Ranking all 136 FBS QB situations into tiers ahead of the 2025 season
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David Hale
There’s plenty of star power in the 2025 quarterback class. Carson Beck, Cade Klubnik and Drew Allar return. Kevin Jennings, Maddux Madsen and Sam Leavitt led playoff teams and are back for more. Oh, and there’s some guy named Manning who’ll finally get his shot to start at Texas.
But after the past few years in which blue bloods routinely chased veterans in the transfer portal, we’re about to enter a season in which Michigan, Georgia, Texas, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Alabama and Ole Miss expect to start guys with little or no experience as QB1.
After COVID-19 rules allowed players to stick around for five, six or even seven years in college, 2025 represents the unofficial end point of the bonus year — unless you’re Diego Pavia, who might play until he’s eligible to collect social security.
Meanwhile, some of last season’s most disappointing QB stories — Miller Moss, Conner Weigman, Jackson Arnold — will get a chance to rewrite their script with new teams this season.
It all shapes up to be one of the more intriguing seasons at the game’s most important position.
But luckily, we’ve done the heavy lifting of sifting through the depth charts of all 136 FBS teams, digging deep into the stats, and consulted our Magic Eight Ball to rank every QB situation in the country by tiers.
Jump to a section:
Best of the best | Waiting time is over
One more try
Wiley veterans | Used to be starters
Tier 1: Top of the class (11 players)
Clemson (Cade Klubnik, Christopher Vizzina)
LSU (Garrett Nussmeier, Michael Van Buren Jr.)
Oklahoma (John Mateer, Michael Hawkins Jr., Whitt Newbauer)
Penn State (Drew Allar, Ethan Grunkemeyer)
South Carolina (LaNorris Sellers, Air Noland)
Last season’s best quarterback, Cam Ward, was electric — a magician on the field who routinely made awe-inspiring plays. This year’s best don’t exactly fit that mold. Instead, some of the biggest names — Allar, Klubnik, Nussmeier — didn’t so much catch lightning in a bottle as slowly build their repertoire until earning their place at the top of the sport. They’re consistent producers; veterans who, if you follow the career trend lines, should reach peak performance in 2025.
Sellers and Mateer, on the other hand, had a few more of those “Heisman moments” last year. Sellers started slow but blossomed late, playing at as high a level as anyone in the country by year’s end. Mateer flourished in the relative obscurity of Washington State and now will be tasked with reviving Oklahoma’s program under the glare of the SEC spotlight. Both players scratched the surface of greatness last year and enter 2025 with massive expectations.
QB comparison
QB A: 78.1 QBR, 68% completions, 7.4 yards per pass, 25 touchdowns
QB B: 78.8 QBR, 64% completions, 7.7 yards per pass, 26 touchdowns
QB B is LSU’s Nussmeier last season against FBS opponents. He was good, but the numbers aren’t eye-popping. So why is there so much buzz around him? Well, QB A is Jayden Daniels‘ line at LSU from 2022 — a year before he won the Heisman Trophy with some truly eye-popping stats. Could Nussmeier be on the same trajectory?
Fun facts:
Eight QBs in the playoff era have racked up at least 4,100 yards and 43 touchdowns while having seven or fewer turnovers, as Klubnik did last season. The others include five Heisman winners and two finalists. Each was selected within the first 10 picks of the NFL draft.
No QB had more touchdown passes on throws of 20 yards or more last season than Klubnik (16). His line on deep balls: 47% completions, 16 TDs, 3 INTs, 16.6 yards/attempt.
In the playoff era, 14 players posted a line of 4,000 yards, 40 touchdowns, 9 yards per pass and no more than 10 turnovers. That group includes 13 players selected in the first 15 picks of the draft, six Heisman winners and eight more finalists. Mateer missed that club by only 36 yards last year.
Mateer’s 53 broken or evaded tackles last season topped all FBS quarterbacks.
No QB who averaged at least 9 air yards per throw had a lower rate of off-target throws than Mateer (9.1%).
Penn State ran a successful play on 52.8% of its dropbacks last season, tops by a team returning its 2024 starter. Next best was TCU (50.3%).
If Allar starts nine games, he’ll be the fourth Penn State QB since 2013 with 38 career starts while playing for only one team. There are only 33 other Power 5 QBs who’ve done that in the same span. No other team has more than two.
Sellers’ 2024 production:
In Weeks 1-9: 51.7 QBR, 5 passing TDs, 4 INTs, 6.91 yards per pass
In Weeks 10 through the bowl game: 81.4 QBR, 13 passing TDs, 4 INTs, 9.85 yards per pass
Tier 1b: So hot right now (six players)
Florida (DJ Lagway, Harrison Bailey)
Miami (Carson Beck, Emory Williams)
Texas (Arch Manning, Matthew Caldwell)
A year ago, Beck was the clear-cut top QB entering the season, and though he put up relatively strong numbers again in 2024, he was largely considered a disappointment. Then he was injured in the SEC title game and transferred to Miami, and now Beck he enters 2025 as something of a mystery. He could recover his NFL draft stock with an elite season following in Ward’s footsteps … or he could be a multimillion-dollar bust.
The conversation around Manning and Lagway is two former five-star recruits who appear on the verge of breakout performances. Their ceilings are ridiculously high, but their actual on-field production so far leaves plenty of room for questions.
QB comparison
What if I told you one of these QBs is getting love as a potential No. 1 draft pick for 2026 and the other is coming off a “down year”?
QB A: 82.3 QBR, 28 TD passes, 12 INTs, 64.7% completions, 7.78 yards per attempt
QB B: 79.1 QBR, 29 TD passes, 12 INTs, 64.2% completions, 7.72 yards per attempt
So, who’s the hot shot and who’s spiraling downward? QB B is LSU’s Nussmeier, who’s a favorite in the way-too-early mock drafts. QB A is Miami’s Beck, who was supposed to be a possible No. 1 pick until his 2024 performance drew heavy criticism.
OK, one more.
QB A: 72% completions, 9.45 yards per pass, 24 touchdown passes, 3,941 passing yards
QB B: 73% completions, 8.74 yards per pass, 29 touchdown passes, 3,917 passing yards
QB B looks a tick better, right? Well, QB A is Beck’s 2023 season at Georgia, when he was lauded as one of the nation’s best. QB B is Beck’s 2024 season at Georgia, if you adjust his stat line to the same rate of drops and contested catches by his receiving corps in 2024 that he had in 2023.
Fun facts:
Returning QBs who averaged at least 9 yards per attempt last season:
Lagway, 9.97
Blake Horvath, 9.73
Darian Mensah, 9.49
Mateer, 9.05
Deshawn Purdie, 9.01
The first month of the season showcased Manning’s potential: 983 yards on 91 touches, 12 touchdowns and two turnovers — all against lesser competition in Texas blowouts. From Oct. 1 on, he threw only 12 more passes for 38 yards.
Tier 2: Pretty darned good (eight players)
Arizona State (Sam Leavitt, Jeff Sims)
Baylor (Sawyer Robertson, Walker White)
Georgia Tech (Haynes King, Aaron Philo)
Iowa State (Rocco Becht, Connor Moberly)
If none of the four starting QBs here is a household name, it’s only because those names haven’t been paid enough attention. Leavitt led Arizona State to the College Football Playoff last year. Becht had Iowa State knocking on the door. Robertson finished as strong as any QB in the country, and King kept winning games despite cruising to the finish line of the season like Monty Python’s Black Knight — down a few limbs but still fighting like crazy.
