Ranking Big 12 football quarterbacks for 2024: Shedeur Sanders, Noah Fifita lead the pack

The Big 12 has expanded to 16 teams for the 2024 college football season and the path to a conference title is wide open.

Last season's Big 12 champion, Texas, has moved on to the SEC, which means the conference will have a new king for the fourth consecutive year. Quarterback play will certainly help determine who wears the crown at season's end.

Arizona and Utah bring over talented signal callers ahead of their Big 12 debuts while Colorado boasts a potential top-10 NFL draft pick in its return to the conference. Last year's Big 12 runner-up, Oklahoma State, welcomes back its veteran QB but a handful of teams opted to dip into the portal for their answer at the position.

Here's our ranking of the 16 projected starting quarterbacks in the Big 12 for the 2024 season:

16. Sam Leavitt, Arizona State

Leavitt is expected to be Arizona State's starting quarterback this fall after Jaden Rashada hit the transfer portal in April (and has since committed to Georgia). The Michigan State transfer will be one of the Big 12's most unproven signal callers after playing just 45 snaps (completing 15-of-23 passes for 139 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions) as a true freshman for the Spartans last season. Leavitt is a former four-star recruit, however, and was ranked as the No. 1 overall player in the state of Oregon in the Class of 2023 by On3.

15. Brendan Sorsby, Cincinnati

Sorsby, after transferring in from Indiana, is likely to beat out Brady Lichtenberg for Cincinnati's starting quarterback job. The No. 18 QB in the 2024 transfer cycle started seven games for the Hoosiers last season, completing 57% of his passes for 1,587 yards, 15 touchdowns and five interceptions. Sorsby showed real flashes during a five-touchdown game against Illinois and a three-score performance against Penn State in his first career road start.

14. Gerry Bohanon, BYU

Bohanon will have to beat out returner Jake Retzlaff for the starting role at BYU, but the former Baylor standout and USF transfer has the upper hand due to his experience. After throwing for 2,200 yards and racking up 27 total touchdowns for the Big 12 champion Baylor Bears in 2021 (which included a New Year’s Six bowl game win over Ole Miss), Bohanon transferred to USF where he suffered a torn labrum in Week 7 of the 2022 season. His football career was on life support after surgery and he couldn't throw without pain for months, causing him to miss the 2023 campaign. BYU took a chance on Bohanon's health this offseason, and he could help the Cougars compete in their second year in the Big 12.

13. Behren Morton, Texas Tech

Morton is the highest-rated quarterback signee in Texas Tech history and solidified himself as the program's QB of the future by the end of his sophomore campaign in 2023. Beginning the season as a backup, Morton started eight games, completing 62% of his passes for 1,754 yards, 15 touchdowns and eight interceptions while battling a shoulder injury throughout the year. This fall could very well be Morton's breakout campaign.

12. Josh Hoover, TCU

Hoover became TCU's starting QB for the final six games of the 2023 season and threw for 439 yards and four touchdowns in a 44-11 win over BYU in his first career start. The honorable mention Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year racked up 15 total touchdowns in his six starts and threw for at least 300 yards in five of those games. Hoover, like Morton, could surprise some people in 2024.

11. Donovan Smith, Houston

Smith is coming off his best season of college football after starting all 12 games for Houston in 2023, completing 64.5% of his passes and racking up 28 total touchdowns. The former Texas Tech QB is a dual-threat weapon who rushed for 428 yards and six scores last year. After undergoing offseason shoulder surgery, Smith will try to build on his junior campaign.

10. Dequan Finn, Baylor

Finn has the potential to be seen as a top-five quarterback in the conference by season's end. The 2023 Mac Player of the Year was the No. 11 QB in the 2024 transfer cycle after amassing 3,220 total yards and 29 touchdowns last season at Toledo. It was his third consecutive season with at least 2,500 total yards and 27 touchdowns. Finn could be the reason why Baylor bounces back from a 3-9 season.

