Big Ten starting quarterback rankings for 2024
Official preparation for the 2024 Big Ten football season begins next month as programs across the country open spring practice.
This year in the Big Ten will be unlike any we’ve previously seen. There are four new additions, obviously, but there are also traditional stalwarts looking to evolve with the direction of the sport.
Looking ahead to the season, we’ve already ranked all 18 programs in the Big Ten, ranked all 18 head coaches, predicted each Big Ten team’s 2024 record and checked in on the Las Vegas win totals for each team in the conference.
Related: You might be surprised where Wisconsin football is on ESPN’s early 2024 SP+ rankings
Now we look at where the conference stands at the quarterback position. First, here is our quarterback ranking list entering last season. Northwestern’s Brendan Sullivan and Rutgers’ Gavin Wimsatt exceeded expectations, while Iowa’s Cade McNamara and Nebraska’s Jeff Sims were injured and terrible, respectively. Other than that, the rankings were pretty spot-on.
But 2023 only included 14 Big Ten teams, plus several quarterbacks we had history with. 2024 is anybody’s guess. The 18-team conference has everything from highly touted young quarterbacks with no experience to some five-year veterans looking for a final chance.
This year was much harder to predict. That said, here are our initial Big Ten quarterback rankings entering 2024:
Billy Edwards Jr. (Maryland)
2023 Stats: Eight games, 10 of 30 passing, 128 yards, 4.3 yards per attempt, one touchdown, one interception, 29 carries, 91 rushing yards, seven rushing touchdowns
Recruiting Profile: Three-star recruit, No. 103 quarterback in 2021 class
Edwards has big shoes to fill with long-time Maryland QB Taulia Tagovailoa finally finished playing college football. Edwards can run, but he was an outright bad passer in limited action last season.
Brendan Sullivan (Northwestern)
2023 Stats: Eight games, 63 of 99 passing, 714 yards, 7.2 yards per attempt, six touchdowns, two interceptions, 75 carries, 160 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns
Recruiting Profile: Three-star recruit, No. 55 quarterback in 2021 class
Sullivan takes over as the full-time starter at Northwestern in 2024. He’ll need to hit the lottery to lead the Wildcats back to the success they had in 2023.
Sullivan is better than some of the Northwestern quarterbacks we’ve seen in the last half-decade. But he isn’t good enough to be competitive in these rankings.
Athan Kaliakmanis (Rutgers)
2023 Stats (at Minnesota): 12 games, 156 of 294 passing, 1,838 yards, 6.3 yards per attempt, 14 touchdowns, nine interceptions, 74 carries, 94 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns
Recruiting Profile: Four-star recruit, No. 31 quarterback in 2021 class
We at Badgers Wire are officially projecting Kaliakmanis to start under center for Rutgers, though don’t count out returning starter Gavin Wimsatt.
I had completely forgotten that Kaliakmanis transferred to Rutgers. The move was lost in a busy offseason of movement.
Kaliakmanis showed some real glimpses as a freshman in 2022 at Minnesota but fell back to earth in 2023 and was a reason the Golden Gophers had a forgettable season.
Rutgers returns a great deal of talent, so the team might be pretty good. But it has two run-first quarterbacks without much ability to pass the football. We’ll see how that works out.
Ethan Garbers (UCLA)
2023 Stats: 11 games, 98 of 146 passing, 1,136 yards, 7.8 yards per attempt, 11 touchdowns, three interceptions, 35 carries, 127 rushing yards
Recruiting Profile: Four-star recruit, No. 4 quarterback in 2020 class
Garbers played OK in 2023 after Chip Kelly benched star freshman Dante Moore midway through the season. The problem here: Kelly is gone to Ohio State. The veteran quarterback could play well, but who knows what things look like under new head coach DeShaun Foster.