QB comparison
One of these QBs was lauded for his ridiculous final stretch of the season. The other flew mostly below the radar nationally.
QB A: 6-1 (loss in bowl), 80.1 QBR, 64% completions, 20 TDs, 5 turnovers, 314 yards per game
QB B: 6-1 (loss in bowl), 80.1 QBR, 67% completions, 18 TDs, 5 turnovers, 302 yards per game
Do that over a full season and either would be in the Heisman conversation. But it was only QB A — South Carolina’s Sellers — who received much love last December. But it’s worth appreciating that QB B — Baylor’s Robertson — was every bit as good.
Fun facts:
From Nov. 1 on, no returning QB posted a better QBR than Leavitt (86.8).
No returning QB scrambled for more yards last season than Leavitt (423).
Becht has accounted for at least one touchdown in 27 straight games, the longest active streak in FBS — six games more than any other QB.
Becht numbers when Iowa State was trailing in the second half last season: 82.3 QBR, 8.55 yards/attempt, 11 total touchdowns, 3 interceptions.
No QB had a higher percentage of his passing yards come from throws behind the line of scrimmage last year than King (28.2%). Leavitt was third (26.6%).
ACC QBs to post a 7-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio over the past 20 years: Jordan Travis, Devin Leary, Trevor Lawrence, Deshaun Watson, Russell Wilson and King.
Robertson’s 82.9 QBR is the best by any returning Power 4 QB from last season.
Tier 3: Buckle up (19 players)
Arkansas (Taylen Green, KJ Jackson)
Duke (Darian Mensah, Henry Belin IV)
Kansas (Jalon Daniels, Cole Ballard)
Louisville (Miller Moss, Brady Allen)
Navy (Blake Horvath, Braxton Woodson)
SMU (Kevin Jennings, Ty Hawkins, Tyler Van Dyke)
TCU (Josh Hoover, Ken Seals)
Texas Tech (Behren Morton, Mitch Griffis)
Vanderbilt (Diego Pavia, Drew Dickey)
Every projected starter in Tier 3 has delivered serious highlights — massive wins, explosive plays, and even a chance for Vandy fans to dump a goal post into the river. But for all the success, there are still some minor questions — Morton’s health or Jennings’ playoff performance or whether Pavia will have to leave film study early to take his grandkids to soccer practice — that add a bit of danger to the proceedings. That probably means this is the tier that’ll provide the most fun in 2025.
QB comparison
Two QB lines since Week 7 of 2023. Who’s better?
QB A: 76.3 QBR, 64.9% completions, 8.01 yards per pass, 40 pass touchdowns, 18 interceptions
QB B: 75.6 QBR, 62.9% completions, 7.79 yards per pass, 40 pass touchdowns, 10 interceptions
Aside from the INTs, edge QB A? Well, that’s TCU’s Hoover. QB B is Penn State’s Allar, widely considered one of the best in the nation.
Here’s another.
QB A: 5-8 record, 45.6 QBR, 58% completions, 18 TD passes, 14 picks
QB B: 9-1 record, 68.7 QBR, 65% completions, 23 TD passes, 6 picks
QB A is Texas Tech’s Morton vs. FPI top-50 teams in his career. QB B is Morton vs. everyone else.
Fun facts:
Horvath’s 83.6 QBR was the best last season — and the seventh best of the playoff era — by any quarterback outside the Power 4. The playoff era non-power conference QBs ahead of him are also some big names: McKenzie Milton (2017), D’Eriq King (2018), Zach Wilson (2020) and new Colorado QB Kaidon Salter (2023) among them.
Last season, 36.6% of Mensah’s attempts were to a wide-open target, second highest nationally. Last year, only 21% of throws to Duke receivers were wide open (104th in FBS), and the Blue Devils said goodbye to their top two receivers, their starting tight end and their top pass-catching back.
Mensah’s past six games: 80.3 QBR, 9.74 yards per pass, 69% completions, 11 touchdowns, 4 picks.
In the first 18 games of his career, Jennings had 333 touches and committed seven turnovers. In his past eight games, he has had 317 touches and 14 turnovers.
No returning P4 QB was blitzed more often last season than Pavia.
No returning QB had a higher successful play rate on red zone dropbacks last year than Pavia (50%).
Pavia vs. top-40 defenses last season: 78.8 QBR, 12 TD passes, 3 interceptions and 7.0 yards per dropback.
Last season, 23.8% of Jalon Daniels’ passes were thrown 20 yards or more downfield, most by any Power 4 QB.
No P4 QB had a higher rate of off-target throws last season than Daniels (19.5%).
Daniels vs. FBS competition last year:
First four games: 6 TDs, 9 turnovers, 41.3 QBR
Next five games: 12 TDs, 2 turnovers, 85.9 QBR
Last three games: 1 TD, 3 turnovers, 77.2 QBR
Moss had five touchdown passes in the second half or OT to put USC ahead last year, tied for the most by any QB in the country. The Trojans still went 2-3 in those games.
No returning QB had more explosive plays last season than Green (98).
Tier 4: The young pups (eight players)
Michigan (Bryce Underwood, Mikey Keene)
Notre Dame (CJ Carr, Kenny Minchey)
Ohio State (Julian Sayin, Lincoln Kienholz)
Washington (Demond Williams Jr., Kai Horton)
Four schools with playoff hopes turn to young QBs with elite recruiting backgrounds. Not long ago, this wouldn’t seem like a wild premise, but in the era of the transfer portal, the notion that programs with as much talent as Notre Dame or Ohio State are putting their fates into the hands of QBs with no on-field experience feels akin to handing your teenager, who has his learner’s permit, the keys to your new Ferrari.
QB comparison
QB A: 82.9 QBR, 68% completions, 8.6 yards per pass, 4.4 touchdown-to-interception ratio
QB B: 66.2 QBR, 59.8% completions, 7.3 yards per pass, 1.9 touchdown-to-interception ratio
QB A is Michigan’s passing rates in 2022 and 2023, largely buoyed by J.J. McCarthy. QB B is Michigan’s passing every other year of the playoff era. Last season was defined by woeful QB play, but the Wolverines are betting they’ve found another star in Underwood, and even if he doesn’t blossom immediately, Keene seems to be an upgrade from anyone they relied on in 2024.
Fun facts:
Since 2010, the only Ohio State QB to start at least six games and finish with a QBR less than 70 is Cardale Jones in 2015. He won a national championship the year before.
No returning QB had a higher adjusted completion percentage last season than Keene (76.6%).
Williams played at least 10 snaps in five games last season (including two starts). Four were vs. top-40 defenses. His stat line in those games: 79% completions, 8.99 yards per attempt, eight touchdowns, one turnover, 86.0 QBR, 265 non-sack rushing yards.
Tier 5: The waiting is the hardest part (nine players)
Alabama (Ty Simpson, Austin Mack, Keelon Russell)
Georgia (Gunner Stockton, Ryan Puglisi)
Ole Miss (Austin Simmons, Maealiuaki Smith)
Oregon (Dante Moore, Austin Novosad)
After three years as a backup, Stockton drove his 1984 F-150 onto center stage in last season’s Sugar Bowl, and while he ended up on the losing end, he played well enough for Georgia to feel comfortable handing him the offense in 2025. Simpson, a top-five QB recruit in 2022, also has patiently waited his turn at Alabama. Moore earned starting experience at UCLA as a freshman, then left for Oregon and waited behind Dillon Gabriel. Simmons watched Jaxson Dart for two years at Ole Miss. These guys know the system, know the locker room, and they are ready for their moment in the spotlight.
