On3\u2019s J.D. PicKell has named his top 10 post-Spring college football quarterbacks. The list is sure to be controversial.<\/p>\n
The list showcases the immense talent at the quarterback position that is returning to the sport of college football in 2026. It appears as if all 11 of the quarterbacks listed by PicKell could be in the running for not just the Heisman Trophy, but the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Names such as Oregon<\/a>\u2018s Dante Moore<\/a>, Ole Miss<\/a>\u2018 Trinidad Chambliss<\/a>, and Miami<\/a>\u2018s Darian Mensah<\/a> lead the pack.<\/p>\n PicKell\u2019s full list, 1-10, is below:<\/p>\n After spurning the NFL Draft,\u00a0Oregon\u00a0quarterback\u00a0Dante Moore\u00a0is tabbed as the No. 1-ranked post-Spring quarterback by PicKell. In his first season as\u00a0Oregon\u2018s starting quarterback, Moore passed for 3,565 yards and 30 touchdowns with just 10 interceptions. He led the Ducks to a 13-2 record and an appearance in the Semifinals of the College Football Playoff.<\/p>\n Moore will be one of the preseason Heisman Trophy favorites in 2026. With superstar tight end\u00a0Jamari Johnson<\/a> and wide receiver Evan Stewart<\/a> (who missed the entire 2025 season) returning to\u00a0Oregon\u2018s offense next season, Moore certainly could find himself at the Heisman ceremony at the conclusion of the season. The Ducks are seeking their first-ever College Football Playoff National Championship under head coach Dan Lanning<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ole Miss\u00a0was one of the biggest winners of the college football offseason, as it was able to garner an extra year of eligibility for star quarterback\u00a0Trinidad Chambliss. Although he didn\u2019t open the 2025 campaign as the starter, Chambliss took over for an injured\u00a0Austin Simmons<\/a>\u00a0and blossomed into one of the best quarterbacks in all of college football. He passed for 22 touchdowns with just three interceptions and led the Rebels to the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history.<\/p>\n Heading into year one of the Pete Golding<\/a> era in the \u2018Sip, all eyes are on the Rebels. The program also returns star running back Kewan Lacy<\/a>, as Ole Miss seeks a return to the sport\u2019s biggest stage. \u201cThe guys have been so good to me and this team,\u201d Chambliss\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0following\u00a0Ole Miss\u2018 loss to\u00a0Miami\u00a0in the CFP Semifinal. \u201cIt\u2019s been a great ride. I wouldn\u2019t want to do it with any other people. Whether it\u2019s coaches, players, people in the offices. It was just a great ride.\u00a0Hopefully, I can do it next year.\u201d<\/p>\n Miami\u00a0quarterback\u00a0Darian Mensah, who transferred from\u00a0Duke<\/a>\u00a0after leading the Blue Devils to an ACC Championship last season, will enter the 2026 campaign as one of the favorites to win the Heisman Trophy. Mensah was remarkable for head coach\u00a0Manny Diaz<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Duke\u00a0in his lone season in Durham. Mensah\u2019s 3,973 passing yards ranked second most in the country, while his 34 passing touchdowns were tied for second most in the country.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s really good,\u201d\u00a0Miami\u00a0head coach\u00a0Mario Cristobal<\/a>\u00a0said<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s accurate, he\u2019s got an unbelievable sense, and his pocket awareness is off the charts. His off-script stuff and his on-schedule stuff is elite. He\u2019s got the right temperament.\u00a0He is an alpha and he\u2019s got a great personality. People really gravitate to him. He\u2019s really athletic and he\u2019s a hard worker. He\u2019s really smart. He checks all the boxes.\u201d<\/p>\n Ohio State\u00a0quarterback\u00a0Julian Sayin\u00a0more than lived up to the hype in his first season as the Buckeyes\u2019 starter in 2025. The Carlsbad, CA native passed for 3,610 yards and 32 touchdowns with just eight interceptions, and led\u00a0Ohio State\u00a0to an unblemished 12-0 regular season record and an appearance in the College Football Playoff. Sayin will return to Columbus for his 2026 campaign and will likely enter the season as one of the favorites to win the Heisman Trophy.