Ranking college football QBs: Bryce Young is No. 1, but which stars are on his heels?

There are more than just three quarterbacks in the Bowl Subdivision, even if most offseason coverage of the position focused on this elite group: Alabama's Bryce Young, Ohio State's C.J. Stroud and Southern California's Caleb Williams.

Beyond this threesome, you'll find a bunch of elite passers in the ACC, another handful from the SEC and several from the ranks of the Group of Five. One ACC star, North Carolina State's Devin Leary, is good enough to lead the Wolfpack to one of the top years in program history and earn a spot in Manhattan as a Heisman Trophy finalist.

Every week during the regular season, USA TODAY Sports will take stock of the quarterback landscape and rank the 10 best in the FBS. There will inevitably be some big names left out; those who missed the cut in this debut list include Louisville's Malik Cunningham, Virginia's Brennan Armstrong and Kentucky's Will Levis.

STAY UP-TO-DATE: Subscribe to our Sports newsletter now!

With the regular season barely underway and a full slate to come in Week 1, here are the best of the best among FBS quarterbacks:

1. Bryce Young, Alabama

The reigning Heisman winner will get a boost from Georgia Tech transfer Jahmyr Gibbs, helping offset the loss of last year's leading rusher and top receivers. Young will need to be better protected, however. Last season's offensive front was strangely poor in pass protection even with all-everything tackle Evan Neal on the blind side. After his breakout 2021 season concluded with a thud in the championship game against Georgia, Young should have the motivation he needs to take his game and production to an even higher level.

2. C.J. Stroud, Ohio State

With Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave off to the NFL, Stroud won't have the luxury of throwing to what is the undisputed top receiver corps in the FBS. He'll merely have to settle for one of the best groups in the country, headlined by superstar Jaxson Smith-Njigba and holdovers Emeka Egbuka, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Julian Fleming. Don't forget that OSU can add in an equally terrific backfield led by 1,000-yard rusher TreVeyon Henderson. Stroud's overall numbers shouldn't drop after an awesome redshirt freshman season.

NEW MODEL: How college football would look if it was set with 32 teams

HIGHS AND LOWS: Winners and losers from Week 0 in college football

MAKING GRADE: College football's Week 0 report card focuses on Nebraska

3. Caleb Williams, Southern California

Being deeply familiar with coach Lincoln Riley's scheme will help Williams make a seamless transition into the Pac-12. While there may be a learning curve for the offense as a whole, the passing game also welcomes in Pittsburgh transfer and All-America pick Jordan Addison. Before anointing him as the Heisman frontrunner, however, keep one thing in mind: Williams barely played at all as a true freshman until October and had an awful November before rebounding in Oklahoma's bowl win against Oregon. When talent meets experience, however, there may be no better quarterback in the country.

4. Devin Leary, North Carolina State

Leary has the Wolfpack soaring to new heights in the preseason USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll and into direct competition with Clemson for the ACC crown. He was overshadowed last season in the ACC by former Pittsburgh passer Kenny Pickett, among one or two others, earning honorable mention all-conference honors even after throwing 35 touchdowns against just five interceptions. Surrounded by an even better team and with another year of experience under his belt, Leary is a major player in the Heisman race.

5. Tyler Van Dyke, Miami (Fla.)

Only a sophomore, Van Dyke has brought swagger back to a program that has failed to develop this sort of big-time quarterback prospect in decades. After tossing three interceptions in a painful loss to North Carolina on Oct. 16, Van Dyke had at least 316 yards and three scores in each of his final six games and finished second nationally among FBS freshmen with 25 touchdowns overall. He's the face of the team heading into coach Mario Cristobal's first season.

6. Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina

Bringing back McCall, who could've transferred to the Power Five level for his final season, will make Coastal one of the Group of Five teams to beat in the race for the automatic bid to the New Year's Six. It's important to keep him upright: McCall, who sat out spring practice after surgery, missed two games last season but set records when in the lineup. He averaged 11.9 yards per pass attempt and finished with the best single-season efficiency rating (207.7) in FBS history.

7. Hendon Hooker, Tennessee

One of the top quarterback success stories of the 2021 season, Hooker began the year as the backup but finished with 31 touchdowns and just three interceptions after taking over in September. Formerly of Virginia Tech, the senior averaged 9.8 yards per throw, second in the SEC to Young, and third nationally in efficiency rating. He'll be even better as a second-year starter for the Volunteers.

8. Dillon Gabriel, Oklahoma

After missing all but three games in 2021 due to a broken collarbone, Gabriel will reunite with former Central Florida coordinator Jeff Lebby as the Sooners' new starter. Gabriel has thrown for 70 touchdowns against only 14 interceptions in 26 career games, with multiple scores in all but four appearances. He's been even better against Power Five competition, with 13 touchdowns and an average of 9.1 yards per attempt in four such games in his three years with the Knights.

9. Spencer Rattler, South Carolina

Rattler began last season atop this list but lost his grasp on the starting job before midseason. Lightly used after early October, he'll restart his college career as one of several high-profile portal additions to the Gamecocks' offense. Amid the coverage of Rattler's tumble down the depth chart and Williams' surge into the Heisman race, it's been forgotten just how good Rattler was for most of 2020. After tossing four interceptions in Oklahoma's first four games of that season, Rattler had 15 touchdowns against just two picks in leading the Sooners to another Big 12 championship.

10. Sam Hartman, Wake Forest

Hartman is out indefinitely with a non-football related injury, Wake Forest announced last month. This unexpected development puts a dent in the Demon Deacons' hopes of repeating atop the ACC Atlantic and makes it harder to predict how Hartman's 2022 season will unfold. If he's able to return at some point in the next few months, Hartman will immediately become one of the top quarterbacks in the country while boosting Wake's odds of getting to a New Year's Six bowl.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College football quarterback rankings: It's Bryce Young, then who?