QB comparison
QB A: 80.3 QBR, 67% completions, 8.84 yards per attempt
QB B: 66.3 QBR, 62% completions, 7.84 yards per attempt
QB B isn’t awful, but QB A is bordering on elite. That’s no surprise. QB A is Georgia’s average with Beck or Stetson Bennett on the field. QB B is Georgia’s passing game with anyone else at QB since Kirby Smart took over in 2016.
Fun facts:
In his five years as head coach at Ole Miss, Lane Kiffin’s starting QBs have averaged 24 touchdown passes, eight picks, 67% completions and 9.5 yards per pass with a QBR of 82.0. Overall, Ole Miss’s QBR in that span is 80.4, trailing only Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia and Oregon nationally.
In 11 career games (three starts) vs. Power 5 competition, Moore has completed 52% of his throws with four touchdowns and eight picks.
Oregon’s 87.4 QBR since Dan Lanning took over as head coach in 2022 is tops in the nation.
Of the past 10 quarterbacks to start Week 1 for Alabama, eight took over the job having fewer than 100 career attempts under their belts. The three QBs competing for the job this season have a combined 53 college pass attempts.
Alabama quarterbacks accounted for 17 turnovers last season, the most for the Tide since at least 2004 and more than double their 2023 total.
Tier 6: Second time’s the charm (eight players)
Kansas State (Avery Johnson, Jacob Knuth)
Nebraska (Dylan Raiola, Marcos Davila)
NC State (CJ Bailey, Lex Thomas)
Texas A&M (Marcel Reed, Jacob Zeno)
UCLA (Nico Iamaleava, Luke Duncan)
Tier 6 quarterbacks all got a healthy dose of life as QB1 last season with some mixed results. But if those growing pains as a first-time starter in 2024 translate into more refined play in 2025, each QB could easily blossom into one of the country’s best.
QB comparison
Consider these two true freshmen from last season.
QB A: Nine starts, 60.1 QBR, 65% completions, 22 TDs, 13 turnovers, 74.0 Pro Football Focus grade
QB B: Seven starts, 57.9 QBR, 60% completions, 12 TDs, 9 turnovers, 67.0 Pro Football Focus grade
Who’s better? Aside from a few extra turnovers, you’d probably lean with QB A, right? Well QB B is a guy everyone is high on this year — Florida’s DJ Lagway. QB A is NC State’s Bailey.
Fun facts:
Bailey in the red zone last year: 17 total TDs, zero turnovers.
Returning Power 4 QBs who accounted for 32 TDs and 3,200 yards last year: Nussmeier, Klubnik, Robertson, Becht and Kansas State’s Johnson.
Raiola’s numbers last season from Oct. 1 onward: 53.8 QBR, 5.95 yards per attempt, 4 touchdowns, 11 turnovers, 9.1 yards per completion.
Last season, Reed had six plays with a 20% win probability added. Over the past two seasons, all other Texas A&M quarterbacks had one.
Iamaleava last season vs. Chattanooga, UTEP, Kent State and Mississippi State (combined 4-31 vs. FBS teams last year): 71% completions, 10 touchdown passes, zero picks, 10.9 yards per attempt. Iamaleava vs. all others: 61% completions, 9 touchdown passes, 5 interceptions, 6.9 yards per pass.
Tier 7: Consistently consistent (16 players)
Boise State (Maddux Madsen, Max Cutforth)
BYU (Jake Retzlaff, Bear Bachmeier)
Cincinnati (Brendan Sorsby, Brady Lichtenberg)
Illinois (Luke Altmyer, Ethan Hampton)
Indiana (Fernando Mendoza, Alberto Mendoza, Grant Wilson)
Michigan State (Aidan Chiles, Alessio Milivojevic)
USC (Jayden Maiava, Husan Longstreet, Sam Huard)
Virginia Cavaliers (Chandler Morris, Daniel Kaelin)
The term “game manager” gets thrown around a lot in QB analysis, and it’s often used in place of the term “average.” That’s an unfair descriptor for these players, who are game managers more in a sense of doing all the little things it takes to give their teams a chance to win without often hogging much of the spotlight in the process. They’re very good — they’re just probably not going to emerge as superstars.
QB comparison
QB A: 74.9 QBR, 62% completions, 7.1 yards per dropback, 20 TD passes and 6 interceptions
QB B: 74.7 QBR, 62% completions, 7.4 yards per dropback, 19 TD passes and 6 interceptions
Pretty close, right? QB A is Boise State’s Madsen. QB B is former Louisville QB Tyler Shough, who was the third quarterback selected in last month’s NFL draft.
Fun facts:
Two QBs return for 2025 after having thrown for 3,500 yards and 35 touchdowns last year: Klubnik and Virginia’s Morris.
Last season, 67.6% of Retzlaff’s completions went for a first down or TD, tops among all Power 4 QBs.
Retzlaff’s production:
vs. top-40 defenses: 50.0 QBR, 55% completions, 4 touchdowns, 6 picks, 7.0 yards per dropback.
vs. all others: 74.2 QBR, 60.1% completions, 16 touchdowns, 6 picks, 8.0 yards per dropback.
Altmyer finished last season with 22 passing touchdowns (most by an Illinois QB since 2008) and 2,717 passing yards (most since 2015).
In four wins vs. FBS opponents last season, Sorsby threw four touchdowns and three interceptions. In seven losses, he threw 12 touchdowns and four picks.
Michigan State has not thrown more touchdowns than its opponents in any full season since 2017.
USC had a 48.2% successful play rate on offense with Maiava at QB last year and a 48.1% rate with Moss, but the Trojans averaged more yards per play (6.41 to 6.16) and a better EPA per play (0.16 to 0.05) with Moss than Maiava.
Tier 8a: Fresh starts: veteran edition (nine players)
Auburn (Jackson Arnold, Ashton Daniels, Deuce Knight)
Florida State (Tommy Castellanos, Brock Glenn)
Houston (Conner Weigman, Zeon Chriss)
Northwestern (Preston Stone, Jack Lausch)
Remember that season of “Dallas” that turned out to be just a bad dream, and the next year the show pretended as if none of it ever happened? That’s sort of how this tier wants to view 2024. Arnold and Weigman were among the most touted recruits and seemed poised to break out last season. Instead, they fell flat. Stone and Castellanos had both turned in impressive 2023 campaigns only to get benched a year later. Now, all four are getting a fresh start in a new home with a chance to prove 2024 was the aberration and all the hype they’d enjoyed before last year was entirely deserved.
Tier 8b: Fresh starts: untested edition (six players)
Cal (Devin Brown, Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele)
Missouri (Beau Pribula, Sam Horn)
Syracuse (Steve Angeli, Rickie Collins)
These jobs are still up in the air, and the contenders include a host of once-heralded prospects who’ve never quite clicked. Aside from Horn, all have transferred to new schools looking for a change of scenery and a chance to play, and odds are, one or two will finally prove the long-forgotten recruiting buzz was deserved.
QB comparison
QB A: 69.0 QBR, 9.16 yards per pass, 33 touchdowns, 7 interceptions
QB B: 43.7 QBR, 6.23 yards per pass, 27 touchdowns, 19 interceptions
QB A looks pretty good. QB B looks entirely bleak. Well, QB A is Stone, Northwestern’s new quarterback, over the past two seasons at SMU, the latter of which resulted in him being benched. QB B is the combined production of all Northwestern quarterbacks over the same span.