<\/p>\n \u201cJulian Sayin\u2019s insanely accurate,\u201d On3\u2019s\u00a0Ari Wasserman\u00a0said on the Feb. 10 edition of\u00a0Andy & Ari On3<\/a>. \u201cHe throws a beautiful ball and\u00a0is certainly good enough to win a national championship at\u00a0Ohio State. The one thing I would neg him on \u2013 and maybe I\u2019m being overly nit-picky here \u2026 all the spectacular plays that\u00a0Ohio State\u00a0made this year, I felt like, were more because the receiver was awesome than it was because of who was delivering it.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s safe to say that Arch Manning entered the 2025 season, his first as\u00a0Texas\u2018 starter, with massive expectations. While he didn\u2019t quite get off to the best start, he finished extremely strong. Across Manning\u2019s final eight games of the 2025 season, he led\u00a0Texas\u00a0to a 7-1 record, with strong wins over No. 6\u00a0Oklahoma<\/a>, No. 9\u00a0Vanderbilt<\/a>, No. 3\u00a0Texas A&M<\/a>, and No. 18\u00a0Michigan<\/a>.<\/p>\n In that span, he passed for 2,012 yards and 15 touchdowns with just two interceptions. He also rushed for 239 yards and five scores on the ground, although 155 yards and two touchdowns came in the Longhorns\u2019 41-27 win over the Wolverines in the Citrus Bowl. Another big year is expected from Manning, as the Longhorns seek a return to the College Football Playoff.<\/p>\n Although\u00a0Notre Dame\u00a0came up just shy of a College Football Playoff appearance, quarterback\u00a0CJ Carr\u00a0delivered an extremely impressive freshman campaign. Carr passed for 2,741 yards and 24 touchdowns with just six interceptions across 12 games. In the Irish\u2019s two losses (No. 10\u00a0Miami\u00a0and No. 16\u00a0Texas A&M<\/a>), Carr totaled 514 passing yards, four total touchdowns, and two interceptions. He is poised to take an even bigger leap in his second year under\u00a0Marcus Freeman<\/a>\u2018s leadership.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s easy to forget he\u2019s a first-year starter, and there\u2019s going to be times where it doesn\u2019t look like clockwork as much because he\u2019s made it look like clockwork 90% of the time that he\u2019s been out there,\u201d\u00a0Notre Dame\u00a0offensive coordinator\u00a0Mike Denbrock<\/a>\u00a0told<\/a>\u00a0Blue and Gold<\/a>\u00a0last season. \u201cI can\u2019t get frustrated, and we can\u2019t get frustrated, and we have to allow him to fail, so he can learn more. And he\u2019s done a great job of digging in and doing that, so he doesn\u2019t need any help from me.\u201d<\/p>\n Gunner Stockton\u2018s first season as\u00a0Georgia\u2018s starter in 2025 was a resounding success. Stockton passed for 2,894 yards and 24 touchdowns, and led the Bulldogs to an SEC Championship and a College Football Playoff appearance. He was named a Third Team All-SEC selection and looks to be one of the top returning quarterbacks in the Southeastern Conference. Stockton suffered a minor knee injury this offseason, but appears to be good to go for the 2026 season.<\/p>\n \u201cYep, he\u2019s great. He\u2019s practicing,\u201d\u00a0Georgia head coach Kirby Smart<\/a> said.<\/a>\u00a0\u201cHe had a little offseason injury in our workouts, but he\u2019s he\u2019s fine now. He\u2019s limited a little bit the first couple days, but he\u2019s out there competing, doing a good job, focusing on things he needs to improve on and competing with those other guys. I\u2019ve been really pleased with Gunner.