9. Alan Bowman, Oklahoma State

Bowman is back for his seventh year of college football (you read that correctly) after helping Oklahoma State appear in the Big 12 Championship game last year. He threw for a career-high 3,460 yards in 2023 but his touchdown-to-interception ratio (15-14) left much to be desired for such an experienced quarterback. Bowman's play was still good enough for the Cowboys to be conference runners-up and with the majority of last season's offense back this fall, they should be right back in the Big 12 title mix.

8. Jalon Daniels, Kansas

Daniels had an explosive start to the 2023 campaign, throwing for 705 yards and five touchdowns in the first three games, but injuries once again derailed a promising season. The dual-threat QB hasn't played more than nine games in a season during his four-year college career. Daniels was excellent in 2022, however, racking up 2,433 total yards and 25 touchdowns. If he can stay healthy this fall, Kansas could make a run after the program just won nine games for the first time since 2007.

7. Avery Johnson, Kansas State

Johnson began to just scratch the surface of what he's capable of last season as a true freshman. The former top-10 QB in the Class of 2023 flashed his dual-threat ability in a backup role, throwing five touchdowns on just 66 pass attempts and rushing for five touchdowns in one game vs. Texas Tech. Kansas State will compete for a Big 12 crown if Johnson shines as a first-year starter.

6. Garrett Greene, West Virginia

Greene burst onto the scene last season after years as a backup, throwing for 2,406 yards and 16 touchdowns to just four interceptions. Pro Football Focus called him "the most underrated quarterback in college football entering next year." Greene also rushed for an eye-popping 772 yards and 13 touchdowns for West Virginia in 2023, making him one of the Big 12's most dangerous weapons at the QB position.

5. KJ Jefferson, UCF

Jefferson has racked up at least 2,500 total yards of offense in each of the last three seasons in the SEC at Arkansas. Now at UCF with coach Gus Malzahn, who loves his running QBs, Jefferson's sixth year of college football could very well end up being his best. He might be the most feared dual-threat QB in a conference full of them.

4. Rocco Becht, Iowa State

The reigning Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year is a big reason why Iowa State is seen as a popular sleeper in the conference this fall. Becht set program freshman records for completions (231), passing yards (3,120) and passing touchdowns (23) last season as the Cyclones went 6-3 in Big 12 play. Surrounded by a ton of playmaking talent at receiver and running back, Becht should only improve from his impressive freshman campaign.

3. Cam Rising, Utah

Rising is entering his sixth season with Utah after missing the entire 2023 campaign with a torn ACL, MCL, MPFL and meniscus in his knee suffered during the 2023 Rose Bowl. The veteran QB is right on schedule in his recovery and "did not miss one minute of spring ball in any way, shape or form," according to Utah coach Kyle Whittingham. Rising has 25 career starts and led the Utes to back-to-back Pac-12 championships (2021-22). He threw for 3,034 yards and 26 touchdowns to eight interceptions in 2022.

2. Noah Fifita, Arizona

Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan will form one of the most lethal QB-WR duos in college football this fall after both players earned All-Pac-12 honors in 2023. The Pac-12 Freshman Offensive Player of the Year, Fifita took the starting job and ran with it last year, leading Arizona on a six-game winning streak to end the regular season (the longest winning streak for the Wildcats since 1998). He threw for 2,869 yards and 25 touchdowns to six interceptions, including a school-record 527 passing yards in a win over Arizona State.

1. Shedeur Sanders, Colorado

Sanders proved last season that the jump from FCS to FBS was more than manageable for him. In 2024, the projected top-10 NFL draft pick will try to prove that the transition from the Pac-12 to the Big 12 is just as easy. Despite being the most sacked QB in FBS (52) and getting sacked on 10.2% of his dropbacks (FBS average is 6.1%) last year, Sanders still completed 69% of his passes for a school-record 3,230 yards to go along with a sparkling TD-INT ratio (27-3). With a vastly improved offensive line and one of college football's best receiving corps, Sanders could find himself in the Heisman Trophy conversation if Colorado wins enough games.

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This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Ranking Big 12 football quarterbacks for 2024