Seven college football QBs we’re fascinated by, from transfer stars to bounce-back players

It sounds absurd when said out loud: A quarterback who didn’t even start in high school is ranked ahead of Arch Manning. Oklahoma State’s Drew Mestemaker is one of many quarterbacks with a compelling story. There’s also the talented-yet-turnover-prone transfer who will start for the defending national champions with a mission to protect the ball and play within the confines of the offense. There are the former five-star prospects still finding their way. And enigmatic quarterbacks who have flashed in the past but are hoping their new situation is the one where everything breaks right. You can find The Athletic’s ranking of the 138 projected starting quarterbacks in our annual College QB Tiers. Naturally, some are more interesting than others. Here’s a look at the most intriguing quarterback in each of our seven tiers with some thoughts from those in the industry. Coaches and personnel staffers spoke on the condition of anonymity to offer their honest opinions on the players. Mestemaker climbed from obscurity to become one of the best quarterbacks in college football at North Texas last season (and, yes, he ranks ahead of Manning). The feedback we received from coaches and personnel staffers was nearly universal in praise of Mestemaker, who led the nation in passing yards last year and is the reason there’s a ton of optimism about a potential Oklahoma State turnaround this fall. “Mestemaker. That was nuts,” said a general manager in the American Conference. “Yes, he had really good players around him, but he made the throws, and that’s the thing that can’t be understated. We have close coverage, the guy is nowhere close to being open and he gets a step, hits him in stride and the guy goes to the house and you’re like ‘How did that happen?’” And the arm talent is undeniable. One Big 12 personnel staffer said he ranks each position group in the league and went into this offseason not wanting to put Mestemaker at the top, but had no other choice after watching the film. “There was a play at Western Michigan,” the staffer said, “and he’s backed up in the back of the end zone, and he’s basically underneath the goal post, damn near out of bounds, and he throws a f—ing dart 20-25 yards down the field outside the numbers to his right. “I’ve watched it probably 50 times. I’ve kept it on a loop. It’s so, so impressive what he can do, especially for being so young at the position.” Mestemaker didn’t start on the varsity at Vandegrift High in Austin, Texas (he backed up now-Wisconsin quarterback Deuce Adams). He walked on at North Texas and last year was his first season as a starter since his freshman year of high school. Naturally, there are some questions about Mestemaker jumping from the Group of 6 to the Power 4 level. Still, he will be playing for the same head coach and play caller (Eric Morris), and some of the top offensive players followed him from North Texas to Oklahoma State. That continuity should be a big plus. Curt Cignetti and his staff have done a tremendous job with transfer quarterbacks at Indiana, first with Kurtis Rourke in 2024 and then with Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza in 2025. Now, the Hoosiers have turned to Hoover, who demonstrated a strong passing ability and was productive over the past few years at TCU. Hoover will step into a much brighter spotlight, and his ability to take care of the ball will come under a lot of scrutiny — something TCU coach Sonny Dykes highlighted this offseason. Hoover turned the ball over 42 times in 31 starts with the Horned Frogs. Under Cignetti, Indiana has committed just 17 turnovers the past two years. If Hoover takes care of the ball, it would be no shock to envision him in Heisman contention and Indiana defending its title in the College Football Playoff. If not, the turnover issues could derail what has been an efficient offensive machine in Bloomington. “Super talented. Legit arm talent,” a Big 12 head coach said. “Settling down and being able to be under Cignetti and play within himself in an offense as opposed to TCU will be good for him. What (TCU) did the last couple years offensively with the vertical choice and all that stuff, I’m not a big fan of that stuff — some QBs end up being better (outside of it).” It would’ve been difficult for almost any quarterback to succeed with the circumstances Iamaleava dealt with at UCLA last year, which was predictable after the former five-star prospect transferred from Tennessee. The coaching situation was disastrous. The Bruins fired their head coach and made moves with both coordinators in the first month of the season. There was no run game, the skill group wasn’t impactful and