Quarterbacks are a hot topic ahead of the 2025 college football season with Drew Allar and Garrett Nussmeier headline a returning class of intriguing names. While the SEC will feature a large portion of the top quarterbacks, there are gems scattered around college football.
Arch Manning has gotten a lot of attention but has the least experience of any quarterback that’s been talked about after the College Football Playoff concluded the 2024-25 season. DJ Lagway might be the only quarterback with higher expectations than Manning as the two are set for a crash course to the SEC title game.
But what about the ones not named? Here are the top college football quarterbacks ahead of the 2025 season.
10. Miller Moss, Louisville Cardinals
Miller Moss had a rough season with USC last year. Part of it wasn’t his fault as Lincoln Riley was fighting his own demons when it came to committing to a quarterback. Moss wasn’t necessarily great, but his struggles weren’t entirely his fault. At Louisville, he won’t have the pressure of his incumbent waiting for him.
This will be a really good chance for him to bounce back. He threw for 2,555 yards with 18 touchdowns and nine interceptions. With the Cardinals, he’ll have some decent shoes to fill in Tyler Shough. Louisville was on the outside of the College Football Playoff bubble last year. With Moss in the driver seat, they could very well be a dark horse to win the ACC.
9. Sam Leavitt, Arizona State Sun Devils
I have Sam Leavitt at No. 9 just because I think the Big 12 just wasn’t that great of a conference to prove he’s truly in the elite tier of college quarterbacks to start the season. That’s not to say he can’t get there. But I won’t let recency bias sway my decision here. Leavitt had a strong 2024 campaign, throwing for 2,885 yards with 24 touchdown passes and six interceptions.
Considering he was a redshirt freshman, his 2024 campaign was a phenomenal way to burst onto the scene in college football. Entering the year, he wasn’t even known, now he’s one of the 10 best quarterbacks entering his redshirt sophomore season.
If Arizona State tops the Big 12 for the second straight year, he will certainly rank higher than No. 9, but right now, he’s at the bottom of my list.
8. DJ Lagway, Florida Gators
I’m not a Florida fan, but DJ Lagway might be the best player after the season is all said and done. I wanted to rank him higher, but truthfully, I haven’t seen enough from him to know if he is knocking on the door of cracking the top five. He’s an elite athlete that will carry this Florida team to new heights before he departs for the NFL Draft.
Billy Napier has done a fabulous job this offseason putting more than enough weapons around Lagway. He won’t have any excuses. Last year, Napier played around with him and Graham Mertz before being forced to play Lagway with Mertz tearing his ACL.
Despite that, Lagway engineered a turnaround for Florida, winning the last four games. He finished the year with 1,915 yards, 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Expect the interceptions to decrease and his accuracy to increase tremendously during his sophomore season.
7. Arch Manning, Texas Longhorns
Call me crazy, but I’m just not as high on Arch Manning as a lot of other national pundits. I think Manning can be a really good quarterback in college, but I just don’t see him as a top five quarterback entering 2025. He has some large shoes to fill with Quinn Ewers gone to the NFL.
Coming out of high school, Manning was a top prospect. But that was more because of his last name and the lineage that it carries rather than because he was truly that good of a high school prospect. I don’t think Manning will declare for the draft after this season and will need the next two seasons to reach his potential.
The expectations on Manning are unnerving. He has no choice but to carry Texas back to the College Football Playoff and on a playoff run. Anything less than that and my No. 7 ranking will look far better than you think.
6. Luke Altmyer, Illinois Fighting Illini
Altmyer caught a lot of people’s attention toward the end of the season, specifically in the Fighting Illini’s bowl game against South Carolina. He finished the 2024 season with 2,717 yards, 22 touchdown passes and six interceptions. Illinois is a dark horse team in college football that will catch a lot of teams by surprise.
A lot of that is because Altmyer showed last year he’s good enough to carry this team. The Big Ten will always be a challenge, but Altmyer is my favorite to be one of the top quarterbacks in that conference.
5. LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina Gamecocks
Putting LaNorris Sellers as one of the five best was an easy decision. He’s the heart of soul of South Carolina and Beamer Ball. I wouldn’t be surprised if Lagway and Sellers are the two best quarterbacks in the SEC. As a redshirt freshman, he almost carried the Gamecocks to the College Football Playoff.
Had they not lost to Ole Miss and LSU, they’re one of the teams in the CFP and just might steal a win. This year, they won’t be on the outside looking in, they’ll be one of the 12 best teams with a real chance to spoil some national title hopes. That will largely be because of Sellers. He threw for 2,534 yards with 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions in 2024.
4. Drew Allar, Penn State Nittany Lions
The only reason Drew Allar isn’t higher on my list is because I think he had the benefit of having Tyler Warren last year to bail him out. If Warren was back, I’d say Allar might be the best quarterback in college football. But until Allar learns how to utilize his exterior weapons, he won’t ever be as great as he should be.
The Nittany Lions were able to reach the College Football Playoff semifinals with a one-dimensional offense. They won’t pull that off again. Allar is skilled enough to elevate this offense. This is the season for him to prove he’s good enough to not just lead Penn State on another playoff run, but be one of the top NFL Draft prospects.
Allar needs to win the big games this year. Penn State will play Oregon, Ohio State and Indiana this year. Anything less than a return to the Big Ten Championship game and I’ll regret putting Allar inside the top 5.
3. John Mateer, Oklahoma Sooners
John Mateer was the best Group of 5 quarterback last year, bar none. He threw for 3,139 yards and 29 touchdowns with seven interceptions. On the ground, he had 826 yards and 15 rushing touchdowns. Washington State, his former team, didn’t play a difficult schedule by any means, but Oklahoma is getting a MASSIVE upgrade under center.
SEC defenses aren’t going to let Mateer run all over them, but his dual threat ability is second to none in the rest of college football. Despite a drastic shift in talent he’ll be facing, Mateer should have a solid season in Norman. The Sooners also poached Washington State’s former offensive coordinator.
Mateer just might end up in the Heisman race depending on the season Oklahoma has. If not, at the very least, he’ll be in contention for the best quarterback of the season.
2. Cade Klubnik, Clemson Tigers
Clemson snuck into the ACC championship game last year. This year, Cade Klubnik is going to carry them there himself. He had a strong season last year, throwing for 3,639 yards, 36 touchdowns and six interceptions. His stats alone screams Heisman candidate. But can he keep that up for another season?
The Tigers should have no problem reaching the College Football Playoff against next year, this time as a higher seed. The Tigers had to play Texas in the first round and that wasn’t ever going to work out in their favor. This time around, they should end up being one of the top teams in college football.
1. Garrett Nussmeier, LSU Tigers
Garrett Nussmeier should not only be a Heisman favorite for most of the year, but he should be the one player that saves Brian Kelly from mediocrity. Kelly’s teams have always been disappointing because they either choke at the end of the season or flop in the College Football Playoff.
Nussmeier won’t let that happen in 2025. The Tigers fell off toward the end of the year, much like it did with Jayden Daniels two years ago. Nussmeier finished the 2024 season with 4,052 yards with 29 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Truthfully, this top three could go either way, but Nussmeier, to me, is the best of the bunch. Hopefully he doesn’t make me look foolish.