Fun facts:
Arnold was pressured on 45.1% of his dropbacks last season when the defense did not blitz — the highest rate of any QBR-qualified Power 4 player.
Arnold’s career numbers vs. man coverage: nine touchdowns, one INT. Arnold vs. zone coverage: six touchdowns, five INTs.
Arnold played at least 20 snaps vs. seven Power 4 opponents last season. Six of them won at least nine games and ranked in the top 20 in ESPN’s FPI at season’s end. He also faced Tulane from the Group of 5. The Green Wave won nine games and ranked 32nd in FPI.
Angeli was ESPN’s No. 179 recruit in the class of 2022. Collins was No. 199 in 2023. They haven’t played much in college, but when given playing time, they’ve been good: 88.0 QBR, 75% completions, 10 passing touchdowns, one interception and averaged 9.31 yards per attempt.
In the playoff era, only one QB (not coached by Mike Leach) had more passing attempts in a season than Kyle McCord did for Syracuse last year. The Orange averaged 46 passes per game, which is the third most by an ACC team in the past 20 years.
Over the past two seasons, other Texas A&M quarterbacks combined for 23 plays of at least a 10% win probability added. Weigman had zero.
The only Power 4 QB who finished with a worse QBR last year than Castellanos (37.9) was Utah’s Isaac Wilson, who will not be the Utes’ starter in 2025. Among QBs with eight or more starts for a Power 5 school, Castellanos posted the 21st-worst QBR of the playoff era.
No Power 4 team averaged fewer yards per dropback last year than Florida State (4.8).
Pribula, Horn, Angeli and Brown were all considered blue-chip recruits and ranked among the top 30 QBs of the class of 2022. Entering Year 4 of their careers, they’ve combined to make two starts and have thrown 192 total passes.
Tier 9: Welcome to the big leagues (14 players)
Colorado (Kaidon Salter, Julian Lewis)
Iowa (Mark Gronowski, Hank Brown)
North Carolina (Gio Lopez, Bryce Baker, Max Johnson)
Tennessee (Joey Aguilar, Jake Merklinger, George MacIntyre)
Utah (Devon Dampier, Brendan Zurbrugg, Isaac Wilson, Nate Johnson)
Bill Belichick is betting big on a QB from South Alabama. Iowa’s offense could finally have some life with a QB from South Dakota State. Utah might’ve planned to keep turning to Cam Rising right up until Cam Rising Jr. was ready to take over, but instead, the Utes will turn to a QB from New Mexico. All of the Tier 9 quarterbacks are moving up from a lower level and will be expected to produce immediately at places with high hopes for a playoff run in 2025.
QB comparison
QB A: 70.1 QBR, 61 TD passes, 31 turnovers, 8.0 yards per attempt, 60.1 completions, 289 yards per game
QB B: 69.7 QBR, 54 TD passes, 16 turnovers, 7.7 yards per attempt, 63.5 completions, 249 yards per game
QB A definitely needs to cut down on the turnovers, but aside from that, they’re pretty close, right? Well, QB A is Aguilar’s numbers over the past two years. QB B is Tennessee’s quarterback production over that same span.
OK, one more.
QB A: 395 plays, 25 TDs, 7 turnovers, 2,559 pass yards in 11 starts
QB B: 391 plays, 18 TDs, 10 turnovers, 2,459 pass yards in 10 starts
You’d lean QB A, but not by a wide margin. QB A is UNC’s Lopez last year playing in the Sun Belt. QB B is former UNC quarterback Jacolby Criswell‘s line for the Heels in 2024.
Fun facts:
Most touchdowns accounted for over the past two seasons, returning QBs:
Salter, 66
Klubnik, 66
King, 62
Pavia, 61
Aguilar, 61
No QB was more elusive under pressure last year than Dampier. No one even came close. Dampier was sacked once for every 25.2 dropbacks under pressure — nearly eight more dropbacks per sack than the next-best player.
Iowa has only 47 touchdown passes in the past five seasons combined. In that same span, Ohio State has 173.
Iowa hasn’t averaged 1.0 passing touchdowns per game since … 2019.
QBs who accounted for 1,000 non-sack rush yards last year and return for 2025: Mateer (1,032), Parker Navarro (1,143), Dampier (1,187) and Horvath (1,298).
Lopez saw man coverage on just 19.3% of his dropbacks last year, the lowest rate of any returning QBR-qualified FBS player and roughly half as often as UNC QBs last season.
Tier 10: One more try (seven players)
Arizona (Noah Fifita, Braedyn Locke)
Mississippi State (Blake Shapen, Luke Kromenhoek)
Virginia Tech (Kyron Drones, William Watson III, Garret Rangel)
Like the QBs in Tier 8, these players are hoping to erase some bad memories from 2024. But unlike Tier 8, these QBs stayed put. Fifita, Drones and Shapen have all experienced success, but all fell flat last season. But they all have enough potential that the schools who’ve been on the roller coaster with them were willing to go for one last ride in 2025.
QB comparison
QB A: 88.0 QBR, 9.84 yards per pass, 8 touchdowns, 4 picks, 19 completions of 20 yards or more
QB B: 59.4 QBR, 6.06 yards per pass, 6 touchdowns, 6 picks, 6 completions of 20 yards or more
QB A has some swagger, right? Well, that’s Arizona’s Fifita last season when targeting future No. 8 draft pick Tetairoa McMillan. QB B is Fifita when throwing to any other wide receiver.
Fun facts:
Drones in wins over the past two seasons: 11 games, 75.6 QBR, 63.8% completions, 8.63 yards per pass, 29 touchdowns, 6 turnovers, 15 sacks
Drones in losses over the past two seasons: nine games, 47.3 QBR, 55.8% completions, 5.85 yards per pass, 10 touchdowns, 11 turnovers, 20 sacks.
Since the start of the 2023 season, Shapen has averaged 7.8 yards per pass, accounted for 27 touchdowns and thrown only four picks. But he has also sat out 12 games.
Tier 11: Room for improvement (eight players)
Oregon State (Maalik Murphy, Gabarri Johnson)
Pitt (Eli Holstein, David Lynch, Cole Gonzales)
West Virginia (Nicco Marchiol, Jaylen Henderson, Max Brown)
Holstein, Marchiol and Murphy, who were all solid recruits, have shown flashes of brilliance but have left fans wanting more. But if they can build off the foundation from 2024 and blossom this season, there’s a chance they could become genuine stars.
QB comparison
QB A: 45.5 QBR, 7.1 yards per pass, 15 touchdowns, 7 turnovers
QB B: 91.4 QBR, 10.8 yards per pass, 5 touchdowns, 1 turnover
Two completely different players, right? Well, QB A is Holstein in the first three quarters last season. QB B is Holstein’s fourth-quarter production.
Fun facts:
Holstein vs. top-40 defenses (by efficiency) last season: 31.6 QBR, 5.3 yards per attempt, 0 touchdowns, 4 interceptions
Holstein vs. everyone else: 55.6 QBR, 8.54 yards per attempt, 17 touchdowns, 3 interceptions.
Marchiol has 10 career games since 2022 in which he has taken at least 10 snaps. His line in those games: 58% completions, 9 total TDs, 5 turnovers, 6.16 yards per pass.
The only Power 4 QBs with more games with three passing touchdowns than Murphy’s six last season? Ward, Klubnik and Shedeur Sanders.