the offensive line couldn’t protect. Iamaleava threw for 1,928 yards and led the team in rushing with 505 yards. He carried the offense during its mammoth upset victory against Penn State (166 passing yards, 128 rushing yards and five total touchdowns). That was a glimpse of his potential. UCLA hired coach Bob Chesney, who guided James Madison to the Playoff last year and has won at every level he’s coached. Chesney brought a lot of JMU players with him, and though it’s a low bar to clear, Iamaleava will be working with more talent this fall and the offensive ecosystem should be healthier. Also, the schedule isn’t overly daunting. After Iamaleava displayed growth last season — particularly from a maturity standpoint — there are real reasons to believe in a quarterback who started for a Playoff team at Tennessee and was once one of the most coveted recruits in the nation. Lagway is another former five-star prospect who was once viewed as a program savior. He was frustratingly inconsistent and never played up to his recruiting hype in two seasons at Florida. He reached his nadir during a five-interception game against LSU last season. “It’s hard for me to forget the LSU game. He looked so bad,” the Big 12 staffer said. “I don’t even want to grade him from last year because I don’t think that’s who he is, but that’s what he showed. I’m assuming there are a lot of scars there and it’s going to be hard to forget some of what he did last year.” Lagway entered the transfer portal shortly after Florida hired new coach Jon Sumrall and landed at Baylor. If there was any optimism about Lagway this offseason, it was mostly baked in the belief of Bears offensive coordinator Jake Spavital, but he still has a lot of work to do to win over skeptics and doubters. “I was never a Lagway fan,” a Big 12 head coach said. “I thought he got overhyped because he’s a big, jumbo freak talent, but his film has never been eye-popping. But Spav does a great job, so maybe Spav will get him right.” One thing to note: Lagway is healthy this offseason after dealing with various injuries last offseason with the Gators. Also, while the Big 12 has improved defensively, Lagway faced tougher defenses in the SEC. It’s now time for him to prove his five-star status was deserving. In the most optimistic view, Daniels is an acquired taste. He’s a tremendous athlete who has great running ability (1,397 career rushing yards) but has never impressed as a passer. And now he’s going to one of the most dire situations in major college football at Florida State. Mike Norvell needs a bounce-back season in the worst way after going 7-17 the past two seasons. The Seminoles seemingly didn’t have the funding to be aggressive in the transfer portal and signed Daniels to fill the void at quarterback. Is Daniels the sort of player who can revitalize an offense? He’s played in only bad offensive setups during his career, three years at Stanford and one at Auburn. However, he hasn’t done much to elevate things, which is something he’ll need to do at Florida State. “I’m an Ashton fan,” an ACC personnel staffer said. “I think if they know how to use him, know what his limitations are and know how to maximize those, I think he could be successful there.” Chiles played for Jonathan Smith, a respected offensive mind, for one year at Oregon State and two at Michigan State, and never reached the level of consistency most expected. He was benched last season because the offense sputtered. After the Spartans fired Smith, Chiles entered the transfer portal and signed with Northwestern, where he’ll be paired with new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly. Kelly had a failed stint as Las Vegas Raiders offensive coordinator last season, but he’s previously been successful at the collegiate level. And though Chiles has been disappointing so far, there’s still some potential there, especially if Kelly figures out a way to lean into his strengths. When Dante Moore flipped from Oregon and signed with UCLA late in the 2023 recruiting cycle, the Ducks responded by signing Novosad, a top-150 prospect who had been committed to Baylor. Flipping Novosad at the last minute was viewed as a significant victory for Oregon in the wake of Moore’s decision. However, we never saw much of Novosad at Oregon. He spent the 2023 season behind Bo Nix, 2024 behind Dillon Gabriel and Moore, who joined the program after a season at UCLA, and 2025 behind Moore and Brock Thomas, who appeared to unseat Novosad for the backup role last year. Novosad has attempted 15 career passes, and 11 of those came in 2023. It’s been a while since he’s received extended playing time. For a former top 150 recruit, he’s a relative mystery — one we’ll learn more about this fall at Bowling Green.