — Watson comes with a disclaimer, the dreaded x9cif he stays healthy.x9d He struggled to stay on the field in 2014, but its unfair to label him as x9cinjury pronex9d this early on. When he actually is on the field, he is an absolute nightmare to defend. The Tigers are only losing one of their main receiving options from last season, and, honestly, Watson would put up numbers no matter who he was throwing the ball to. There is not a college defense capable of containing Watson. He is talented enough to have 2014 Mariota-type stats. Its always hard to try to predict the Heisman winner in March, but gun to my head, right now, Deshaun Watson is the best bet.