The 2026 football season is still several months away. So what season is it? It’s ranking season.
Yes, it’s time to rank the Big 12 quarterbacks who are projected to start for their respective programs in 2026. There is massive turnover in the Big 12 in regards to starting quarterbacks. Fortunately for BYU, that does not include the Cougars. Bear Bachmeier is entrenched as the big man on campus in Provo for a second straight year.
In what seems like a more rare occurence every year, given the current
climate of college athletics, the Cougars will enjoy a quarterback starting in consecutive Week 1 season openers for them for the first time since Jaren Hall in 2021-2022.
Where does Bachmeier rank among the 16 assumed starting quarterbacks in the Big 12?
Of course, that is purely subjective. There are so many factors and variables in considering who is the “best,” but let’s try anyway.
For this ranking, we considered things such as experience at the FBS level, passer rating, passing yards, efficiency in avoiding turnovers, rushing ability, and PFF grades.
Let’s dive in.
16. Julian Lewis, Colorado
This isn’t to say Lewis is a bad quarterback, per se. Let’s say this- he is the quarterback we know the least about to this point. He has just 589 passing yards and four touchdowns to his name for his college career. His -35 rushing yard (mostly due to taking sacks) don’t do him any favors. He is also yet to win a game as a starter in three tries in Boulder. He is the biggest unknown among Big 12 quarterbacks.
15. Michael Hawkins Jr., West Virginia
Much like Lewis, it’s simply a matter of the unknown and unproven. The former three-star recruit spent two seasons at Oklahoma before heading to Morgantown this offseason. He had two 60-plus rushing yard games in 2024, against Auburn and Navy. His running ability alone could send him climbing this list later this year. For now, it’s a matter having less than half a season’s worth of starts to his name.
14. Cutter Boley, Arizona State
Very similar to Hawkins, Boley earned a few spot starts at his previous stop at Kentucky. He gets the nod over the other two because he had moderate success as a starter before arriving in Tempe. He beat the likes of Auburn and Florida as a starter. However, Pro Football Focus was not a huge fan of Boley, giving him a rough 59.4 overall grade. The Sun Devils are in a new era after Sam Leavitt left for LSU. Boley at least gives them someone with experience at the highest level of college football.
13. Chase Jenkins, Kansas
Like Arizona State, the Jayhawks are breaking in a new starter after a program stalwart left. In the post-Jalon Daniels era, Kansas brought in Jenkins from Rice. Let’s be clear here- Kansas has not officially announced who will be the starting quarterback. They still have Isaiah Marshall and Cole Ballard on the roster, both worthy candidates as well. However, the odds-on favorite appears to be the transfer Jenkins. He is very athletic, as he even has played receiver at Rice. Surely, Kansas would love to use his legs to create havoc on the Big 12. The biggest question surrounding Jenkins is- can he remain healthy?
12. JC French IV, Cincinnati
French begins a different tier of quarterbacks in the Big 12. He comes to the Bearcats by way of Georgia Southern, where he put together back-to-back 2,800-plus passing yard seasons and looked to be getting better and better. He certainly is on a trajectory to being higher on this list at the end of the season. With 815 passing attempts to his name and plenty of success at the Group of 6 level, he deserves some respect.
11. Jaden Craig, TCU
There is a decent chance that Craig could make this ranking look silly by this November. By pure production, Craig stands up against any current Big 12 quarterback, with three seasons and over 6,000 passing yards and 52 touchdowns under his belt. So, why is he so low? Those numbers were at Harvard. He led Harvard to a share of the Ivy title and their first FCS playoff appearance in 2025. Craig is largely unproven at the FBS level, much less at the Power 4 level. He also was not much of a rushing threat at Harvard. He’s a smart player with good size who fits well in that TCU system. Stay tuned.
10. DJ Lagway, Baylor
If this were a ranking of which quarterbacks have the most natural talent, you might be hard-pressed to find anyone to dethrone Lagway at No. 1. In the class of 2024, he was the No. 1 QB recruit and third-best prospect overall coming out of high school. The Gators thought they had the next great Florida quarterback. Due to inconsistency and frankly, some poor coaching, Lagway never realized his potential in Gainesville. He led the SEC with 14 interceptions in 2025. He also hasn’t been the running threat that some thought he would become. Now at Baylor, he has all the tools necessary, along with a fresh change of scenery, to make a big splash in Waco. But it would take a season that we haven’t seen from Lagway, in his third season as a starter now.
9. Alonza Barnett III, UCF
Very similar to French at Cincinnati, Barnett III comes to Orlando after lighting it up at James Madison for two seasons. He helped the Dukes make the College Football Playoff in 2025, after going 12-1 and winning the Sun Belt Conference. Even in a loss to Oregon in the First Round, he still threw for 273 yards, two touchdowns, along with rushing for 45 yards and a score. He stood his ground on the biggest stage against a national title contender, and played well without a turnover. UCF gets a QB that has already played on a big stage and not wilted. The ceiling is higher than it has been in a few years for the Knights.
