2026 P4 QB Rankings

I rank each projected starting QB for the 2026 season:

ACC

1. Kevin Jennings (SMU)
2. Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele (California)
3. Darian Mensah (Miami)
4. Mason Heintschel (Pittsburgh)
5. CJ Bailey (NCST)
6. Beau Pribula (Virginia)
7. Lincoln Kienholz (Louisville)
8. Steve Angeli (Syracuse)
9. Christopher Vizzina (Clemson)
10. Ashton Daniels (Florida State)
11. Gio Lopez (Wake Forest)
12. Ethan Grunkemeyer (Virginia Tech)
13. Billy Edwards Jr (North Carolina)
14. Alberto Mendoza (Georgia Tech)
15. Mason McKenzie (Boston College)
16. Davis Warren (Stanford)
17. Walker Eget (Duke)

The ACC has a decent crop of QBs this year. The top 3 are legitimate stars. Jennings, Sagapolutele, and Mensah are all really good and give their teams high ceilings. One thing you may find weird about my rankings is having Keinholz at 7, ahead of some much more proven QBs, same with Vizzina at 9. In the case of Keinholz, he obviously is very talented if he was recruited at Ohio State, and I trust Jeff Brohm. Brohm always has good QB play. Vizzina at 9 is more of a gamble. This dude has basically never played. The thing that gives me confidence is the fact that they didn’t go into the portal to get a new guy. Vizzina has been in the program for a while. That staff knows what they have in him, and they trust that, so I’ll trust it. It also helps that he is a former top 100 recruit. Stanford and Duke are the only teams that I’d say are in bad QB situations, though some of these other situations have the potential to be bad. Warren and Eget were bad when they were starters elsewhere, so I see no reason why they will be any better this time around.

Big 12

1. Devon Dampier (Utah)
2. Drew Mestemaker (Oklahoma State)
3. Connor Weigman (Houston)
4. Bear Bachmeier (BYU)
5. Noah Fifita (Arizona)
6. Avery Johnson (Kansas State)
7. DJ Lagway (Baylor)
8. Cutter Boley (Arizona State)
9. Alonza Barnett III (UCF)
10. JC French IV (Cincinnati)
11. Jaden Craig (TCU)
12. Michael Hawkins Jr (West Virginia)
13. Julian Lewis (Colorado)
14. Will Hammond (Texas Tech)
15. Cole Ballard (Kansas)
16. Jaylen Raynor (Iowa State)

I don’t think any of these QBs are going to be bad (though Lewis was bad last year, I trust him to be better given his pedigree as a highly recruited athlete). There are a few transfers that have very high upside, but they need to prove it at this level (Barnett III, French IV, and Craig). There are a few SEC transfers that should be able to put up better numbers in the Big 12 (Lagway, Boley, and Hawkins Jr). There are a couple of former backups that have shown promise, but haven’t been able to show they can put together a full season (Hammond and Ballard). Those top 6 QBs seem like sure things. I realize you could lump Mestemaker in with Craig and the boys as an unproven transfer from the lower levels, but he was so good that I would be shocked if it doesn’t translate to the Big 12.

It should be noted that Hammond will most likely miss the beginning of the season, so the QB situation really looks bleak for TTU. Seeing Dampier, Weigman, and Bachmeier ranked so highly would make me worried if I were a Texas Tech fan.

Big Ten

1. Jayden Maiava (USC)
2. Dante Moore (Oregon)
3. Julian Sayin (Ohio State)
4. Bryce Underwood (Michigan)
5. Demond Williams (Washington)
6. Josh Hoover (Indiana)
7. Malik Washington (Maryland)
8. Nico Iamaleava (UCLA)
9. Drake Lindsey (Minnesota)
10. Anthony Colandrea (Nebraska)
11. Aidan Chiles (Northwestern)
12. Rocco Becht (Penn State)
13. Colton Joseph (Wisconsin)
14. Katin Houser (Illinois)
15. Ryan Browne (Purdue)
16. Alessio Milivojevic (Michigan State)
17. AJ Surace (Rutgers)
18. Jeremy Hecklinski (Iowa)

I’ll say it once, and I’ll say it again. I don’t get the Rocco Becht hype. He’s fine, but he won’t be lighting the Big Ten on fire or anything. There’s a lot of decent QBs here for sure, but the big difference between this year and last year is Indiana having Josh Hoover instead of Fernando Mendoza. He just isn’t elite. He is good. Maybe even really good, but he isn’t on the same level as Maiava, Moore, or Sayin, that’s for sure. I expect Underwood to be much better with Whittingham at the helm, who always has good QBs. Honestly 7-13 are kind of interchangeable, so I wouldn’t pitch a fit if I were a Wisconsin fan. Joseph should be pretty good… for about 3 games until he inevitably gets injured because Wisconsin QBs are cursed. Why Hecklinski at 18? Last year was the only time I have ever seen Iowa have decent QB play, and I’m pretty sure that was an outlier. They’ll go back to sucking.