Murphy is 11-3 as a starting QB. That’s a better career winning percentage than Jordan Travis, Dillon Gabriel and Riley Leonard.
Tier 12: What’s in the box? (10 players)
Boston College (Dylan Lonergan, Grayson James)
Minnesota (Drake Lindsey, Dylan Wittke, Emmett Morehead)
Oklahoma State (Hauss Hejny, Zane Flores)
Stanford (Elijah Brown, Ben Gulbranson, Dylan Rizk)
The four schools in Tier 12 are turning to largely unproven quarterbacks in 2025. Hejny, Brown, Lonergan and Lindsey — should they end up the starters — have a combined 11 career passing attempts. So, what will happen? That’s the beauty of the unknown. Until the games are played, we can assume this will all work out wonderfully.
QB comparison
QB A: 78.9 QBR, 8.11 yards per attempt, 2.8 TD-INT ratio
QB B: 56.0 QBR, 6.84 yards per attempt, 1.5 TD-INT ratio
It might be hard to remember, but there was a time when Stanford churned out some exceptional quarterbacks. QB A is the Cardinal’s passing rates from 2010 to 2018, when Andrew Luck, Kevin Hogan and KJ Costello put up big numbers, played in Rose Bowls and won 78% of their games. QB B, on the other hand, is Stanford’s QBs over the past six seasons — none amounting to more than four wins.
Fun facts:
Best QBR vs. bowl-eligible Power 4 teams among returning players (minimum four starts):
Robertson, 83.2
Pavia, 82.6
Beck, 82.1
Grayson James, 82.1
During Mike Gundy’s first 15 seasons at Oklahoma State, the Cowboys averaged a touchdown pass every 15.5 attempts. Since 2020, that rate has jumped to one for every 24.7 attempts.
Stanford has not thrown 20 touchdown passes in a season since 2018.
Tier 13: Wily veterans (11 players)
Colorado State (Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, Jackson Brousseau)
Kentucky (Zach Calzada, Beau Allen)
Miami (OH) (Dequan Finn, Henry Hesson)
Memphis (Brendon Lewis, Antwann Hill)
Rutgers (Athan Kaliakmanis, AJ Surace, Rocco Rainone)
The COVID-19 season afforded everyone an extra year of eligibility, and that changed QB play for the past few years. In 2018, the average QBR-qualified quarterback had started 18.4 games by season’s end. In 2023, that number had jumped to 23.6 — basically an extra half-season, on average, of starting experience. Last year, 29 different quarterbacks (21% of FBS starters) finished the season with at least 36 career starts — essentially three full seasons’ worth — with Bo Nix topping the list with 61. Gabriel ended his career with 63 starts. The 2025 season will be the last to include a sizable number of COVID-eligibility players, while the trend toward less experienced QBs is already beginning. Still, there are a few who have paid their dues — and then some. That’s what Tier 13 is all about. The anticipated starters here already have 157 career starts across 13 schools under their belts.
QB comparison
QB A: 57.7 QBR, 2 touchdowns, 4 interceptions
QB B: 78.2 QBR, 10 touchdowns, 2 interceptions
The first guy is Rutgers’ Kaliakmanis through the first five games of last season. The second guy is Kaliakmanis after that.
Fun facts:
Two teams had a single QB throw every pass last season: Rutgers and New Mexico.
No returning QB had a higher Pro Football Focus grade last season than Lewis.
Four quarterbacks — Paxton Lynch, Brady White, Riley Ferguson and Seth Henigan — account for 153 of the past 154 games started for the Tigers, dating to 2013. Each started at least 26 games at Memphis and accounted for at least 70 touchdowns.
Tier 14: Best of the Group of 5 (10 players)
Florida Atlantic (Caden Veltkamp, Kasen Weisman)
UConn (Joe Fagnano, Nick Evers)
Ohio (Parker Navarro, Nick Poulos)
Old Dominion (Colton Joseph, Quinn Henicle)
Southern Miss (Braylon Braxton, Jeremy Hecklinski)
Toledo (Tucker Gleason, John Alan Richter)
South Florida (Byrum Brown, Bryce Archie)
UTSA (Owen McCown, Dematrius Davis Jr.)
These days in college football, there’s a pretty steady talent drain from the Group of 5 to the big boys. In the past two seasons, 47 quarterbacks from outside the Power 5 finished with a QBR of 60 or better. Only 17 returned to their team the next year (36%). Sixteen transferred to Power 4 schools. The point is, keeping talented quarterbacks in the Group of 5 is tough to do. The players in Tier 14 still fit the bill.
QB comparison
QB A: 9.9 yards per pass, 13 touchdowns, 1 pick
QB B: 7.2 yards per pass, five touchdowns, 7 picks
QB A was basically unstoppable. That was FAU’s Veltkamp last season (at Western Kentucky) against man coverage. QB B struggled much more. That was Veltkamp vs. zone defenses.
Fun facts:
Braxton vs. the blitz last season: 94.3 QBR (best among returning QBs), 8 TDs, 0 INTs, 10.51 yards per attempt.
Braxton’s 59.7 QBR when pressured is the second best among all returning QBs (trailing only Horvath).
Last year at Marshall, Braxton went 8-0 as the starter. In those games, he had 15 touchdowns and two picks.
Braxton had three games in which he threw three touchdowns and no interceptions while tallying fewer than 220 yards passing. In the playoff era, only three other QBs have done that.
In the fourth quarter last season, Navarro completed 77% of his throws, averaged 9.8 yards per attempt, and posted a QBR of 96.0, the best mark of any QB in the country.
Navarro is one of just 13 FBS QBs to rush for 18 touchdowns or more in a season in the playoff era.
UConn’s offense averaged 6.7 yards per play and 7.97 yards per pass with Fagnano at QB last year. With Evers: 4.96 yards per play and 5.04 yards per pass.
The only Group of 5 QB with 3,000 yards, 30 touchdowns and 13 or fewer turnovers returning to his team this season: Gleason.
QBs returning to the same team who posted a QBR of 60, threw 25 touchdowns and 10 or fewer interceptions: Klubnik, Becht, Robertson, Johnson and UTSA’s McCown.
Tier 15a: We used to be somebody: top recruit edition (10 players)
Maryland (Justyn Martin, Malik Washington)
Louisiana (Walker Howard, Daniel Beale)
UCF (Tayven Jackson, Jacurri Brown, Davi Belfort, Cam Fancher)
Wake Forest (Robby Ashford, Deshawn Purdie)
The transfer portal has turned the task of evaluating QB depth charts into something akin to joining Facebook in the 2010s, where you find out what happened to folks you used to know but had all but forgotten about — only instead of realizing your prom date is now a divorced dental hygienist in Topeka, you shake your head and think, “Robby Ashford’s at Wake Forest now? I never would’ve guessed!” And in true mid-2010s Facebook fashion, Purdue’s Browne ended up rekindling a relationship with his ex.
Tier 15b: We used to be somebody: established starter edition (17 players)
James Madison (Matthew Sluka, Camden Coleman)
Liberty (Ethan Vasko, Ryan Burger)
Purdue (Ryan Browne, Bennett Meredith, Evans Chuba, Malachi Singleton)
Tulane (Kadin Semonza, Brendan Sullivan)
UNLV (Anthony Colandrea, Alex Orji)
Washington State (Zevi Eckhaus, Ajani Sheppard, Jaxon Potter)
Wisconsin (Billy Edwards Jr., Danny O’Neil)
It’s fun that Purdue’s starting QB situation can be reasonably explained with the GIF of Grandpa Simpson opening a door, doing a lap and walking back out the door. Browne started a pair of games for the Boilermakers last season, entered the portal, spent four months with Belichick, then went right back to Purdue, no harm done.
