Bill ConnellyNov 12, 2025, 07:00 AM ETCloseBill Connelly is a writer for ESPN. He covers college football, soccer and tennis. He has been at ESPN since 2019.Follow on X
How much of a chance does Paul Finebaum give Texas vs. Georgia? (0:51)Paul Finebaum previews Texas’ matchup vs. Georgia in Week 12. (0:51)
47. Aidan Chiles or Alessio Milivojevic, Michigan State
57. Julian Lewis and Kaidon Salter (and Ryan Staub, too, I guess) Colorado
61. Robby Ashford (and sometimes Deshawn Purdie), Wake Forest
62. Grayson James and Dylan Lonergan, Boston College
67. Carter Smith (or the punter, or whoever Wisconsin’s sending out there this week), Wisconsin
A month into the season, I ranked every power conference starting quarterback, and it probably isn’t a surprise that the list has changed pretty significantly after six more weeks of play. Who has improved the most (besides Sayin)? Whose production has trailed off? Let’s rank all 68 (or so) once again!
(Success rate: The percentage of plays gaining at least 50% of necessary yardage on first down, 70% on second and 100% on third and fourth.)
Since the last list came out on Oct. 1, King has, in four games, thrown for 282.5 yards per game, averaging 9.6 yards per dropback (first nationally) with a 75.7% completion rate (third) and 57.9% success rate (second). He has also averaged 97.3 non-sack rushing yards per game (fourth among non-option quarterbacks). Projected over a full 13 games, that’s a 3,600-1,200 pace. Good gracious.
I made it clear on Sunday that I thought Sayin should be the Heisman betting favorite instead of Mendoza, but that doesn’t mean Mendoza hasn’t been awesome. He has thrown a pick in five of his past six games, and the fourth-quarter INT against Penn State nearly proved costly, but despite facing loads of pressure for the first time all year, he also engineered a perfect, game-winning TD drive. He’s fourth nationally in Total QBR and first in passing touchdowns. He’s great.
After all he has done for Vandy over the past couple of years, Pavia might have played his best game on Saturday. With the Commodores’ defense getting lit up by Auburn, Pavia threw for 377 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 114 more yards and another score. Like King, when he has to put the team on his shoulders, he looks great doing it.
He’s still very good, and USC still ranks first in offensive SP+, but the mistakes have added up a bit. In his past five games, Maiava has thrown six interceptions, and he went a combined 31-for-65 with three picks against Notre Dame and Nebraska before rebounding with a nice performance against Northwestern last Saturday. His next two opponents rank sixth (Iowa) and second (Oregon) in defensive SP+, too.
At this point, the only thing he’s missing is a deep ball (or someone to catch one). He’s third in Total QBR, he has thrown just two picks, and on passes thrown under 15 yards downfield his completion rate is 79% (fifth). He’s at only 36% (108th) on longer passes, however, and Georgia lacks in the big-play department. Still, the Bulldogs are efficient, and in part because of Stockton’s legs, they’re nearly perfect in the red zone.
To make the CFP, Ole Miss just had to go and grab a guy with playoff experience. Easy! Chambliss, the Ferris State transfer and Division II champ, has cooled off since his nearly perfect start, and his past four games against FBS opponents have produced only 7.3 yards per dropback and 4.6 yards per carry (no sacks). But Ole Miss has topped 30 points in four of his five SEC starts, and he’s meeting the moment.
For two seasons in Fayetteville, Green has simultaneously been a top-five quarterback and a borderline top-50 guy. It almost varies by the play. But even with the random disasters, he’s one of the scarier dual threats in the country, and he’s far more of a reason why Arkansas has stayed within one score of three ranked teams (including A&M and Ole Miss) than he was a reason why they lost all three.
Returns have diminished for Simpson and the Tide’s offense, which has topped 30 points just once in its past six games; in fact, he has topped 8.0 yards per dropback only twice in his past six games as well.
Still, without much of a run game to lean on, Simpson has been excellent in the red zone (Bama is 15th nationally in red zone TD rate), and he has thrown just one pick in 296 passes. Bama is mastering the art of gaining all the right yards.
Reed pilots a beautifully spaced offense, with transfers KC Concepcion and Mario Craver frequently stretching defenses horizontally and tight ends Theo Melin Öhrström and Nate Boerkircher open over the middle if opponents overcompensate. A&M ranks just 89th in success rate on passing downs, but since he never allows the Aggies to actually fall off schedule, that hasn’t been much of an issue.