Luke Altmyer (Illinois)
2023 Stats: Nine games, 175 of 270 passing, 1,883 yards, 7.0 yards per attempt, 13 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, 94 carries, 282 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns
Recruiting Profile: Four-star recruit, No. 30 quarterback in 2021 class
Altmyer had a so-so season in his first year as starter at Illinois. An injury derailed the year when he seemed to be making progress. But I have a hard time seeing him rise in these rankings and live up to his four-star billing, especially given some of the highly touted prospects ranked ahead of him.
Cade McNamara (Iowa)
2023 Stats: Five games, 46 of 90 passing, 505 yards, 5.6 yards per attempt, four touchdowns, three interceptions
Recruiting Profile: Four-star recruit, No. 7 quarterback in 2019 class
I’m still a believer in Cade McNamara.
The veteran quarterback transferred to Iowa last season, but then saw injuries derail an offense that was led by the worst offensive coordinator in recent memory — that all before McNamara himself suffered a season-ending injury.
There is still a track record of success here, and Iowa’s offense can’t possibly be worse than it’s been over the last few years. I’d bet on him over some of the unproven youngsters.
Max Brosmer (Minnesota)
New Hampshire Transfer QB Max Brosmer commits to Minnesota pic.twitter.com/EnaZdQcsTv
— NCAAF Nation (@NCAAFNation247) December 4, 2023
2023 Stats (at New Hampshire): 291 of 455 passing, 3,459 yards, 7.6 yards per attempt, 19 touchdowns, six interceptions
Recruiting Profile: Two-star recruit, No. 150 quarterback in 2019 class
Max Brosmer was incredible at New Hampshire in 2023, leading the Football Championship Subdivison in passing yards. He should be an instant upgrade over Kaliakmanis as P.J. Fleck looks to make the passing offense a strength again.
Jadyn Davis (Michigan)
2023 Stats: N/A
Recruiting Profile: Four-star recruit, No. 9 quarterback in 2024 class
This is the first true projection ranking. The Big Ten has several redshirt freshmen or true freshmen set to start this season, which obviously makes it tough to project.
Davis is one of the best quarterbacks in the 2024 class and enters a terrific situation at Michigan, even with Jim Harbaugh gone to the NFL. I wouldn’t be surprised if he shot up these rankings.
Hudson Card (Purdue)
2023 Stats: 11 games, 215 of 365 passing, 2,387 yards, 6.5 yards per attempt, 15 touchdowns, eight interceptions, 93 carries, 203 rushing yards, five rushing touchdowns
Recruiting Profile: Four-star recruit, No. 2 quarterback in 2020 class
Card and Altmyer are similar entering 2024 — young transfers entering 2023 who each showed flashes, yet struggled with consistency.
The Purdue offense as a whole wasn’t very good in 2023. But I’m a big believer in Card’s talent and status moving forward.
Kurtis Rourke (Indiana)
2023 Stats (at Ohio): 11 games, 195 of 307 passing, 2,207 yards, 7.2 yards per attempt, 11 touchdowns, five interceptions, 67 carries, 219 rushing yards, four rushing touchdowns
Recruiting Profile: Two-star recruit, No. 97 quarterback in 2019 class
Rourke transfers to Indiana after five years at Ohio, the last three as a starter. These moves tend to work either extremely well or we see why a multiyear starter at a lower level couldn’t leave for the NFL.
Rourke is a former MAC Offensive Player of the Year. Indiana is amid turnover under new head coach Curt Cignetti, but at least it has a quarterback.
Will Howard (Ohio State)
2023 Stats (at Kansas State): 12 games, 219 of 357 passing, 2,643 yards, 7.4 yards per attempt, 24 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, 81 carries, 351 rushing yards, nine rushing touchdowns
Recruiting Profile: Three-star recruit, No. 33 quarterback in 2020 class
I’m sorry, call me a hater. I just don’t think Will Howard is that good.
Kyle McCord certainly held the Buckeyes offense back in 2023. I see the same result in 2024, now without Marvin Harrison Jr. as a safety blanket.
Howard may lead the Buckeyes to wins, but he isn’t close to a top quarterback in the conference.
