This is a strange year for college football quarterbacks.
In 2023, Caleb Williams and Drake Maye topped our annual tier rankings, which wasn’t a surprise. One had a Heisman Trophy. The other projected as a top-five pick in the NFL Draft. They were established stars with real cachet, even among casual college football fans.
Before Williams and Maye there were Bryce Young and CJ Stroud; before them Stetson Bennett; before them Justin Fields and Trevor Lawrence; before them Tua Tagovailoa and Lamar Jackson and Baker Mayfield and Deshaun Watson and Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston and Johnny Manziel.
Since 2012, there has only been one other season that didn’t start with at least two quarterbacks finishing in the top 10 in Heisman voting or winning a national championship the previous season, and that was the COVID year of 2020 (which was followed of a season of top recruits with high name recognition, such as Young and DJ Uiagalelei, who took over as starting QB and, due to new NIL rules, ran national advertising campaigns). In 2013, 2014, 2017, 2022 and 2023, the defending Heisman winner returned. In 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019 and 2022, the defending champion’s QB returned.
In 2024, we have Jalen Milroe. That’s all. He is the only quarterback to finish in the top 10 in Heisman voting (sixth) and returns for 2024, the biggest accomplishment by a quarterback class the year after six quarterbacks were selected in the top 12 NFL Draft picks.
That’s not to say there aren’t some big names. Quinn Ewers appears on the cover of the new EA Sports College Football 25 game, but perhaps ironically, she attracted more attention during his recruitment and early struggles than when he finally moved into the upper echelon of QB last season. Shedeur Sanders is a bonafide star, but in a unique twist, he may be more famous among people with a casual appreciation of college football. He is both a brand and a talent (although he has plenty of both). Carson Beck is widely projected to be the best NFL prospect in this group, and yet ask the average fan of a team not named Georgia what they remember most about Beck and chances are it will be the photo of him buying a Lamborghini with his NIL. money.
By checking out our rankings, you’ll find genuine talent and plenty of potential. And yet, as the kids say, the vibes aren’t right. There’s steak, but does it sizzle?
Let’s go back in time to 2012, when we last faced something like this dilemma. From the ashes rose Manziel, arguably the most famous (or infamous) quarterback of college football’s social media era.
This is our Tier 1 for now, but where there’s a fame gap in college football, it’s only fitting that someone (perhaps someone completely unexpected) steps up to fill it. However, let’s look at the QB situations of the 134 FBS programs by tiers.
[fifu]
Keynote USA
For the Latest Sports News, Follow Keynote USA Sports on Twitter.