\u201d<\/p>\n Josh Hoover\u00a0has the extremely difficult task of succeeding a Heisman-winning quarterback at\u00a0Indiana. Hoover has spent the past four seasons at\u00a0TCU<\/a>, serving in the starting role over the past three. Across 36 career games, the Heath, Tex., native boasts 9,629 passing yards and 71 touchdowns with just 33 interceptions. He becomes the third starting quarterback of the\u00a0Curt Cignetti<\/a>\u00a0era at\u00a0Indiana, joining\u00a0Ohio<\/a>\u00a0transfer\u00a0Kurtis Rourke<\/a>\u00a0(Second Team All-Big Ten) and\u00a0Cal<\/a>\u00a0transfer\u00a0Fernando Mendoza<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cJosh is one of the hardest workers that I\u2019ve met, and he throws so much,\u201d IU star receiver Charlie Becker<\/a> said. \u201cI don\u2019t know how he does it; my arm would fall off. He texts me probably every day asking if we want to throw, just to be able to build that connection, which is good. As soon as last season was over, me and Josh were texting. We had a little break, so he was like, \u2018As soon as you guys get back, let\u2019s get right to it\u2019. After every workout, we\u2019ve been throwing and just trying to build that connection that me and Fernando (Mendoza) had.\u201d<\/p>\n USC\u00a0quarterback\u00a0Jayden Maiava\u00a0returns as the longest tenured quarterback on this list. Maiava took over the starting role at\u00a0USC\u00a0near the end of the 2024 season and commanded that role in 2025. Across two seasons in Southern California, the Palolo, HI native has passed for 4,912 yards and 35 touchdowns with just 16 interceptions. In his final season of college football, Maiava and head coach\u00a0Lincoln Riley<\/a>\u00a0are seeking a College Football Playoff appearance for the first time in program history.<\/p>\n \u201c(Maiava) grew up so much during the offseason a year ago,\u201d Riley\u00a0said<\/a>. \u201cJust watching him, the player this last year vs. what he was two years ago. It\u2019s almost like watching two completely different people. I just feel like this guy\u2019s got a huge ceiling. I feel like he can make another jump, just like that. He was already one of the best quarterbacks in the country this year. I\u2019m excited for it.\u201d<\/p>\n The 2025 season, his first at Oklahoma, was a bit up and down for John Mateer. Mateer opened the season with his hair on fire, leading Oklahoma to a 4-0 record with wins over the likes of Michigan<\/a> and Auburn<\/a>. Following the Sooners\u2019 win over Auburn, he was considered one of the early favorites to win the Heisman Trophy. Following his hand injury, however, he struggled upon his return. He failed to pass for more than 250 yards in a game until his final two games of the season, against LSU and No. 9 Alabama<\/a> (College Football Playoff).<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d say like transitioning to playing on Sundays, but doing it on Saturdays,\u201d Mateer told SoonerScoop<\/a> this offseason. \u201cHanging out in the pocket, get through my progression, pocket movement better, and just being able to put the ball where I want to, where I need to. See the game with more anticipation and more knowledge pre-snap. There\u2019s a lot, but still being able to make plays and extend plays like I can. Balancing those, trusting my instincts, and making pocket-passing more instinctive. That\u2019s probably every quarterback\u2019s goal.\u201d<\/p>\n The first starting quarterback of the\u00a0Lane Kiffin<\/a>\u00a0era at\u00a0LSU\u00a0is expected to be Arizona State<\/a> transfer quarterback Sam Leavitt. Leavitt was banged up in 2025, but led the Sun Devils to the College Football Playoff for the first time ever in 2024. Across two seasons as ASU\u2019s starter, Leavitt totaled 4,513 passing yards and 34 touchdowns with nine interceptions. He was tabbed as the No. 1-ranked player in the Transfer Portal by On3, and is listed here as an honorable mention due to his foot injury.<\/p>\n \u201cLane Kiffin\u00a0offenses, historically, are going to be driven by quarterback play, not just in volume, but in the way they can put stress on the opposing defense,\u201d ESPN\u2019s\u00a0Greg McElroy<\/a> said<\/a>. \u201cSam Leavitt\u2019s mobility and creativity matter because modern defenses are built to kind of suffocate structure. When the quarterback can extend plays and when the entire defensive structure changes because of the quarterback movement, that becomes a lot more difficult to defend.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On3\u2019s J.D. 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