Dylan Raiola (Nebraska)
2023 Stats: N/A
Recruiting Profile: Five-star recruit, No. 2 quarterback in 2024 class
Consider this the mini-tier of pure projection. Raiola arrives at Nebraska as one of the best quarterback prospects in the country. How good will he be immediately? Who knows. But he’s instantly better than what Jeff Sims was last year.
Aidan Chiles (Michigan State)
2023 Stats: Nine games, 24 of 35 passing, 309 yards, 8.8 yards per attempt, four touchdowns, zero interceptions, 17 carries, 79 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns
Recruiting Profile: Four-star recruit, No. 7 quarterback in 2023 class
Aidan Chiles follows Jonathan Smith to Michigan State, where he has the chance to explode on to the scene in 2024. Chiles and Raiola may be two of the most talented quarterbacks in the conference; they just lack experience. But with Chiles, we’ve seen it at the college level. He’s the real deal.
Tyler Van Dyke (Wisconsin)
2023 Stats (at Miami): 11 games, 219 of 333 passing, 2,703 yards, 8.1 yards per attempt, 19 touchdowns, 12 interceptions
Recruiting Profile: Four-star recruit, No. 7 quarterback in 2020 class
I must admit, I’m also quite skeptical about Tyler Van Dyke. But one must consider the context of his struggles at Miami, and the pass-friendly situation he’s entering in Madison.
I wouldn’t call him one of the best quarterbacks in the Big Ten. But he is more-than-serviceable.
Will Rogers (Washington)
2023 Stats (at Mississippi State): Eight games, 142 of 237 passing, 1,626 yards, 6.9 yards per attempt, 12 touchdowns, four interceptions
Recruiting Profile: Three-star recruit, No. 24 quarterback in 2020 class
Will Rogers committed to Kalen DeBoer at Washington before DeBoer left for the Alabama job. Rogers is still committed with Jedd Fisch taking over, and should experience somewhat of a career renaissance.
The veteran quarterback was terrific in Mike Leach’s air raid offense before the legendary head coach passed away. 2023 was a rough year all around at Mississippi State. I’d look at his early career as more indicative of what’s to come in 2024.
Miller Moss (USC)
2023 Stats: Five games, 46 of 65 passing, 681 yards, 10.5 yards per attempt, seven touchdowns, one interception, four carries, 32 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns
Recruiting Profile: Four-star recruit, No. 12 quarterback in 2021 class
Lincoln Riley turns every quarterback into a star, so expect Moss to be the next.
The young quarterback went off in USC’s bowl victory over Louisville — 23 of 33 passing, 372 yards, six touchdowns and one interception. He should help USC’s offense not miss a beat in 2024.
Drew Allar (Penn State)
2023 Stats: 13 games, 233 of 389 passing, 2,631 yards, 6.8 yards per attempt, 25 touchdowns, two interceptions, 74 carries, 206 rushing yards, four rushing touchdowns
Recruiting Profile: Five-star recruit, No. 1 quarterback in 2022 class
The Big Ten has a stable of good quarterbacks: Van Dyke, Howard, Rogers and Rourke to name a few. It has a few that have the chance to be truly elite. One is Drew Allar at Penn State.
His ceiling is the No. 1 quarterback in the conference. But until he reaches that consistently, he’s in the ranking at No. 2.
Dillon Gabriel (Oregon)
2023 Stats (at Oklahoma): 12 games, 266 of 384 passing, 3,660 yards, 10.4 yards per attempt, 30 touchdowns, six interceptions, 93 carries, 373 rushing yards, 12 rushing touchdowns
Recruiting Profile: Three-star recruit, No. 27 quarterback in 2019 class
A few things are true about Dillon Gabriel. First, he’s one of the more dependable quarterbacks in the nation. Second, he’s a perfect fit for the high-powered Oregon offense. But third, we’ve seen enough of him in college (five years as a starter) to know that he isn’t truly elite. In other words: his ceiling doesn’t compare to some of the more talented quarterbacks in the conference.
But dependability is important. That’s why he’s No. 1 in our ranking (plus, playing in that Oregon offense is a dream).
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