College football's top quarterback battles heading into the 2025 season

With a collection of blue-blood programs sending quarterbacks into this year’s NFL Draft, the stage was set for a spring and summer of noteworthy battles across college football at the sport’s most important position. Will Howard and his national championship ring left a high-profile void at Ohio State. Jalen Milroe and his dual-threat talents departed Alabama despite leaving some eligibility on the table. And Riley Leonard, the excellent Duke transfer, bid farewell to Notre Dame after 14 wins and an impressive run through the College Football Playoff that fell just a few points short against the Buckeyes.

Elsewhere, the signal-caller storylines got even richer when Shedeur Sanders moved on from Colorado and legendary head coach Bill Belichick assumed control at North Carolina, where every move he and his inner circle make will now generate headlines on sports websites and pop culture havens alike. Whomever the Tar Heels select as their starter in 2025 will undoubtedly be mentioned in the same breath as seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady, ill-advised and ill-fitting as those comparisons might be.

And there are plenty more big-name programs still sifting through their options ahead of the 2025 campaign: from recent national champions like Michigan and Georgia to the reigning Big Ten kings from Oregon. So as spring turns to summer and the excitement of a new season draws ever closer, here’s a fresh look at where things stand in some of college football’s most important quarterback battles:

Ohio State

Contenders: Julian Sayin, Lincoln Kienholz, Tavien St. Clair

Julian SayinClass: SophomoreMeasurables: 6-1, 203 poundsCareer stats: 5-of-12 (41.7%) for 84 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT in 27 snaps

Recruiting ranking: No. 6 overall, No. 1 QB in 2024

Lincoln Kienholz

Class: JuniorMeasurables: 6-3, 207 poundsCareer stats: 10-of-22 (45.5%) for 111 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT in 68 snaps

Recruiting ranking: No. 194 overall, No. 15 QB in 2023

Tavien St. Clair

Class: FreshmanMeasurables: 6-4, 225 poundsCareer stats: N/A

Recruiting ranking: No. 7 overall, No. 3 QB in 2025

For the third time in as many seasons, Ohio State will enter fall camp with its quarterback hierarchy undecided thanks to a nip-and-tuck competition during spring practice. Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz are the primary contenders to replace former Kansas State transfer Will Howard, who guided the Buckeyes to a national championship and was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the sixth round of last month’s NFL Draft. The two candidates present appreciably different body types and skill sets, with the former regarded as one of the best pure passers in the country coming out of high school, while the latter was a successful multi-sport athlete (football, basketball, baseball) who presents more of a dual-threat option and is still learning the finer points of playing quarterback. Sayin, whom many expect to ultimately win the job, seemed to have stepped forward with a strong performance in Ohio State’s spring game, but Kienholz was reportedly the steadier player across the team’s 15 practices under new play caller Brian Hartline. The third man in the competition, albeit a good distance behind, is Tavien St. Clair, a highly touted early enrollee with prototypical size and arm strength. An in-state prospect, St. Clair completed 166 of 224 passes (68%) for 2,536 yards, 29 touchdowns and four interceptions as a senior at Bellefontaine High School last fall. He also ran for 254 yards and nine additional scores.

Michigan

Contenders: Bryce Underwood, Mikey Keene, Davis Warren, Jadyn Davis

Bryce Underwood

Class: FreshmanMeasurables: 6-4, 208 poundsCareer stats: N/A

Recruiting ranking: No. 1 overall, No. 1 QB in 2025

Mikey Keene

Class: Graduate studentMeasurables: 5-11, 200 poundsCareer stats: 793-of-1170 for 8,245 yards, 65 TDs, 28 INTs in 2,233 snaps

Recruiting ranking: No. 819 overall, No. 57 QB in 2021

Davis Warren

Class: Graduate studentMeasurables: 6-2, 195 poundsCareer stats: 139-of-223 (62.3%) for 1,288 yards, 7 TDs, 10 INTs in 532 snaps

Recruiting ranking: Unranked, zero-star prospect in 2020

Jadyn Davis

Class: SophomoreMeasurables: 6-1, 205 poundsCareer stats: No passes attempted on one snap

