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If you were hoping to see all of the best quarterbacks in the country in the College Football Playoff, you’re out of luck.
Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward, 2 of the 3 finalists for the Davey O’Brien Award, won’t be a part of the inaugural 12-team Playoff that starts Dec. 20. Neither will Jaxson Dart or Jalen Milroe.
But just because there isn’t a lock No. 1 overall draft pick in the Playoff field doesn’t mean we don’t have 12 (or 13 because of Georgia’s unsure QB situation) quarterbacks who can really play and lead their teams to the national title on Jan. 20 in Atlanta.
Teams don’t get to this point with just a guy behind center. They are all good, but who are the best ones? And who is the best one? We’ll take a dive into that, ranking the 12 (or technically 13) Playoff quarterbacks. We’ll go in inverse order, saving the best one for last:
12. Gunner Stockton, Georgia
We’ll get the complicated one out of the way first. Sure, Stockton still might not see the field when Georgia plays its Playoff quarterfinal on New Year’s Day night against the winner of the Notre Dame/Indiana game. And sure, Stockton did just fine on Saturday in the SEC title game, going 12-of-16 for 71 yards. But his late interception with the Bulldogs trying to close Texas out in regulation led to the Longhorns’ game-tying field goal and could have cost Georgia a conference crown, a first-round Playoff bye or, heck, maybe even a Playoff spot because of a 3rd loss.
Yes, Stockton gathered himself in overtime and put the Bulldogs in position to win the game and the title, before his helmet flew off on a run that forced him to miss a play. That play was the final play, as an injured Carson Beck, who could barely lift his right arm, did the only thing he could do, which was hand the ball off to Trevor Etienne for the winning touchdown. And the reason Stockton is last on this list is because, while his potential is great, he’s barely played because he’s been sitting behind Beck for 2 years. If Beck can’t go in a little over 3 weeks, and that’s a big “if” right now, then Stockton has to be last on this list because of his general inexperience alone, especially in a Playoff setting.
If Beck can play, then he wouldn’t be last on this list, far from it, but we just don’t know right now with Georgia staying quiet regarding his MRI results. Fortunately for Georgia, it has time to sort things out because of that first-round bye. Stay tuned on the Dawgs’ sudden quarterback saga.
11. Sam Leavitt, Arizona State
This tells you how deep this group of Playoff quarterbacks are. Leavitt transferred from Michigan State and all he did as a redshirt freshman in Tempe was win Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year honors while leading the Sun Devils to a conference title and a first-round Playoff bye. He threw for 2,663 yards with 24 touchdowns and just 5 interceptions, and he shredded defenses with his legs, too, running for 383 yards and another 5 TDs. The only thing that puts a great talent like Leavitt this far down on the list is that this is his first real season and facing a defense like, say, Texas in the Playoff quarterfinals would be a huge step up from those Big 12 defenses.
10. Maddux Madsen, Boise State
The redshirt sophomore signal-caller was fantastic this fall. He’s a big reason the Broncos won the Mountain West Conference yet again and why they’re sitting pretty with a first-round Playoff bye. Madsen was a dual-threat QB, like many on this list, throwing for 2,714 yards and 22 touchdowns against just 3 interceptions while running for 224 yards and 5 TDs. But let’s just say it: He struggled in the Broncos’ 3-point loss at Oregon in Week 2 (17-for-40, 148 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs). Was that a blip? Or did he mostly dominate defenses from the Mountain West? We’ll find out soon enough as he might just have to face a snarling Penn State defense in the quarterfinals on New Year’s Eve.
9. Quinn Ewers, Texas
Ewers was uneven in Saturday’s SEC title game loss to Georgia, throwing 2 interceptions and bringing out more of those “We Want Arch!” chants from Longhorns fans longing to see Arch Manning enter the fold. Perhaps if Ewers was even a little better against Georgia, Texas would have won the conference title and gotten the first-round bye instead of being forced to host Clemson in a first-round game.
Ewers threw for 2,665 yards in 2024, which is … OK. He tossed 25 touchdown passes but also threw 9 interceptions, with 3 of those coming in the Longhorns’ 2 losses to Georgia. Ewers also isn’t a threat as a runner, like so many other Playoff quarterbacks are and, well, like Manning is. Could Ewers ultimately lead Texas to the national title? Sure, he can. But right now, he has to be near the back of this list.
8. Nico Iamaleava, Tennessee
The redshirt freshman did something that’s not very easy to do: He took all that preseason hype and turned it into a Playoff berth for the Volunteers. No, Iamaleava didn’t lead Tennessee to an SEC title. But he navigated the SEC gauntlet with just 2 losses, which Alabama’ s Jalen Milroe and Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart weren’t able to do, and because of that he’ll be at the helm at The Horseshoe in a few weeks in a first-round game against Ohio State. Iamaleava threw for 2,512 yards, 19 touchdowns and just 5 interceptions, and he dazzled with his legs, too, running for 311 yards.
