Ranking the 10 bleakest QB situations among Power Four conferences entering the 2025 college football season
Looking around the post-spring landscape, there are a lot of really good quarterbacks in college football. After a down year — from the NFL Draft perspective, at least — in 2024, the 2025 season is shaping up as solid for the most important position on the field.
Players like LSU's Garrett Nussmeier, Penn State's Drew Allar and Clemson's Cade Klubnik eschewing the draft for another year at their respective schools certainly helps the perception. As does the arrival of Texas' Arch Manning, the most ballyhooed recruit in recent memory who finally gets his chance to start in the wake of Quinn Ewers' departure.
Even prominent schools embroiled in quarterback competitions like Alabama and Ohio State have a wealth of promising options. While there are fair conversations to be had about increased talent inequality in the modern era of college football, the transfer portal makes finding a serviceable quarterback easier.
Unfortunately, not every program can tout its quarterback room. Yes, even in a year like 2025, there are a handful of schools with a lot to be desired under center.
Here are the 10 bleakest quarterback situations in college football entering the 2025 season.
Dishonorable mentionsThese programs have questionable quarterback situations but didn't quite make the cut.
Houston: If Conner Weigman meets his potential, he could be a transfer portal steal for Houston. That's a big if. Zeon Chriss is a great runner who can energize the offense with his legs, but quarterbacks do have to throw the ball sometimes. That's where it can get tricky for Chriss.
Tennessee: The Vols lost high-upside quarterback Nico Iamaleava and replaced him with a solid, if unspectacular, starting option transfer Joey Aguilar -- formerly of UCLA and Appalachian State. Backup options Jake Merklinger and true freshman George MacIntyre both ranked as four stars out of high school, but neither has taken meaningful snaps. MacIntrye especially needs to put on a lot of weight before he's ready to play.
Quarterbacks: Chandler Morris (Gr.); Gavin Frakes (Sr.); Grady Brosterhous (Sr.); Daniel Kaelin (So.); Cole Geer (Fr.); Bjorn Jurgensen (Fr.)
A program could certainly do worse than Morris (as evidenced by this very list), who was a 2024 All-AAC second team selection after throwing for 3,774 yards and 31 touchdowns in his one year at North Texas. While those are great numbers, he didn't get anywhere near that in his previous stint at the power conference level — even though he spent a combined four years at Oklahoma and TCU. All that to say, this writer is skeptical Morris can replicate his North Texas production at Virginia. Kaelin's the one to watch behind Morris, but he has yet to take a snap in a real college football game.
Quarterbacks: Zach Calzada (Gr.); Beau Allen (Gr.); Cutter Boley (R-Fr.); Stone Saunders (Fr.); Brennen Ward (Fr.)
Calzada enters his seventh year of college football. He does bring plenty of SEC experience to Lexington, as he started 10 games at Texas A&M in 2021 and spent the 2022 season sidelined with a shoulder injury at Auburn before transferring to Incarnate Word in 2023. He put together a respectable two seasons with the Cardinals and is coming off a a career-high 3,744 yards and 35 touchdowns passing in 2024. While those are great numbers, it's valid to question if Calzada can match that production back in the SEC, especially since he didn't set the world on fire with the Aggies. Is he the type of player to break Kentucky's recent quarterback malaise? Probably not, and there's not much behind him.
Quarterbacks: Ben Gulbranson (Gr.); Dylan Rizk (R-So.); Myles Jackson (R-So.); Elijah Brown (So.)
Jackson is the odd man out at Stanford, as Gulbranson, Rizk and Brown are competing for the starting job. Gulbranson and Rizk joined the Cardinal during the spring transfer window while Brown is back for his second season with the program after appearing in three games as a freshman last season. Gulbranson, who started 12 games at Oregon State over the past few seasons, has a wealth of experience, though he profiles as a game manager. Rizk showed some flashes at UCF last season where he threw for 904 yards and five touchdowns in four starts, while Brown obviously has a blue-chip pedigree working in his favor. It's an "okay" crop of arms for new and temporary Stanford coach Frank Reich, but not much more than that.
Quarterbacks: Cam Fancher (R-Sr.); Tayven Jackson (R-Jr.); Jacurri Brown (R-Jr.)
UCF certainly has options, even if none of them really move the needle. Fancher started 26 games at Marshall and Florida Atlantic, but his best year came in 2023 when he threw for 2,162 yards and 11 touchdowns. He has passed for 27 career touchdowns to 23 interceptions. Jackson and Brown are solid athletes, but the former couldn't hold down a starting spot at Indiana and the latter threw four interceptions in two starts for UCF last season.