8. Jalen Raynor, Iowa State
It’s never fun to replace a program legend. The Rocco Becht era is over in Ames, as he followed Matt Campbell to Penn State. Raynor earns the spot over Lagway and Barnett because he has three seasons of being a solid starter under his belt, along with back-to-back bowl wins for Arkansas State. He must have made an impression on the Cyclones when he passed for 222 yards and ran for 83 against them last season. Only two quarterbacks in the Big 12 have more passing touchdowns to their names than Raynor. He might not have as high of a ceiling as others on this list, but the floor is high for the Cyclones with an athlete like Raynor.
7. Conner Weigman, Houston
Having an incumbent starter in the Big 12 this low might raise an eyebrow or two. This might speak more to the potential depth of the Big 12 rather than any slight in Weigman’s direction. He still put together a great season for the Cougars in red in 2025, with 2,705 passing yards and 25 touchdowns. Don’t forget his 700 rushing yards and 11 rushing scores. He’s dynamic. The Cougars bounced back from a rough 2024 by winning 10 games with him under center. Houston will be a tough out once again with the Texas A&M transfer at the helm again.
6. Avery Johnson, Kansas State
If we were making this list last year, some people would be scratching their heads at him being so low. Unfortunately, it’s hard to call Kansas State’s, and Johnson’s, 2025 season anything short of a massive disappointment. They had to rally to finish 6-6 after a 2-4 start. Among projected Big 12 quarterbacks, he ranks seventh in PFF grade. 2026 is about reclaiming that pre-2025 hype for Johnson and the Wildcats. He’s one of the best pure athletes behind center in the conference, with over 1,000 rushing yards total in the last two seasons. If KSU had beaten Utah and/or Baylor (both one-point losses), he likely is much higher on this list.
5. Drew Mestemaker, Oklahoma State
This might be too low for the reigning FBS passing yard champion. It also could be too high for a guy with just one year as a full-time starter. Following former North Texas coach Eric Morris, Mestemaker could experience a meteoric rise in popularity on a bigger stage. With the Mean Green, he slung the football for a whopping 4,379 yards and 34 touchdowns last season. He led the American in just about every passing category and led the entire FBS in several as well. If that system translates well to Stillwater, watch out.
4. Devon Dampier, Utah
Cougar fans might not like how high we have Dampier. Make no mistake, he’s as good of a pure athlete at quarterback as you will find in the Big 12. Yes, he has some limitations (ones that BYU’s defense exploited in last year’s win in Provo), but on the whole, Dampier is one of the more solid Big 12 signal callers. He finished the season as one of the hottest quarterbacks in the country, throwing for 822 yards, rushing for 292, and totaling 12 touchdowns over his last three games of 2025. His performance against Nebraska in the Las Vegas Bowl (310 passing, 148 rushing, five total TDs) was one of the best single-game performances by any quarterback all year.
3. Bear Bachmeier, BYU
We can call the 2025 Holy Way the official “tiebreaker” between Dampier and Bachmeier, right? On that night, Bachmeier was more efficient and effective, even with lesser stats in the box score. They both had exactly 64 rushing yards in that game. However, Bachmeier was the one that avoided the dreaded turnover. No quarterback had more than Bachmeier’s 11 rushing touchdowns in the Big 12. For being a teenager and true freshman, Bachmeier showed poise and leadership beyond his years. The Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year finished the year a little hobbled. Still, BYU won 12 games for just the fifth time in school history and finished with an exciting win over Georgia Tech in the Pop-Tarts Bowl. Given his age, leadership, and untapped ceiling, Bachmeier should be considered among the Big 12’s best heading into 2026. That’s even with BYU breaking in several new pass-catchers around him.
2. Brendan Sorsby, Texas Tech
Yes, the Cougars beat Sorsby last year. However, facing one of the best defenses in the Big 12 in BYU, Sorsby held his own with 300 passing yards and two touchdowns. If we were ranking current NFL prospects in the Big 12, he is probably No. 1. He had the best 2025 PFF grade of any projected starter in the Big 12 who played at the FBS level last year. His 27 touchdowns to five interceptions is an elite ratio. He now jumps to the Red Raiders and that might be an upgrade in Lubbock.
1. Noah Fifita, Arizona
If there was a “mob boss” or “great patriarch” of Big 12 quarterbacks, it’s Fifita. He has the most career passing yards of any projected Big 12 quarterback by over 500 yards. No other Big 12 quarterback has three consecutive 2,800-yard seasons. No other Big 12 quarterback has two nine-plus win seasons with a Big 12 school like Fifita. While he doesn’t possess the raw physical gifts the NFL covets, he’s been a godsend in Tucson. He will very likely break Nick Foles’ career passing mark at Arizona this season and he already possesses the top touchdown pass mark. Whatever pro career, or lack thereof is in Fifita’s future, there is no arguing against him being the most decorated, battle-tested, and experienced quarterbacks in the Big 12 in 2026.
