{"id":90041,"date":"2025-08-17T17:50:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T17:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/90041\/"},"modified":"2025-08-17T17:50:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T17:50:07","slug":"why-theres-so-much-we-dont-quite-know-about-college-qbs-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/90041\/","title":{"rendered":"Why there\u2019s so much we don\u2019t (quite) know about college QBs in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pulse Newsletter \ud83d\udce3 | This is The Athletic\u2019s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here<\/a> to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

Good morning! Be the leader of your offense today.<\/p>\n

Quarterbacks: The year of the probably pretty good college QB<\/p>\n

Pulse Hypothesis, six days before the start of college football season: Now that teams can pay players, nobody with a clear shot at the playoff will ever go into a season with a black hole at quarterback.<\/p>\n

All 25 teams in the preseason Associated Press poll have a QB situation that I would at least describe as \u201chopeful.\u201d The highest-ranked team that doesn\u2019t is BYU<\/a>, which came in first in the \u201calso receiving votes\u201d section. That\u2019s because the Cougars\u2019 starter exited in July<\/a>. A safe bet: If you are spending several million dollars on an otherwise good team, you won\u2019t forget to stock a QB.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s something funny about how this is all playing out in 2025. Every team has reason for QB optimism, but the number that should expect QB dominance is roughly zero. There\u2019s nothing resembling a clear Heisman favorite this year \u2014 though looking for a value pick is fun<\/a> \u2014 and this moment in quarterbacking explains why. The floor is high. The ceiling may be low.<\/p>\n

A few teams have multiyear starters who are definitely good but have left a little meat on the expectation bone. (Of the QBs at the top of The Athletic\u2019s QB Tiers<\/a>, Clemson<\/a>\u2019s Cade Klubnik<\/a> and Penn State<\/a>\u2019s Drew Allar<\/a> fit here.) South Carolina<\/a>\u2019s LaNorris Sellers<\/a>, Florida<\/a>\u2019s DJ Lagway<\/a> and LSU<\/a>\u2019s Garrett Nussmeier<\/a> are clearly good, but also either young (Lagway) or fresh off a breakout that didn\u2019t make them a Heisman-type player yet (Sellers, Nussmeier). SMU<\/a>\u2019s Kevin Jennings<\/a> and Boise State\u2019s Maddux Madsen<\/a> are good-ish, but you will recall the combined six interceptions they threw to Penn State defenders in the playoff. And there is a long list of hopefuls:<\/p>\n

Oh, and the No. 1 team in the country will start a Manning scion who happens to be the most famous QB prospect maybe ever. Across two years, he has thrown a majority of his college passes in two games against ULM and Mississippi State<\/a>. Arch Manning<\/a> is probably good, butQuinn Ewers<\/a> was once almost as hyped as Manning is now, and I wouldn\u2019t claim that Ewers turned out to be \u201cgood\u201d in the way that Texas fans (or Ohio State fans before them) hoped.<\/p>\n

So, does your top-25 team have a good QB? The answer is simple: Yeah, maybe. Probably! I think so. All of this makes for the main reason this season is unusually mysterious<\/a>.<\/p>\n

News to Know<\/p>\n

Big Ten discusses 28-team CFP<\/p>\n

No, that headline is somehow not a joke. While it\u2019s just an idea at this point, the Big Ten has at least had preliminary discussions surrounding a college football tournament with as many as 28 teams. The report comes as CFP expansion talks have hit a wall in recent months, with the Big Ten continuing to push for a 16-team model and four auto bids for its own teams. More details on what a 28-team playoff would even look like in Ralph Russo\u2019s full report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Brewers extend winning streak to 14<\/p>\n

Milwaukee may never lose another game. After erasing a seven-run deficit<\/a> Friday, the Brewers put together another storybook comeback last night to extend their winning streak to a franchise-record 14 games. Last night\u2019s comeback featured the Brewers tying the game with two outs in the ninth before a pinch-hit three-run homer in the 11th sealed the deal. Unreal scenes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More news:<\/p>\n