Tennessee went to the CFP on the power of great defense (sixth in defensive SP+) last season, so it seemed like Aguilar was walking into a pretty decent situation. The Vols’ defense has completely collapsed — 56th in defensive SP+, 95th in points allowed per drive — but the team is still 6-3 and ranked because Aguilar has keyed an offensive resurgence. He could end up with 4,000 passing yards.
Williams is a second-year sophomore and first-year starter with massive upside and lots of things to learn. And either everything has worked or nothing has worked in 2025.
Like Aguilar, Mensah thought he was coming to play for one team and instead landed with something far different. Duke won nine games with an offense that ranked 71st in SP+ last season; in 2025, with Mensah throwing for over 300 yards per game, the Blue Devils’ offense is up to 18th. And they’re only 5-4 because the defense has disintegrated.
He couldn’t do any damage in easy losses to Indiana and Ohio State, and Illinois couldn’t make as much of a playoff push as hoped in 2025. But Altmyer is still seventh in Total QBR, and he should still finish in the Illini’s top five in career passing yardage, and second in career TD passes, in under three full seasons. Pretty good work.
He was nearly perfect against a dire Rutgers defense in Week 8, but even including that, Moore’s past five games have seen massive regression after a nearly perfect start.
Luckily, Oregon’s defense is elite (it hasn’t allowed more than 17 points in regulation all season), and the Ducks can play ball control with a good run game.
The volume shooter of 2025, Robertson is the only P4 quarterback throwing over 40 passes per game. And with a mediocre run game and mostly disappointing defense, Robertson’s right arm has basically had to carry Baylor to a winning record — when his Total QBR tops 75.0 the Bears win, and when it doesn’t they lose. It’s a burden, but he has played well.
Utah ranked 96th in offensive SP+ last season; the combination of Dampier and coordinator Jason Beck has led a surge all the way to 19th. Dampier is second on the team in rushing yards, and while there aren’t many big plays in the passing game, he has been crisp and efficient. (And because backup Byrd Ficklin was exciting in his lone start, Utah can run Dampier without fear of injury.)
NC State has had only one top-40 offense, per SP+, since 2018, but the Wolfpack are charging toward a second because of Bailey. Like Robertson, he has had to be brilliant to drag the Pack to wins — they’re 5-0 when his Total QBR is above 85.0 and 0-4 when it isn’t — but his 340-yard, two-touchdown performance in the 48-36 upset of King’s Georgia Tech was absolutely dynamite.
A career that began during the 2020 COVID season will soon end with Daniels No. 2 on Kansas’ passing yardage and touchdown lists, behind only Todd Reesing. Although he never has gotten enough help from his defense (average defensive SP+ ranking in his time: 89.0), he’s wrapping up the year playing clean ball: He has thrown only three interceptions, and the Jayhawks are 26th in offensive success rate.
He makes me nervous and takes a lot of hits (and has missed time with multiple injuries because of it), but there’s no question that Morton has taken a solid step forward this year, improving to career highs in Total QBR, completion rate (65.7%), yards per completion (13.9) and most of the other stats by which we judge QBs.
TCU can’t run the ball, and its offensive production has trailed off in the past couple of games, but not much of that is Hoover’s fault. (Granted, his two picks against Iowa State didn’t help.) His Total QBR has topped 75.0 in six of nine starts, and he’s top 10 nationally in passing yards (298.9) and touchdowns (2.6) per game.
Unlike many of the Big 12 QBs in this portion of the list, Bachmeier has gotten help from both his defense and run game, and he couldn’t make enough happen at Texas Tech last week, with career lows in success rate (30.6%) and yards per dropback (5.0). BYU’s playoff hopes are still solid despite putting a true freshman in charge of the offense, and he’s only going to get better from here.
He was the No. 48 pocket passer recruit in the class of 2025, with offers primarily from MAC schools, but Heintschel has been the most transformative freshman QB in the country: Pitt is 5-0 and has averaged 40 points per game since sticking him in the lineup. He scrambles well, and he has averaged at least 13 yards per completion in three starts. He has been exactly the shot in the arm the Panthers needed.
I’ve always appreciated Beck’s willingness to make mistakes. He makes tough throws and completes a lot of them (he’s behind only Sayin with his 73% completion rate), but the downside, of course, is the interceptions: He has thrown six in two Miami losses (and only three in seven wins). The Hurricanes still have solid odds of reaching 10-2 and, potentially, the CFP, though.
It appeared at the start of the season that Johnson was trying to play like a professional QB — not much rushing, checking to safe and easy options — to the detriment of his team. Now he’s playing like himself, taking risks and using his legs. Even with more mistakes, it has made a positive difference.