Texas, Georgia headline five best college football QB rooms entering the 2024 season

O college football Teams with the best defenders will enter any season ranked among the best in the country. So it’s no surprise that when it comes to ranking the best quarterback rooms, the collection includes many of the teams expected to compete for championships in 2024.

Quarterback remains the most important position on the field, but the ability to remain in championship contention remains. sometimes it required the use of not just a top-notch launcher, but quality backups that could move forward when their number was called.

Last season, Texas needed Maalik Murphy to replace the injured Quinn Ewers on the way to a Big 12 title and College Football Playoff appearance; Tua Tagovailoa replaced Jalen Hurts in Alabama’s epic overtime win against Georgia in the 2017 national title game; and Ohio State needed not just two, but three quarterbacks to win it all in 2014.

Having a quarterback you can trust gives you a chance to compete for championships, but in the ups and downs of a title race, there can be times when the depth at the position is tested, and that’s where having a healthy quarterback room proves to be. so valuable.

So which teams have the best quarterback rooms in the country? We’ve identified a few below, plus a few extras to keep an eye on for the 2024 season.

1. Texas

If Ewers faces another midseason hurdle that forces him to miss some time, Texas will once again be in great shape to keep its playoff chase alive thanks to the best quarterback room in the country. At this point in Ewers’ career, his experience and production have caught up with his talent to make him one of the most complete defenders in the country. Then behind him we have former five-star No. 1 Arch Manning, who has been developing in the program for a year and a half and looked excellent running Steve Sarkisian’s offense in the Longhorns’ spring game in April.

Sarkisian gets a lot of questions about Manning due to his talent and star power, but when the Texas coach is discussing his quarterback room, you’ll often hear Trey Owens’ name added to the conversation. The 6-5, 236-pound true freshman from Cypress, Texas, is not a threat to overtake the QB1 or QB2 position before fall camp, but he is a high school All-American talent coming off a senior season that saw him saw him throw 43 touchdowns to just four interceptions at the 6A level.

2. Georgia

Carson Beck is your current Heisman Trophy favorite and the best quarterback in many very early mocks for 2025 NFL Draft. But Georgia’s strength at the quarterback position goes beyond Beck, as he is supported by a group that — like most of Kirby Smart’s lineups — is filled with former top-tier talent. Beck’s first full season as a starter was a smashing success; he ranked in the top five nationally in passing yards (3rd with 3,941) and completion percentage (4th with 72.4%) en route to a 13-1 record.

There’s a narrative about Beck taking the next step in 2024, and if that’s the case, Georgia’s offense is in for a special season because even replicating last year’s production will be enough to keep the Bulldogs in title contention all season. . Behind Beck are Gunner Stockton, a former four-star from the state with experience with the program, and Jaden Rashada, another former four-star who transfers from Arizona State after a much-publicized falling out with Florida. Rashada made three starts during his true freshman season with the Sun Devils, dealing with a knee injury in the fall and then a thumb injury that limited his action in the spring.

3. Ohio State

Ryan Day has yet to officially name a starter, but the Buckeyes have so many viable options on paper that it’s impossible to place them too low on the list of top quarterbacks. On one end of the experience spectrum is former Kansas State quarterback Will Howard, who totaled 28 games and earned All-Big 12 honors (2023) during his career with the Wildcats. The Buckeyes also had support from the program in Devin Brown, who possesses impressive athleticism but has dealt with injuries, and redshirt freshman Lincoln Kienholz, who saw action in the Cotton Bowl late last year.

On the other end of the experience spectrum is a pair of highly touted true freshmen in Julian Sayin and Air Noland. Sayin technically arrived as a transfer from Alabama following Nick Saban’s retirement, but transferred in time for spring practice and received rave reviews with his performance. Day may be faced with a quarterback of the future conundrum throughout the season, but he has enough good options on both sides of that debate to feel confident in the Buckeyes’ ability to contend for a title in this room.

Speaking of quarterback of now versus quarterback of tomorrow, Oregon may have acquired both in the transfer portal during this offseason. Dillon Gabriel is expected to be the starter, as the sixth-year senior hopes to follow in Bo Nix’s footsteps with an extremely productive finish to his college career. Gabriel showed at both UCF and Oklahoma that he can fill it with yards and touchdowns, so using this final year of eligibility to help guide the Ducks’ offense was a perfect marriage that should benefit both sides.

Behind Gabriel is former UCLA quarterback Dante Moore, who was a top prospect coming out of high school but had some ups and downs during his true freshman season. Moore has thrown 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions with five starts for the Bruins in 2023, and can now get a bit of a reset with the program the former five-star initially committed to during his hotly-contested recruitment. The room is rounded out with Austin Novosad, a potentially reliable option as a former four-star prospect in his second year with the program.

5.Alabama

The work Kalen DeBoer did in building an offense that helped showcase Michael Penix’s best abilities bodes well for what Jalen Milroe can accomplish in his second season as Alabama’s starter. Milroe’s playmaking ability made him a true x-factor as the Crimson Tide marched to an SEC championship last season, and now we get to see how that foundation is built by the new team in Tuscaloosa.

Behind Milroe is an interesting collection of talented options that includes familiar names like Ty Simpson and Dylan Lonergan, who participated in the quarterback battle that resulted in Milroe behind the named starter in 2023. But there’s also a rookie in Austin Mack, a 6- 6, 226-pound redshirt freshman, following DeBoer as a transfer from Washington. Mack was a four-star prospect and a top-10 quarterback in the 2023 recruiting class, and with a few years of physical development, he could end up being part of Alabama’s future at quarterback.

Honorable mention

• Notre Dame (Riley Leonard, Steve Angeli, Kenny Michel, CJ Carr)
• Penn State (Drew Allar, Beau Pribula, Ethan Grunkemeyer)
• Ole Miss (Jaxson Dart, Walker Howard, Austin Simmons)
• Florida (Graham Mertz, DJ Lagway, Clay Millen)
• SMU (Preston Stone, Kevin Jennings)