7. Drew Allar, Penn State
OK, recency bias isn’t in Allar’s favor, but we’re going to try to ignore those 2 interceptions in the Big Ten title game against Oregon, especially the last one that killed Penn State’s chances late in the fourth quarter. On the other hand, Allard threw 3 touchdown passes and kept the Nittany Lions in striking range for the entire game against the high-octane Ducks. Allar didn’t play well in the loss to Ohio State, but he threw for almost 3,000 yards this season (2,894) and had just 5 interceptions before the 2 against Oregon. Alllar also ran for 279 yards and 6 more TDs, and he overcame a knee injury in late October and returned the next week to face Ohio State. His grit should serve him and Penn State well in the Playoff.
6. Kurtis Rourke, Indiana
Rourke transferred from Ohio and set the world on fire this fall in Bloomington, leading Indiana football to heights usually reserved only for the men’s basketball team. The senior, who by the way is Canadian, threw for 2,827 yards with 27 touchdowns and just 4 interceptions. No, the 6-5 Rourke isn’t a running threat, but he showed incredible poise this season in leading Indiana, for heaven’s sake, to the inaugural 12-team Playoff. He also showed toughness, having thumb surgery in late October but only missing 1 game before returning the following week to punish Michigan State. The nagging concern? Indiana couldn’t protect him against Michigan or Ohio State, and the result was his 2 worst performances of the season.
5. Riley Leonard, Notre Dame
Like Rourke, the quarterback he’ll be going up against in the Playoff opener on Dec. 20 in South Bend is also getting some Heisman Trophy love. Leonard was a model of consistency in 2024 after transferring from Duke, and he tortured defenses with his arm and his legs. Leonard didn’t put up massive passing numbers, throwing for 2,092 yards and just 16 touchdowns, but he only threw 5 interceptions. Leonard let the weapons around him, his defense and, yes, his own legs do the rest, as he rushed for a whopping 721 yards and 14 touchdowns. The senior is the essence of a dual-threat QB, and his experience could be huge for the Fighting Irish in the Playoff.
4. Will Howard, Ohio State
The grizzled senior transferred to Ohio State after 4 years at Kansas State for 1 reason — to play in the biggest games and lead the Buckeyes to a national title. And though it wasn’t perfect in 2024 — he was gallant in the loss to Oregon and just plain bad in the loss to Michigan — Howard will take the helm at The Horseshoe in primetime on Dec. 21 against Tennessee with an opportunity to get to the quarterfinals and get another shot at the Ducks. And, by the way, his stats this fall were just fine (other than the Michigan dud), as Howard threw for 2,860 yards, 27 touchdowns and just 8 interceptions. He also had 7 rushing TDs, and he’ll be playing with desperation in the Playoff, knowing this is his last shot at that national championship.
3. Cade Klubnik, Clemson
Yes, Klubnik and the Tigers lost 3 games, but guess what? They also brought an unlikely ACC title back to Death Valley, outlasting SMU last Saturday night in Charlotte. And Klubnik was a major reason for the win. The junior who lived in the shadow of Miami phenom Cam Ward in the ACC all season left holding the conference championship trophy. Klubnik threw 4 touchdown passes without an interception on the ACC’s biggest stage, and somehow the Tigers’ underdog No. 12 seed will go well with a quarterback who threw for 3,303 yards with 33 TD passes and 5 interceptions, and rushed for 458 yards and 7 scores.
2. Kevin Jennings, SMU
When a redshirt sophomore who just burst onto the college football scene this fall is a semifinalist for the Davey O’Brien Award and plays for SMU, well, you know he has to be really good. And Jennings is really good. He wasn’t a finalist for the Davey O’Brien, but he was mighty special this fall and he has SMU thinking it jumped into a time machine back to the Pony Express days of the early 1980s. Jennings almost led the Mustangs to a magical comeback in the ACC title game, too. Jennings threw for a cool 3,050 yards and rushed for 379 more yards this season with a combined 27 touchdowns and just 8 interceptions.
1. Dillon Gabriel, Oregon
No. 1 was the easiest one. After stints at UCF and Oklahoma, the left-handed Hawaiian found a home in Eugene and threw for a jaw-dropping 3,558 yards and 28 touchdowns with just 6 interceptions in 2024. If that isn’t scary enough, the senior also ran for 7 more scores and probably would’ve run for a few more if not for the array of weapons around him. The best part for Oregon fans is that he has the undefeated Ducks in a great position for that long-awaited national title. The national title isn’t a lock for Gabriel, but the long list of national awards coming his way are.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