Recruiting ranking: No. 112 overall, No. 9 QB in 2024

What looked like a four-man competition on paper was quickly reduced to a showdown between Bryce Underwood and Jadyn Davis during the spring as Davis Warren, a partial starter last season, continued rehabbing the torn ACL he suffered during Michigan’s bowl win over Alabama and Mikey Keene, who transferred in from Fresno State, was sidelined with an undisclosed injury. Underwood’s rare combination of talent, physical maturity and dogged work ethic has impressed teammates and coaches on both sides of the ball since enrolling early out of Belleville High School in Belleville, Michigan, a half-hour drive from the Wolverines’ campus. His strong debut, coupled with a slower development curve from Davis, a former five-star prospect whose recruiting stock slipped toward the end of the 2024 cycle, has laid the groundwork for what many expect to be a two-quarterback battle between Underwood and the veteran Keene during fall camp. Keene spent two seasons at UCF (2021-22) and two more at Fresno State (2023-24) before entering the transfer portal as a graduate student with one year of eligibility remaining. He completed 22 of 36 passes for 235 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in a season-opening loss to Michigan last year, dragging the Bulldogs to within six points with 10:06 remaining in the fourth quarter — a performance that likely caught the attention of head coach Sherrone Moore. Keene was viewed as the No. 966 overall transfer and No. 66 quarterback in the portal by 247Sports.

Alabama

Contenders: Ty Simpson, Austin Mack, Keelon Russell

Ty Simpson

Class: Redshirt juniorMeasurables: 6-2, 210 poundsCareer stats: 29-of-50 (58%) for 167 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT in 188 snaps

Recruiting ranking: No. 26 overall, No. 3 QB in 2022

Austin Mack

Class: Redshirt sophomoreMeasurables: 6-6, 235 poundsCareer stats: 2-of-3 (66.7%) for 39 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT in five snaps

Recruiting ranking: No. 230 overall, No. 16 QB in 2023

Keelon Russell

Class: FreshmanMeasurables: 6-3, 192 poundsCareer stats: N/A

Recruiting ranking: No. 2 overall, No. 2 QB in 2025

Given the swelling pressure on second-year head coach Kalen DeBoer, whose dissatisfying 9-4 overall record in his debut season included three losses to unranked opponents, the ongoing quarterback competition at Alabama is one of the most polarizing in college football. DeBoer has reunited with longtime running mate Ryan Grubb, his offensive coordinator at Washington and Fresno State, to enliven a passing attack that ranked 56th overall and eighth in the SEC last season. Grubb spent one year as offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks in 2024 but was fired after his unit finished 18th in scoring at 22.1 points per game. Together, DeBoer and Grubb will choose between three quarterbacks with lofty recruiting pedigrees and wildly contrasting levels of experience. Ty Simpson, the presumptive leader, is a former five-star prospect who was originally signed by Nick Saban. He’s entering his fourth season with the program but has spent the last two years backing up Milroe and has never thrown a touchdown pass in college. His primary competitor will likely be Austin Mack, a former Washington signee who was a member of the Huskies in 2023 and then followed DeBoer to Alabama ahead of the 2024 campaign, eventually logging five snaps as a deep reserve. And then there’s Keelon Russell, the exciting true freshman who finished second in the national recruiting rankings behind Michigan signee Bryce Underwood. Russell reportedly made a strong impression as an early enrollee during spring practice but would face the unenviable challenge of being a first-year player in arguably the sport’s toughest conference.

­­­­­Notre Dame

Contenders: CJ Carr,, Kenny Minchey

CJ Carr

Class: SophomoreMeasurables: 6-3, 209 poundsCareer stats: No passes attempted on four snaps

Recruiting ranking: No. 68 overall, No. 6 QB in 2024

Kenny Minchey

Class: JuniorMeasurables: 6-2, 206 poundsCareer stats: 3-of-3 (100%) for 16 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT in 17 snaps

Recruiting ranking: No. 170 overall, No. 14 QB in 2023

By relying on one-year transfer rentals in each of the last two seasons — with former Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman running the show in 2023 and former Duke quarterback Riley Leonard leading Notre Dame to the national championship game in 2024 — the Fighting Irish were always going to be looking for a new signal-caller during the spring and summer months. An impressive relief appearance by backup quarterback Steve Angeli during the College Football Playoff semifinal against Penn State lent credence to the idea that he might ultimately fend off understudies CJ Carr and Kenny Minchey for another year. A former four-star recruit, Angeli orchestrated the 52-yard scoring drive late in the second quarter that trimmed Notre Dame’s deficit to one possession shortly before halftime, injecting the team with momentum before Leonard’s eventual return. But in a surefire sign that spring practice hadn’t quite gone his way, Angeli entered the transfer portal on April 17 before eventually landing at Syracuse. The two-man battle between Carr and Minchey is expected to continue into fall camp ahead of Notre Dame’s high-profile season opener at Miami, though the former left an excellent final impression as the breakout performer in the team’s spring game. Carr, whose grandfather, Lloyd Carr, was a national championship-winning head coach at Michigan, is the seventh-best quarterback prospect to sign with Notre Dame in the recruiting rankings era, behind Jimmy Clausen, Dayne Crist, Gunner Kiel, Brandon Wimbush, Demetrius Jones and Zach Frazer.

