Ryan Mallett

(States Twitter)-Ryan Mallett (born June 5, 1988), nicknamed "Big Tex", is an American football quarterback for the New England Patriots of the National Football League, taken in the third round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He played college football for the Arkansas Razorbacks. Mallett spent his freshman year at the University of Michigan.

2010

It was announced on February 17 that Mallett had suffered a left foot injury in a change of direction conditioning drill. The junior had successful surgery later that day, and a planned second surgery was announced on June 9.Mallett missed the Razorback spring game and spring drills, but he did not miss fall camp. During the off season, Mallett was named one of college football's most irreplaceable players by ESPN.com, and he appeared on College Football Live.At the SEC's 2010 Media Days conference, Mallett became the first Arkansas quarterback to be named preseason first-team All-SEC by the SEC coaches. He has been listed as the frontrunner for the Davey O'Brien Award by The Sporting News and a potential Heisman Trophy candidate. He was also named a preseason All-SEC quarterback and preseason All-American quarterback by numerous organizations.

Mallett's performance in 2009 has led to higher expectations in 2010. The junior has stated that he wishes to change the mindset of Arkansas fans into that of a winning program. The confident Mallett has been quoted saying, "I'm looking for 14," when asked about how many wins the 2010 Razorbacks can achieve.

On September 4, 2010, Mallet completed 21-of-24 passes (87.5%), setting an Arkansas school record for completion percentage in a game. The completion percentage also ranks second all-time in SEC football history. Mallett contributed 301 passing yards, as well, with a total of 8 receivers recording catches. Arkansas defeated Tennessee Tech in the game 44-3.

Mallett finished seventh in voting for the 2010 Heisman Trophy award.

On January 6, 2011 Mallett decided to forgo his senior year at Arkansas and declare for the 2011 NFL Draft shortly after Andrew Luck decided to stay for his senior year.

Mallett did say that Luck's decision did not have any impact on him declaring for the Draft.

Collegiate awards

2010 Premier Player of College Football Trophy Winner

2009 and 2010 All-SEC second team by Coaches and AP

Autozone Liberty Bowl Offensive MVP

SEC Offensive Player of the Week (vs. South Carolina & Mississippi State)

High school career

Mallett graduated from Texas High School in Texarkana, Texas, and was ranked as the #2 quarterback and #4 overall player in the nation by Rivals.com. He was also the Gatorade Player of the Year in Texas in 2006. Mallett participated in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in 2007 and won the Glenn Davis Army Award as the best player on the West team.

College career

Mallett made his first appearance at Michigan in the second game of the 2007 season against Oregon. He entered the game for the injured Chad Henne in the third quarter and completed 6 of 17 passes for 49 yards and one interception. Mallett started the next week against Notre Dame and led the Wolverines to a 38-0 victory by throwing 3 touchdown passes, going 7/15 (46.7%) for 90 yards. Mallett started his first Big Ten conference game against Penn State the following week. He went 16/29 (55.2%) with 170 yards and one interception. He also scored on a 10-yard rush in the first quarter. Henne returned to start the Wolverines' next three games. In those games, Mallett had limited playing time completing .

Departure from Michigan

Mallett's departure from Michigan was widely expected after new head coach Rich Rodriguez was hired to replace retiring coach Lloyd Carr. Rodriguez overhauled Michigan's offense and installed a "spread" option offensive scheme, which did not fit Mallett's skills as a drop-back, pocket quarterback.

On January 14, 2008, Mallett made his move back to his home state official and enrolled at the University of Arkansas, where he redshirted the 2008 season due to the NCAA transfer policies. Mallett quarterbacked the Arkansas scout team in practice that season.

Arkansas

2009

In 2009 as a redshirt sophomore, Mallett began his career as an Arkansas Razorback, under the direction of head coach Bobby Petrino. Prior to the 2009 season, Mallett was named by ESPN's Bruce Feldman as one of college football's top 10 newcomers of the year, citing his arm strength as a major determining factor. In subsequent interviews, when Mallett was questioned about how far he could throw the football, he said farther than 80 yards.

On March 1, 2009, he was arrested on charges of public intoxication. He pled guilty to the misdemeanor charge on April 3, 2009 and paid $155 in court costs, fines, and fees. Mallett was also punished by Coach Petrino with early wake up calls, extra running, and early curfews.

Mallett earned the starting job in the Razorbacks' first game against Missouri State, going 17-of-22 for 309 yards and a touchdown. Two weeks later, Mallett passed for 408 yards and five touchdowns against Georgia in a losing effort. The passing yardage and touchdowns were single game school records. Ryan would throw for more than 250 yards in three of Arkansas' next five games, with nine touchdowns against three interceptions. Impressive victories over Texas A&M and Auburn were coupled with tough losses to Alabama and Ole Miss, and a loss vs. Florida. After a dismal 3-4 start, Mallett led Arkansas to three consecutive victories over Eastern Michigan (14-of-16 for 248 yards and three touchdowns), South Carolina (23-of-27 for 329 yards and one rushing touchdown), and Troy (23-of-30 for 405 yards, five touchdowns and one interception). Over those three games, he completed 83.1 % of his passes, and had a quarterback rating of 165.05, which was third-best in the nation. The victory over Troy pushed Arkansas' record to 6-4 and secured the Hogs' bowl eligibility, with games against Mississippi State and LSU remaining. Mallett went on to throw for 313 yards and matched his career high of five touchdown passes in a 42-21 victory over Mississippi State. The following week, he threw for 227 yards and a touchdown in a 33-30 overtime loss to LSU in Baton Rouge. Ryan was named to the All-SEC 2nd Team squad by the coaches and the AP for his performance during the season, behind Florida QB Tim Tebow despite superior passing statistics. The Razorbacks finished the 2009 season with an 8-5 record and won the 2010 Liberty Bowl against East Carolina University, 20-17 in OT. Mallett was named the bowl game's Offensive MVP.