Quarterbacks: Ryan Browne (R-So.); Bennett Meredith (Jr.); Malachi Singleton (So.); Evans Chuba (R-Fr.); Garyt Odom (Fr.)
Purdue got a bit of good news when coach Barry Odom convinced Browne to transfer back to Purdue in the spring after the former backup left for North Carolina in December. He started two games in relief of an injured Hudson Card last season and threw for 532 yards and four touchdowns — three of which came against Illinois. Though he doesn't have the highest ceiling, he is a steady hand. Beyond Browne. Singleton is a former four-star prospect and an intriguing athlete. Odom's had success with mobile quarterbacks in the past.
Quarterbacks: Devin Brown (R-Jr.); Dominic Ingrassia (So.); EJ Caminong (R-Fr.); Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele (Fr.)
Cal lost franchise quarterback Fernando Mendoza to the transfer portal. His replacement is Devin Brown, who couldn't quite break through in three years at Ohio State despite his lofty billing out of high school. He only attempted 48 passes with the Buckeyes and completed them at a 56.3% clip. He's also dealt with various injuries in his relatively brief career. It might only be a matter of time before Sagapolutele takes over, anyway. The former Oregon signee was 247Sports' No. 7 quarterback in the class of 2025 transferred to Cal before his first spring practice with the Ducks. He's got more upside than anyone on Cal's roster, but relying on a freshman always comes with its own risks.
Quarterbacks: Justyn Martin (R-Jr.); Khristian Martin (R-Fr.); Jackson Hamilton (Fr.); Malik Washington (Fr.)
Former four-star prospect Justyn Martin transferred to Maryland in December after three seasons at UCLA. He appeared in five games with the Bruins, registering his first career start in 2024 when Ethan Garbers missed a game against Penn State due to injury. Martin completed 22 of his 30 passes for 167 yards and one touchdowns in the 27-11 loss, which is... fine. The real buzz-worthy piece here is Washington, the No. 54 overall prospect and No. 6 quarterback in the class of 2025. As with Cal, it's hard to lean on a freshman, but there's a chance Washington will take starting reps at some point.
Quarterbacks: Robby Ashford (R-Sr.); Deshawn Purdie (So.); Elijah Oelke (Fr.); Steele Pizzella (Fr.)
New Wake Forest coach Jake Dickert had some excellent quarterbacks -- including Cam Ward -- during his time at Washington State, but he and his staff are going to have to work some magic to get this group up to speed. Though Ashford is entering his sixth year of college football, he hasn't impressed much -- and certainly didn't do enough to stick around -- at his past three schools. He is a great runner and athlete, so there's that. Purdie has a nice frame at 6-foot-4 and 228 pounds and started six games as a freshman at Charlotte last season, but there's no telling how his game will translate to a higher level.
Quarterbacks: Dylan Wittke (R-So.); Max Shikenjanski (R-So.); Drake Lindsey (R-Fr.); Jackson Kollock (Fr.)
Minnesota hit transfer portal gold with quarterback Max Brosmer, but he moved on to the NFL after one year with the Golden Gophers. Minnesota went back to the portal to add Georgia Tech transfer Zach Pyron, who subsequently left the program and transferred to South Alabama in April. That leaves Minnesota with one quarterback -- Lindsey -- who has attempted a pass at the collegiate level. Lindsey went 4 for 5 for 50 yards as a freshman last season and will likely start in 2025. Minnesota's staff is high on the 6-foot-5 second-year player, but his in-game ability is still a big question mark.
Quarterbacks: Zane Flores (R-Fr.); Hauss Hejny (R-Fr.); Banks Bowen (Fr.)
Mike Gundy played quarterback at Oklahoma State. He was a quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator for the Cowboys, Baylor and Maryland before he took control of his alma mater in 2005. So the fact that his quarterback room is in this state, entering the 21st year of his tenure, is, frankly, inexcusable. Oklahoma State lost its only quarterbacks with any real experience -- Garrett Rangel and Maealiuaki Smith -- to the transfer portal. That means it doesn't have a single signal caller that has so much as attempted a collegiate pass. Things got to the point where the Cowboys had to poach Bowen, a freshman from Tulsa. At least Hejny graded as a four-star prospect out of high school, even if Flores might have a slight edge for the starting spot.
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