Colorado

Contenders: Kaidon Salter, Julian Lewis

Kaidon Salter

Class: SeniorMeasurables: 6-1, 190 poundsCareer stats: 412-of-702 (58.7%) for 5,889 yards, 56 TDs and 17 INTs with 2,006 rushing yards and 21 additional scores in 2,043 snaps

Recruiting ranking: No. 143 overall, No. 17 QB in 2021

Julian Lewis

Class: FreshmanMeasurables: 6-1, 190 poundsCareer stats: N/A

Recruiting ranking: No. 50 overall, No. 6 QB in 2025

Late last year, for the better part of a month from mid-November to mid-December, it appeared Colorado might be turning to a highly-touted true freshman quarterback as its replacement for Shedeur Sanders, whose two-year run with the Buffaloes redirected the trajectory of the program. Head coach Deion Sanders orchestrated one of the biggest recruiting wins of the cycle when he succeeded in flipping Julian "JuJu" Lewis, a Georgia native, after a longstanding verbal commitment to USC. Lewis, who reclassified to enter college sooner, finished as the No. 50 overall prospect in the 247Sports Composite rankings but spent most of the 2024 calendar year in the top 10 nationally, including a lengthy stretch as a five-star recruit. But the tenor of Colorado’s quarterback competition changed on Dec. 18, when the Buffaloes added former Liberty standout Kaidon Salter via the transfer portal. Salter, who began his collegiate career at Tennessee but never played for the Volunteers, enjoyed a breakout 2023 campaign with the Flames in which he threw for 2,876 yards and 32 touchdowns while also rushing for 1,089 yards and 12 additional scores. His production declined quite significantly last fall, which undercut any discussion about Salter entering the NFL Draft, and he transferred to Colorado with one year of eligibility remaining. Now, Salter will hope to rediscover his high-level play from two years ago as he battles the talented underclassman Lewis during fall camp and into the regular season.

Oregon

Contenders: Dante Moore, Austin Novosad

Dante Moore

Class: Redshirt sophomoreMeasurables: 6-3, 210 poundsCareer stats: 121-of-221 (54.8%) for 1,659 yards, 11 TDs, 9 INTs in 461 snaps

Recruiting ranking: No. 4 overall, No. 3 QB in 2023

Austin Novosad

Class: Redshirt sophomoreMeasurables: 6-3, 205 poundsCareer stats: 11-of-13 (84.6%) for 59 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT in 42 snaps

Recruiting ranking: No. 126 overall, No. 10 QB in 2023

There was a long spell during Dante Moore’s soap opera-style recruitment when it appeared the five-star prospect would end up at Oregon following his record-setting career at Martin Luther King Sr. High School in Detroit. He was verbally committed to the Ducks from July 8, 2022, through mid-December of that same year before former UCLA head coach Chip Kelly lured him to the Bruins and made him a rookie starter. Moore’s on-field performance was decent at best and shaky at worst across nine appearances for UCLA, in which he completed just 53.5% of his passes and threw nearly as many interceptions (nine) as touchdowns (11), ultimately falling into a timeshare with fellow quarterback Ethan Garbers. It wasn’t long before he entered the transfer portal and rekindled his connection with Oregon head coach Dan Lanning, who later said it was a no-brainer to welcome Moore back into the program, and offensive coordinator Will Stein, one of the brightest young minds in college football. But Moore’s decision to join the Ducks came roughly a week after former Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel committed to be Oregon’s starter for the 2024 campaign, all but necessitating that Moore spend a year developing before making his full-fledged return to the field. He’s now considered the favorite to win the starting job this fall and has drawn rave reviews from teammates and coaches, though staving off challenger Austin Novosad won’t be easy. Novosad was a blue-chip recruit in his own right and chose the Ducks over additional scholarship offers from the likes of Ohio State, Notre Dame and Texas A&M, among others. Lanning was very tight-lipped about the state of his quarterback race following Oregon’s spring game last month.