QB comparison
QB A: 72.3% completions, 13 touchdowns, two turnovers, 70.0 QBR
QB B: 59.7% completions, seven touchdowns, nine turnovers, 48.8 QBR
That’s one QB playing elite football and another who deserves a seat on the bench, right? Well QB A was Edwards in August and September of last year at Maryland. QB B is Edwards the rest of the way. On the other hand, Maryland’s record in August and September dating back to 2013 is 36-10. After Oct. 1, however, the Terps are 28-69. So maybe the problem wasn’t Edwards.
Fun facts:
Only returning QBs with an adjusted completion percentage less than 60%: Purdie (59.6) and Parker Awad (53.4)
The only QBR-qualified Power 4 QB not to throw a single touchdown pass on third or fourth down last season: Edwards (0 TDs, 4 INTs).
Among 207 QBs with at least 60 dropbacks last season, Anthony Colandrea finished 162nd in yards per dropback (5.48) and Alex Orji finished 207th (2.93).
UCF has three quarterbacks on its roster who were four-star recruits and another with four years of experience as part-time starters. The combined stat line of those QBs: 37 starts, 17-20 record, 45.3 QBR, 38 touchdown passes, 37 interceptions.
Sullivan spent the past three years at Iowa and Northwestern. Those two teams combined in that span have a QBR of 37.1, with 63 TD passes and 62 INTs. Tulane in that same span: 64.0 QBR, 80 touchdown passes and 20 INTs.
Tier 16a: We used to be ACC starters (17 players)
Akron (Ben Finley, Brayden Roggow)
Charlotte (Conner Harrell, Grayson Loftis, Zach Wilcke)
Coastal Carolina (MJ Morris, Emmett Brown)
Georgia State (Christian Veilleux, Cameran Brown)
Nevada (Chubba Purdy, AJ Bianco)
South Alabama (Zach Pyron, Bishop Davenport)
Texas State (Nate Yarnell, Keldric Luster, Holden Geriner, Brad Jackson)
Tier 16b: We used to be starters in the Big Ten, Big 12 or SEC (11 players)
App State (AJ Swann, JJ Kohl)
Bowling Green (Drew Pyne, Lucian Anderson III)
Eastern Michigan (Noah Kim, Jeremiah Salem)
UMass (Brandon Rose, AJ Hairston, Grant Jordan)
Utah State (Bryson Barnes, Jacob Conover)
The Peter Principle suggests that people rise to the level of their incompetence. The inverse of this might be true in college football now, where QBs fall to the level of their competence. This tier has 79 career starts at the Power 4 level, winning 35 of them. These QBs moved on — in some cases, twice already — and now find themselves helming Group of 5 offenses. For a few, such as Finley and Veilleux, it has already proved to be a smart move. For the rest, 2025 could be the year they find new life at a slightly lower level.
QB comparison
QB A: 9-4 as a starter, 64% completions, 29 touchdown passes, 12 picks, 7.7 yards per attempt
QB B: 9-3 as a starter, 61% completions, 29 touchdown passes, 12 picks, 7.1 yards per attempt
Both guys are pretty solid, right? QB A is getting plenty of love for it, too. That’s LSU’s Nussmeier last season. QB B though? That’d be Bowling Green’s Pyne dating to 2021 across three different Power 5 schools.
Fun facts:
In the playoff era, Bryson Barnes is one of just five QBs to account for at least 17 touchdowns on fewer than 200 touches.
Finley’s last five games of the season at Akron: 3-2 record, 9 TD passes, 2 interceptions, 21 completions of 20 yards or more. Finley averaged 11.4 air yards per throw in that span, completing just 47% but averaging 14.7 yards per completion.
Tier 17: We can make this work (16 players)
Arkansas State (Jaylen Raynor, Ethan Crawford)
ECU (Katin Houser, Raheim Jeter)
FIU (Keyone Jenkins, Chayden Peery)
Georgia Southern (JC French, Turner Helton)
Louisiana Tech (Evan Bullock, Blake Baker)
Middle Tennessee (Nicholas Vattiato, Roman Gagliano)
Sam Houston (Hunter Watson, Mabrey Mettauer)
SJSU (Walker Eget, Xavier Ward)
There’s no shame in being in Tier 17. These QBs have all had a little success, proved they belong and figure to be perfectly good in 2025, too. They’re a little like flying out of Atlanta-Hartsfield. It’s far from a pleasant experience, but when you consider the context, it really should be so much worse.
QB comparison
QB A: 48.6 QBR, 56% completions, 22 touchdowns, 11 turnovers, 21 completions of 20 yards or more
QB B: 48.1 QBR, 62% completions, 21 touchdowns, 10 turnovers, 21 completions of 20 yards or more
QB A is one of the biggest names in the Group of 5 — Liberty’s Salter, now QB1 at Colorado. QB B is Sam Houston’s Watson.
Fun facts:
ECU’s Katin Houser had the lowest average time to delivery among returning QBs (2.35 seconds).
Jenkins’ last four games of the season: 70.3 QBR, 64% completions, 10.2 yards per pass, 12 touchdowns, one interception.
In six games vs. teams with a .500 record or better, Raynor had four touchdown passes and seven interceptions. In seven games vs. teams with a losing record, he threw 12 TD passes and three interceptions.
Vattiato has thrown for more yards (7,524) in his career than all but three other returning quarterbacks.
Tier 18a: New faces, good places (17 players)
Air Force (Josh Johnson, Liam Szarka, Maguire Martin)
Army (Dewayne Coleman, Cale Hellums, Ethan Washington)
Fresno State (E.J. Warner, Jayden Mandal)
Jacksonville State (Cade Cunningham, Gavin Wimsatt)
North Texas (Reese Poffenbarger, Drew Mestemaker)
San Diego State (Jayden Denegal, Bert Emanuel Jr)
Wyoming (Kaden Anderson, Mason Drube, Landon Sims)
Everyone in this tier has a fresh face at QB, but these schools have some history of talent at the position. Whether anyone can repeat the success of past stars such as Bryson Daily or Josh Allen, however, remains a big question.
Tier 18b: Welcome to the club (six players)
Delaware (Zach Marker, Nick Minicucci, Braden Streeter)
Missouri State (Jacob Clark, Drew Viotto, Deuce Bailey)
The two newest FBS programs both return established QBs with some talent, and given the quick success of JMU, Jacksonville State and Sam Houston after moving up from the FCS, it’s certainly possible these guys could make some noise in Conference USA.
Tier 18c: Lost that loving feeling (four players)
Troy (Goose Crowder, Tucker Kilcrease)
Western Kentucky (Maverick McIvor, Tucker Parks)
It’s just a shame that a QB named Maverick and a QB named Goose aren’t on the depth chart at Navy.
Fun facts:
The only active QBs with more multi-touchdown passing games than Warner (18): Finn, Aguilar and Pavia.
Warner’s 37 career interceptions are the most by any returning QB.
Air Force’s QBR from 2019 through 2022: 67.9. Air Force’s QBR the past two seasons: 34.6.