Phillies ace Zack Wheeler was put on the 15-day injured list after medical staff found a blood clot near his shoulder. It could put the rest of his season in jeopardy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Luka Don\u010di\u0107 appears to have avoided serious injury after a scary play during Slovenia\u2019s EuroBasket game yesterday, The Athletic\u2019s Dan Woike reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jamaican sprinter Kishane Thompson barely bested American Noah Lyles in their first meeting in the 100-meter<\/a> since Lyles won Olympic gold. A budding track rivalry.<\/p>\n

Five former Wisconsin women\u2019s basketball players filed a federal lawsuit against former coach Marisa Moseley, alleging psychological abuse. More here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Watch Guide<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa EPL<\/a>: Manchester United vs. Arsenal\u00a0<\/p>\n

11:30 a.m. ET on NBC\u00a0<\/p>\n

United try to get started on the right foot after last season\u2019s disaster. Here\u2019s a good overview<\/a> of the club\u2019s plan to not be terrible this year.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa Golf: BMW Championship, Final Round<\/p>\n

Golf Channel\/NBC until around 6 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

The top 30 players in the FedExCup standings after today\u2019s round will advance to the TOUR Championship. Robert MacIntyre, whose putter is on fire this week, leads the field by four strokes.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa MLB<\/a>: Mariners at Mets\u00a0<\/p>\n

7 p.m. ET on ESPN\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Mariners are my personal World Series pick at the moment. I\u2019ll also use this space to point you toward Sam Blum\u2019s story<\/a> about a dog whose owner dresses her in Mets gear and farms her out for photos in the New York heat all summer. Good reporting, bad dog ownership.<\/p>\n

Get tickets to games like these here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pulse Picks<\/p>\n

Greg Olsen has strong opinions on the biggest issues facing youth sports right now. This interview<\/a> is worth a read today.<\/p>\n

Even the 7-year-old now eats one Reese\u2019s cup and is willing to wait for the other out of the freezer. That\u2019s growth. Refridge your Reese\u2019s, people. \u2014 Chris Sprow<\/p>\n

If our crash course for new card collectors in last weekend\u2019s Pulse piqued your interest, you\u2019ll be fascinated by this story on a Jay Cutler card selling for over $12,000 last week. The buyer of the card got in touch to explain the situation, and his explanation is frankly hilarious<\/a>.<\/p>\n

My daughter went back to school this week (what a delight) and our new water bottle, this \u201cCaticorns\u201d Thermos<\/a>, is a massive hit. \u2014 Chris Branch<\/p>\n

The Athletic\u2019s weekly sports news quiz<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How many times have I heard the title of Octavia E. Butler\u2019s classic 1993 novel \u201cThe Parable of the Sower\u201d? Hundreds, probably. But I hadn\u2019t read it until this week. It\u2019s set in \u2014 or at least it starts in \u2014 a dystopian version of 2024 and goes through the next few years, so it\u2019s a good time to start it if you haven\u2019t. \u2014 Levi Weaver<\/p>\n

Jim Bowden has an early look at the top 25 potential MLB free agents<\/a> as the offseason draws nearer. Kyle Tucker is about to get paid how much?<\/p>\n

I finally bought into the HOKA hype my family has been selling me on for years. Unfortunately, they were right. Incredibly comfortable \u2014 and a little extra height never hurt anyone either. \u2014 Sam Settleman<\/p>\n

Matt Baker had a fun story this weekend on Missouri State football\u2019s rise to the FBS level<\/a>, 10 years after a 70-7 loss ended any conversation of the Bears leaving the FCS. Not as fun: Their FBS debut is at the Coliseum against USC<\/a> in two weeks.<\/p>\n

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: The Brewers\u2019 first comeback of the weekend<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Most-read on the website yesterday: How a catfishing scam is putting both fans and female golfers in danger<\/a>. Scary stuff.<\/p>\n

Ticketing links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.<\/p>\n

(Top photo: Tim Warner \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pulse Newsletter \ud83d\udce3 | This is The Athletic\u2019s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90042,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[1607,399,398,396,397,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-90041","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-college-football","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-ncaa","11":"tag-ncaa-football","12":"tag-ncaafootball","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90041"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90041\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}