Georgia

Contenders: Gunner Stockton, Ryan Puglisi

Gunner Stockton

Class: Redshirt juniorMeasurables: 6-1, 215 poundsCareer stats: 57-of-83 (68.7%) for 588 yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs in 199 snaps

Recruiting ranking: No. 124 overall, No. 7 QB in 2022

Ryan Puglisi

Class: Redshirt freshmanMeasurables: 6-3, 210 poundsCareer stats: N/A

Recruiting ranking: No. 114 overall, No. 10 QB in 2024

Stockton became a household name last December, during the SEC Championship game against Texas, when he was tasked with replacing injured starter Carson Beck (elbow) in the second half. To that point in his career, Stockton, a former four-star recruit, had logged just 90 snaps in seven appearances across two seasons combined. In total, he’d completed 25 of 35 passes (71.4%) for 283 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. But when his team needed him most, Stockton proved steady enough to fuel an overtime win that lifted Georgia to the No. 2 seed in last year’s College Football Playoff. His performance in the Bulldogs’ ensuing quarterfinal loss to Notre Dame was far less convincing, however, as Georgia’s offense only mustered 10 points in a game it trailed for the entire second half. Stockton connected on 20 of 32 passes (62.5%) for 234 yards and one touchdown against the Fighting Irish, but he fumbled twice and only averaged 3.8 yards per attempt on 16 dropbacks when Notre Dame blitzed him. With Beck eventually transferring to Miami over the winter, Stockton entered spring as the prohibitive favorite to become Georgia’s full-time starter this fall, though the door is certainly cracked for counterpart Ryan Puglisi in fall camp. Puglisi’s high school stats were far less eye-opening than some of his contemporaries in the upper echelon of recruiting rankings — he never topped 2,000 passing yards in a season while playing for Avon Old Farms in Avon, Connecticut — but his remarkable arm strength and solid physical traits still made him one of the most coveted signal-callers in the 2024 class.

North Carolina

Contenders: Gio Lopez, Bryce Baker, Max Johnson

Gio Lopez

Class: Redshirt sophomoreMeasurables: 6-0, 220 poundsCareer stats: 247-of-373 (66.2%) for 3,034 yards, 22 TDs, 7 INTs with 617 rushing yards and nine additional scores in 808 snaps

Recruiting ranking: No. 1,324 overall, No. 63 QB in 2023

Bryce Baker

Class: FreshmanMeasurables: 6-3, 205 poundsCareer stats: N/A

Recruiting ranking: No. 86 overall, No. 8 QB in 2025

Max Johnson

Class: SeniorMeasurables: 6-5, 225 poundsCareer stats: 486-of-803 (60.5%) for 5,923 yards, 47 TDs, 13 INTs in 1,675 snaps

Recruiting ranking: No. 256 overall, No. 10 QB in 2020

One of the biggest fascinations surrounding Bill Belichick’s decision to become a collegiate head coach was how the septuagenarian — a noted curmudgeon — would adapt to, or perhaps embrace, the process of recruiting high schoolers. His first order of business regarding North Carolina’s existing recruiting class, which had been compiled by predecessor Mack Brown, was to form a relationship with four-star prospect Bryce Baker, a blue-chip quarterback receiving additional interest from Penn State and LSU. A dual-threat player and in-state recruit, Baker first committed to North Carolina on June 27, 2023. That Belichick succeeded in convincing Baker to maintain his pledge, and even enroll early for the spring semester, was rightfully viewed as an important step for the program’s future. Baker’s candidacy to win the starting job as a true freshman has since been complicated by the April addition of South Alabama quarterback Gio Lopez via the transfer portal. Lopez, who has multiple years of eligibility remaining, completed 66% of his passes last season while throwing for 2,559 yards with 18 touchdowns and only five interceptions for a Jaguars team that finished 7-5 overall and 5-3 in the Sun Belt. He also ran for 463 yards and seven additional scores. All indications are that Lopez is now the favorite to win the Tar Heels’ starting job in fall camp. He’ll be challenged by Baker and journeyman Max Johnson, whose career includes starting experience at LSU, Texas A&M and North Carolina until he suffered a gruesome broken leg in the opener against Minnesota. Johnson, a sixth-year player, has made 23 starts over the last five seasons combined.

Michael Cohen covers college football and college basketball for FOX Sports. Follow him at @Michael_Cohen13.

[Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.]