College Football: Top 10 quarterback rooms heading into the 2026 season

Oregon has the best quarterback room in the country: Dante Moore is a top-three quarterback in the nation, while Dylan Raiola is the best backup in college football.

Ohio State comes in second: Julian Sayin is back after being a Heisman finalist, and Tavien St. Clair was a top-five recruit in the 2025 class.

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We’re a few weeks away from the 2026 college football season. With that, it’s time to rank the 10 best position units.

First up is quarterback rooms. While having a good starting quarterback is critical, teams must possess capable backups in case the starter goes down with an injury or is struggling.

Below is a list of PFF’s top-10 quarterback rooms in college football.

1. Oregon

Dante Moore returned to Oregon despite being a projected top-three pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. He enters his redshirt junior year as our No. 2 quarterback in the country after tossing 30 big-time throws in 2025, the most in the FBS.

Behind Moore is Dylan Raiola, a former five-star recruit who started the last two years at Nebraska. He’s likely a top-40 quarterback in America right now and is expected to become Oregon’s starter in 2027.

2. Ohio State

The Buckeyes’ quarterback room is home to the best signal-caller in the sport in Julian Sayin. He completed 77% of his passes in 2025, the third-highest rate in college football history. Behind Sayin is redshirt freshman Tavien St. Clair, the No. 4 overall recruit from the 2025 class and a quarterback who would start for many Power Four schools right now.

3. Ole Miss

Trinidad Chambliss was a revelation for Ole Miss last season, posting the fourth-most big-time throws in the entire FBS (29). He enters 2026 as the No. 4 quarterback in college football.

Chambliss needed to win an injunction against the NCAA this offseason in order to receive another year of eligibility. While the Rebels were waiting for that verdict, they formed a contingency plan by bringing in Auburn transfer Deuce Knight. The former five-star recruit was stellar in his lone start as a true freshman, tallying six total touchdowns against Mercer.

4. Texas

Arch Manning enters the 2026 season as the favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2027 NFL Draft and our No. 3 quarterback in the sport. His 87.3 PFF grade in 2025 was a top-15 mark in the nation.

Behind Manning is redshirt freshman Karle Lacey Jr., a former top-20 quarterback recruit, and MJ Morris, a player who made starts for two separate Power Four schools in Maryland and NC State. The Longhorns also added a five-star true freshman in Dia Bell, who won Elite 11 MVP in 2025.

5. LSU

The Tigers’ placement in the top five of this list is thanks to three incoming transfers. The headliner is Sam Leavitt (Arizona State), who’s our No. 8 quarterback in America. His 87.8 PFF grade since 2024 is seventh among returning Power Four quarterbacks.

Redshirt freshman Husan Longstreet comes in via USC and was a five-star recruit in the 2025 class. Landen Clark also transferred in from Elon and posted an impressive 84.2 PFF grade as a redshirt freshman last year.

6. Notre Dame

CJ Carr enters his redshirt sophomore season as the betting favorite to win the Heisman Trophy and our No. 5 quarterback in the nation. His 6.5% big-time throw rate last year was sixth in the Power Four.

He’s the main reason why the Fighting Irish are on this list. Backup Blake Hebert was a three-star recruit, as was freshman Noah Grubbs. Teddy Jarrard enters his freshman campaign as a former four-star recruit.

7. Miami (FL)

Miami will be starting a transfer at quarterback for the third year in a row. Darian Mensah (Duke) will try to fill the big shoes left behind by Cam Ward and Carson Beck, but he’s more than capable of doing so. Mensah led the Power Four last year with 3,951 passing yards and enters 2026 as our No. 6 quarterback in the nation. The Hurricanes also have a couple of former four-star recruits in their room in redshirt freshman Luke Nickel and true freshman Dereon Coleman.

8. USC

Jayden Maiava is entering his second full season as USC’s starting quarterback and is our No. 7 signal-caller in the country. He was fifth in the FBS last year in passing yards (3,711) and the only one in the top five to play fewer than 14 games. Maiava’s 86.2 PFF grade was also 10th in the Power Four.

Behind him are Sam Huard, a five-star recruit in 2021, and Jonas Williams, the No. 8 quarterback recruit in the 2026 class.

9. California

Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele is coming off a stellar freshman campaign and is already a top-10 quarterback in the sport. His 28 big-time throws last year were fifth in the Power Four. Backing him up is Colorado State transfer Jackson Brousseau, who started eight games for the Rams last season.

10. Georgia

Gunner Stockton is a top-15 quarterback in America and was highly efficient last year while leading the Bulldogs to an SEC championship. His 81.2% adjusted completion rate was second only to Sayin in the Power Four.

Georgia has three former four-star recruits behind Stockton in redshirt sophomore Ryan Puglisi, redshirt freshman Ryan Montgomery and true freshman Bryson Beaver.