Tier 19: It could be worse (21 players)
Ball State (Kiael Kelly, Walter Taylor III)
Buffalo (Ta’Quan Roberson, Gunnar Gray)
Central Michigan (Joe Labas, Angel Flores)
Marshall (Zion Turner, Carlos Del Rio-Wilson)
New Mexico State (Logan Fife, Parker Awad)
Northern Illinois (Josh Holst, Jalen Macon)
Rice (AJ Padgett, Drew Devillier)
Temple (Evan Simon, Gevani McCoy, Anthony Chiccitt)
UAB (Jalen Kitna, Ryder Burton)
UTEP (Skyler Locklear, Malachi Nelson)
Each year, there are quarterbacks who fly completely beneath the radar, have perfectly fine seasons, and for one random Tuesday night in November, capture the imagination of a few thousand of the most die-hard college football fans by throwing for 400 yards and six touchdowns against Akron. Somewhere in this tier is that QB for 2025.
Fun facts:
Turner and Del-Rio Wilson have combined to play for six schools, make 14 starts and throw 13 touchdown passes.
Kitna vs. Tulsa last season: 78% completions, 6 touchdown passes, 12.6 yards per pass.
Kitna vs. everyone else: 60% completions, 11 touchdown passes, 11 picks, 6.4 yards per pass.
Last season, Labas threw five interceptions against Florida International. Every other quarterback in the country accounted for six interceptions against Florida International. Labas accounted for 17% of all of FIU’s interceptions since 2020
Locklear and UConn’s Nick Evers are the only FBS QBs to throw for 90 yards or fewer while attempting at least 10 passes in four different games last season.
Tier 20: Nowhere but up (16 players)
Hawai’i (Micah Alejado, Luke Weaver, Jarret Nielsen)
Kennesaw State (Dexter Williams, Amari Odom)
Kent State (Devin Kargman, Ruel Tomlinson)
New Mexico (Cole Welliver, Toa Faavae, Jack Layne)
Tulsa (Kirk Francis, Carson Horton)
UL Monroe (Aiden Armenta, Hunter Herring)
Western Michigan (Broc Lowry, Brady Jones)
Each season, only a few hundred players get to say they’re an FBS quarterback. These guys are among them. That’s something.
Fun facts:
QBs with seven or more starts who threw more interceptions than touchdowns last season:
Zeon Chriss: four TDs, eight picks
Gevani McCoy: three TDs, six picks
Ashton Daniels: 10 TDs, 12 picks
Isaac Wilson: 10 TDs, 11 picks
Bryce Archie: nine TDs, 10 picks
Jack Lausch: seven TDs, eight picks
Armenta: nine TDs, 10 picks; he’s the only member of this group pegged to start again in 2025
No QBR-qualified player returning for 2025 finished last season with a lower QBR than Francis (27.7).
The last QB to start a win vs. an FBS team at Kent State is Collin Schlee. He played for two other teams since then and is out of eligibility.
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Bill Connelly
It feels like we know less about the college football landscape now than we did a month ago. Virginia is ranked, and Clemson very much isn’t. Ole Miss, Oklahoma and Texas A&M are unbeaten and ranked in the AP top six, and Texas, Alabama, Georgia and LSU are not. If you knew nothing about college football history and dove into this crazy world only this season, you would believe that Indiana, Texas Tech and Vanderbilt are three of the most elite programs in the country.
It’s into this murky world that we wade for Week 6. Last week boasted serious headliners that clarified the Big Ten’s hierarchy (Oregon over Penn State) and very much blurred the SEC’s (Bama over Georgia, Ole Miss over LSU). Week 6 doesn’t feature the same marquee matchups, but we still get Miami-Florida State, plus many games that are far bigger and better than we expected — Bama against unbeaten Vandy, Virginia against unbeaten Louisville, Texas Tech against unbeaten Houston, and Iowa State against a scorching Cincinnati.
Welcome to October. It’s hard to see where this season is taking us, but that makes the journey awfully fun. Here’s everything you need to follow in a surprising, mysterious Week 6.
All times Eastern.
Revenge time in Tuscaloosa?
No. 16 Vanderbilt at No. 10 Alabama (3:30 p.m., ABC)
Part of succeeding a legend is that we notice anytime you don’t live up to the legend’s standards. Granted, Kalen DeBoer has proven adept at continuing Nick Saban’s relative success against Kirby Smart’s Georgia, but DeBoer’s track record otherwise has some holes. He has already lost four games to unranked teams, as many as Saban lost in 17 years. Not great.
Saban was particularly good at putting upstarts in their place — think of Michigan State and Washington in the College Football Playoff. Or Missouri in the SEC championship game. Or Mississippi State every time the Bulldogs thought they were good. He was also good at revenge. His Crimson Tide bopped Tim Tebow’s Florida in 2009 and beat LSU by three TDs when they got a second shot at the Tigers in the 2011 BCS Championship Game. They lost to Auburn four times but won the following year by an average of 25 points.
You might remember what happened the last time Alabama played Vanderbilt.
0:52
Vanderbilt fans storm field after historic win over Alabama
Vanderbilt hangs on for its first-ever win over a No. 1 ranked team in a thrilling 40-35 victory over Alabama.
Vandy has to go to Tuscaloosa this time, which sets up a revenge opportunity. But the Commodores are much better this time. They’re 11th in SP+, and they’re scoring 49 points per game. Diego Pavia is third nationally in Total QBR (and maybe the second-best power conference quarterback to date), completing 75% of his passes and averaging nearly 7 yards per non-sack carry. Backs Sedrick Alexander and Makhilyn Young are averaging 6.9 yards per carry, tight end Eli Stowers is catching everything and receiver Junior Sherrill has scored on five of his 17 receptions.
The Commodores are combining ruthless efficiency with above-average explosiveness.
Because Vandy has so thoroughly taken care of business through five games, Pavia hasn’t had to do as much — he had taken contact 108 times through five games last year (and battled wear-and-tear issues later in the season), but he’s at only 65 hits this year. If he needs to run more in the bigger games, he can probably handle it.
The Commodores’ defense isn’t amazing, but it’s also better than it was last season. Vandy plays decent run defense with great big-play prevention against the pass; safety CJ Heard is excellent, and linebackers Bryan Longwell and Khordae Sydnor swarm well.
Alabama remains an unfinished picture. The Crimson Tide’s defense looked downright unprepared in Week 1 against Florida State, but it has allowed only 11.7 points per game since. The Crimson Tide don’t create nearly enough negative plays, but they don’t give up big plays either, and safety Bray Hubbard keys a frustrating zone defense.
The offense has been the star of the show. Ty Simpson looked disheveled against Florida State, but he has been brilliant since, and the Tide are up to sixth in points per drive despite a below-average run game. They couldn’t quite close out Georgia after a brilliant first half, but Simpson is incredibly sharp, and the offensive line has shored up a lot of its Week 1 breakdowns.
After what happened in 2024, this game is symbolically huge. But it’s also just part of a huge stretch for both teams. Alabama just took down Georgia, but five of the Tide’s next six opponents rank 17th or better in SP+. At absolute worst, they’ll need to win four of six to keep their CFP hopes alive. Meanwhile, five of Vandy’s past seven opponents are also 17th or better. Without an obvious quality win yet, they’ll probably need to win five of seven. Now would be an apt time for Bama to throw its weight around and remind everyone who’s supposed to be the boss. But based solely on 2025 to date, the Commodores might yet be the Tide’s equal.