SEC

1. Trinidad Chambliss (Ole Miss)
2. Arch Manning (Texas)
3. LaNorris Sellers (South Carolina)
4. Austin Mack (Alabama)
5. Gunner Stockton (Georgia)
6. Byrum Brown (Auburn)
7. Kamario Taylor (Mississippi State)
8. John Mateer (Oklahoma)
9. Marcel Reed (Texas A&M)
10. Sam Leavitt (LSU)
11. Austin Simmons (Missouri)
12. Aaron Philo (Florida)
13. George MacIntryre (Tennessee)
14. KJ Jackson (Arkansas)
15. Jared Curtis (Vanderbilt)
16. Kenny Minchey (Kentucky)

The SEC has the best QBs by far. My ranks that would probably see the most contention are at 3, 4, and 10. Sellers wasn’t as good last year as he was in 2024, but I honestly think he was mostly held back by Mike Shula. He has the tools to be elite, and he has shown that he can be that guy. Austin Mack hasn’t even started a game yet, but honestly, I think he could be just as good as Ty Simpson. From what I’ve seen from him, he was almost as good last season. He has spent more time in DeBoer and Grubb’s system than anyone. As much as I love to crap on DeBoer, he’s a good QB coach, and he will have Mack playing at a really high level. Other than perhaps Rocco Becht, Sam Leavitt is the most overrated QB in football. He’s good, but he isn’t that good. I know he was battling injuries last season, but it doesn’t change the fact that he didn’t look impressive at all. The season before he was good, but he also had Cam Skattebo at RB, so teams weren’t exactly all in on defending the pass. All in all, the top 11 QBs will for sure be really good. I have confidence that Philo and MacIntyre will be good, though I am slightly more skeptical on the latter. Jackson and Curts should have their moments, but I expect neither to be consistent. Minchey kind of seems like the odd man out here. He’s probably gonna be the worst QB in the conference.

All P4 (plus Notre Dame)

1. Trinidad Chambliss (Ole Miss)
2. Arch Manning (Texas)
3. Jayden Maiava (USC)
4. Dante Moore (Oregon)
5. Julian Sayin (Ohio State)
6. LaNorris Sellers (South Carolina)
7. Austin Mack (Alabama)
8. Gunner Stockton (Georgia)
9. CJ Carr (Notre Dame)
10. Devon Dampier (Utah)
11. Bryce Underwood (Michigan)
12. Byrum Brown (Auburn)
13. Drew Mestemaker (Oklahoma State)
14. Demond Williams (Washington)
15. Josh Hoover (Indiana)
16. Kamario Taylor (Mississippi State)
17. John Mateer (Oklahoma)
18. Marcel Reed (Texas A&M)
19. Connor Weigman (Houston)
20. Bear Bachmeier (BYU)
21. Kevin Jennings (SMU)
22. Sam Leavitt (LSU)
23. Noah Fifita (Arizona)
24. Austin Simmons (Missouri)
25. Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele (California)
26. Darian Mensah (Miami)
27. Avery Johnson (Kansas State)
28. DJ Lagway (Baylor)
29. Cutter Boley (Arizona State)
30. Aaron Philo (Florida)
31. Mason Heintschel (Pittsburgh)
32. CJ Bailey (NCST)
33. Beau Pribula (Virginia)
34. Lincoln Kienholz (Louisville)
35. George MacIntryre (Tennessee)
36. Malik Washington (Maryland)
37. Nico Iamaleava (UCLA)
38. Alonza Barnett III (UCF)
39. Steve Angeli (Syracuse)
40. Drake Lindsey (Minnesota)
41. Anthony Colandrea (Nebraska)
42. Aidan Chiles (Northwestern)
43. Rocco Becht (Penn State)
44. Colton Joseph (Wisconsin)
45. KJ Jackson (Arkansas)
46. JC French IV (Cincinnati)
47. Jaden Craig (TCU)
48. Christopher Vizzina (Clemson)
49. Ashton Daniels (Florida State)
50. Michael Hawkins Jr (West Virginia)
51. Katin Houser (Illinois)
52. Gio Lopez (Wake Forest)
53. Ethan Grunkemeyer (Virginia Tech)
54. Jared Curtis (Vanderbilt)
55. Julian Lewis (Colorado)
56. Will Hammond (Texas Tech)
57. Kenny Minchey (Kentucky)
58. Billy Edwards Jr (North Carolina)
59. Cole Ballard (Kansas)
60. Jaylen Raynor (Iowa State)
61. Ryan Browne (Purdue)
62. Alberto Mendoza (Georgia Tech)
63. Alessio Milivojevic (Michigan State)
64. Mason McKenzie (Boston College)
65. AJ Surace (Rutgers)
66. Jeremy Hecklinski (Iowa)
67. Davis Warren (Stanford)
68. Walker Eget (Duke)