Welcome to Week 9 of the college football season.
Below you’ll find national quarterback rankings entering Week 9. Injuries have begun to ravage the position, so players like Kamario Taylor (out for the year) and Julian Sayin (maybe out for the year) are not listed even though they were excellent when healthy.
A few notes to know before we dive in:
Note: I’ll be leaning heavily on available advanced statistics, which recently got better thanks to CollegeFootballData.com’s addition of new passing metrics. A few helpful definitions to know:
- CPOE (Completion Percentage Over Expected) — actual completion % minus expected completion %, where “expected” is what an average FBS QB would complete given each throw’s depth, direction, down, distance, and field position.
- Dead-end play rate — share of all QB plays (pass attempts + sacks + rushes) that gain 4 yards or fewer without converting a first down or scoring. Measures how wasteful a QB is on a down-to-down basis.
- (Rush) success rate — share of QB rush attempts that gain 50% of the yards-to-go on 1st down, 70% on 2nd, or 100% on 3rd/4th (TDs always count). Sacks and kneel-downs are excluded.
- ADOT (Average Depth of Target) — average air yards per attempt: how far downfield past the line of scrimmage the average throw is aimed, counting incompletions and INTs at their intended target depth. Measures aggressiveness and intent, but not whether the pass was completed.
- Deep-throw rate — share of attempts targeted 15+ yards beyond the line of scrimmage.
College QB rankings
Let’s get into the list:
1. Darian Mensah, Miami (Last Week: 1)
It’s admittedly getting a bit boring to come here every week and talk about how Darian Mensah is by far the best quarterback in the nation, but that’s where we’re at. Especially when so many of his potential challengers have gone down with multi-week or even season-ending injuries. Mensah still has a CPOE north of 16. His passer efficiency rating is still over 200, which is hallowed ground in college football history. He’ll likely split Heisman Trophy votes with Miami receiver Malachi Toney, but I think Mensah should be considered the overall favorite entering this week.
2. CJ Carr, Notre Dame (Last week: 3)
Notre Dame was idle this past week but he still moves up one spot after Trinidad Chambliss’s rough game in Week 8. Carr has a high-profile matchup with Mensah in just over a week. Carr has an excellent profile across the board — his ADOT is almost 10 yards, he doesn’t take sacks and hardly ever turns the ball over. He’s also very accurate with a CPOE of nearly 7%.
3. Gunner Stockton, Georgia (Last week: 4)
Gunner Stockton was on bye last week but I’ve got him moving up a slot due to Chambliss’s struggles against Texas. Stockton turned the ball over 3 times in his last game in a stunning loss to Auburn, but otherwise has done a good job of taking care of the ball this season. The Florida defense will provide a solid test for Stockton and this Georgia offense this weekend.
4. Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss (Last week: 2)
I totally get it if you think Chambliss is the best quarterback in the country — the arm talent is NFL-quality and the way he commands his offense is unlike any other passer in college. If I needed a TD in the final 2 minutes and could hand-select my QB for one drive, my instinct would be to pick Chambliss. That said, the advanced metrics do not back up what Chambliss puts on film. His CPOE has slipped to a very-mediocre 1.7%. He’s only throwing deep passes (15+ yards downfield) on about 22% of attempts. His rushing success rate is a solid 50%. He’s also thrown 7 interceptions already this season, which is more than double his total for all of 2025 (3). And yet, it’s difficult to justify ranking him lower than 4th on this list because we’ve seen his potential be realized in big games over and over again.
5. Noah Fifita, Arizona (Last week: 7)
Noah Fifita debuted on this last week and he did not make me look stupid. He threw for 308 yards and 2 touchdowns on 34 attempts in a blowout win over Iowa State. He had a CPOE of almost 14% in that game, which was his best mark of the season against an FBS opponent. Fifita, who has been starting for Arizona for the last 4 years, looks like he could lead the Wildcats to a special season in 2026.
6. Aidan Chiles, Northwestern (Last week: Not ranked)
It’s impossible to keep Aidan Chiles off of this list for any longer. While his track record prior to 2026 isn’t great and he has struggled against pressure this season, his profile is overwhelming: 9.9% CPOE, 24.5% CPOE on deep throws, 9.2 ADOT, 62% rushing success rate. Chiles will face a talented-but-underwhelming Oregon defense this weekend. If he can lead Northwestern to a win, a Playoff appearance is not out of the question.
7. Keelon Russell, Alabama (Last week: Not ranked)
Keelon Russell is back on the list after he had a good game against Texas A&M — over 10 yards per attempt, 3 touchdown passes and a CPOE of almost 5%. For the season, he still grades out as one of the best P4 quarterbacks in the country, though his 8.2% sack rate continues to be an eye sore and a significant problem for Alabama’s offense in competitive games.
On the radar
In no particular order:
Braden Atkinson, Oregon State: Braden Atkinson has been the best quarterback at the G6 level this season with a CPOE north of 7% and a sack rate below 4%. He’s leaned heavily on star receiver Jesse Legree, who has already announced his return to Oregon State for the 2027 season.
Josh Hoover, Indiana: I dropped Josh Hoover from the rankings this week. He was poor in an overtime win over Michigan, though Curt Cignetti confirmed after the game that he’s playing through an injury at the moment. We’ll see if Hoover can get healthy before the end of the regular season.
Jayden Maiava, USC: Jayden Maiava had a really lackluster showing in a loss to Wisconsin last week. He threw for 258 yards, but needed a whopping 50 attempts to get there. I don’t think Maiava is USC’s biggest problem, but he hasn’t been part of the solution, either.
Subscribe to the Saturday Football Newsletter — Get the latest news and updates on your team, your conference, and the college football nation straight to your inbox.
Having trouble seeing the signup form? Some privacy or ad-blocking tools can prevent it from loading. You can subscribe directly here.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