Current line: Bama -10.5 | SP+ projection: Bama by 2.5 | FPI projection: Bama by 6.9
A high-stakes doubleheader in the ACC
Virginia’s upset of Florida State last week damaged the hype value of one ACC matchup but heightened another. FSU hosts unbeaten Miami on Saturday evening in desperate need of a turnaround win, but the winner of the afternoon’s Virginia-Louisville game — a matchup of the teams with the second- (Louisville) and fourth-best (Virginia) ACC title odds, per SP+ — will be positioned wonderfully, too.
No. 3 Miami at No. 18 Florida State (7:30 p.m., ABC)
In some ways, you could say that Florida State was flying a little too high. The Seminoles had been nearly perfect in 2024, manhandling Alabama and humiliating two buy-game opponents (East Texas A&M and Kent State), and they were due a bad break or two. The defense hadn’t faced a tough and efficient run game like Virginia’s (including Alabama’s), and the offense had faced barely a down of adversity. Regression ran its course in Charlottesville last Friday night, when FSU lost an early fumble, gave up an acrobatic red zone interception and saw a juggling overtime touchdown catch go incomplete by millimeters. Stuff happens.
Even in the playoff era, though, a “stuff happens” loss can wipe out your margin for error. Thanks to early-season collapses from Clemson and Florida, Miami is the last SP+ top-40 opponent on FSU’s schedule, meaning this is likely the Seminoles’ last chance at another high-visibility win.
On paper, this one’s awfully even. Miami has its own solid, physical run game like Virginia’s, one with a bit better blocking but fewer yards after contact. The Hurricanes also have Carson Beck and a passing attack that rules third downs. It’s lacking explosiveness — Beck is averaging just 11.9 yards per completion — and therefore doesn’t generate loads of easy points. But it’s an efficient attack, and FSU’s defense has allowed a few more third-and-long conversions than is preferable.
With how well Notre Dame’s offense has played since, Miami’s Week 1 defensive performance against the Fighting Irish (24 points and 5.4 yards per play allowed) looks awfully impressive. But FSU’s offense has quite a bit to offer, even with the misfires against Virginia. The Seminoles rank first in points per drive and second in yards per play. Virginia hemmed in quarterback Tommy Castellanos and forced him to throw instead of making plays on the perimeter — it’s the key to keeping a lid on a Castellanos attack — but FSU still scored 35 points in regulation and averaged 6.4 yards per play. The ceiling is high even if teams defend the Noles correctly. Gavin Sawchuk and Ousmane Kromah average a combined 5.8 yards per carry with a 59% success rate, and Duce Robinson and Micahi Danzy have combined for 24 catches and 514 yards. And this is still one of the best Net YAC teams in the country.
Considering Miami took down Florida in part due to physical running, whoever generates more success in this regard could have a huge advantage.
With tackle Rueben Bain Jr. at full force and getting help from disruptors such as linebacker Mohamed Toure and nickel back Keionte Scott, Miami’s defense might be even better than Bama’s. It will land some shots, but if FSU can hold Beck and the Canes to 24 or fewer points, you have to like the Seminoles’ chances.
Current line: Miami -4.5 | SP+ projection: Miami by 2.1 | FPI projection: Miami by 3.9
No. 24 Virginia at Louisville (3:30 p.m., ESPN2)
What’s Virginia’s reward for winning a big game against an explosive Florida State offense? A big game against an explosive Louisville offense! Granted, Cardinals quarterback Miller Moss is more of an efficiency player, but wideout Chris Bell has big-play potential, and if or when the Louisville running back corps is healthy, look out. Isaac Brown and Duke Watson have battled injury, and they’ve combined for only 56 carries this year, but Brown is averaging 8.1 yards per carry (6.1 after contact!), and Watson averaged 8.9 in 2024.
Brown and Watson should be as close to full speed Saturday as they’ve been all year, and that’s good because Louisville has played against two SP+ top-50 defenses and averaged just 4.8 yards per play against them. The defense has improved a bit after slippage in recent years, thanks mostly to a pass rush led by star transfers Clev Lubin and Wesley Bailey, but for the Cardinals to live up to growing expectations, the run game will need to shift into gear.
Virginia, meanwhile, has already exceeded expectations. Obliterated them. Blown them to smithereens.
The transfer portal provides miracles for some teams each year and disaster for others, and it smiled on the Cavaliers with the potent additions of quarterback Chandler Morris, running back J’Mari Taylor, receivers Cam Ross and Jahmal Edrine and about 10 new rotation defenders, including star edge rushers Mitchell Melton and Daniel Rickert and nickel back Ja’son Prevard. The defense allows too many big plays and has allowed touchdowns on 80% of opponents’ red zone trips (125th nationally), and that was costly in a Week 2 loss to NC State. But the Hoos rule third downs on offense and defense, and that will take you pretty far. UVA has won more than eight games in a season just once in 17 years, but SP+ says there’s a 57% chance of at least a 9-3 finish. What a world.
Current line: Louisville -6.5 | SP+ projection: Louisville by 9.2 | FPI projection: Louisville by 1.4
This week in the Big 12
Five weeks into the 2024 season, we thought we had a decent read on the Big 12. BYU and Iowa State were still unbeaten, and Kansas State and Utah were 4-1 and looking good. Per SP+, those four teams had about a two-in-three chance of winning the conference. Arizona was 3-1 and hoping to make a run. 3-2 Oklahoma State and 3-1 Arizona State had equal long shot odds.
But the conference had all sorts of surprises in store. Utah lost seven games in a row, and Kansas State lost three of four down the stretch. Arizona and OSU went a combined 1-14 the rest of the way, while Arizona State transformed into a top-10 caliber team in November and won the conference title.
We probably don’t know anything about this conference race yet, in other words, no matter how much it feels like we do. Texas Tech has looked spectacular in its first four games, and Iowa State, BYU, Utah and Arizona State are all positioned pretty well. But Week 6 sends the top two favorites on the road against upstarts and offers a few teams with early losses a chance to get right and stay in the race. We have some plot-twist opportunities for a conference that loves nothing more than delivering them.
No. 11 Texas Tech at Houston (7 p.m., ESPN)
Texas Tech has been genuinely awesome this season, walloping three bad teams as an elite team should and then physically manhandling Utah in Salt Lake City two weeks ago. They’ve been awesome at pretty much everything — they’re fifth in yards per play on offense and defense — and aside from a predilection for penalties and some injury-prone tendencies for quarterback Behren Morton, we don’t really know their weaknesses yet.
Houston’s a little bit easier to figure out. Defense: good. Offense: not so much. The Cougars are ninth in yards per play allowed and are very much in the best quadrant of this chart.
Willie Fritz lost defensive coordinator Shiel Wood to Tech, but the UH defense has been even better with replacement Austin Armstrong. But the Conner Weigman-led offense remains a work in progress. The Coogs go three-and-out nearly 39% of the time (124th), and that will probably be their downfall in this one. But if the defense sets up some easy scoring opportunities, this one quickly moves into “upset watch” territory.
Current line: Tech -10.5 (down from -12.5 on Sunday) | SP+ projection: Tech by 13.9 | FPI projection: Tech by 7.0
No. 14 Iowa State at Cincinnati (noon, ESPN2)
If you combined Cincinnati’s offense with Houston’s defense, you’d have a potential top-10 team. Last Saturday’s 37-34 win at Kansas inserted the Bearcats into the Big 12 title conversation. We’ll see if the Bearcats have the defensive chops to remain a factor — their run defense is strong thanks in part to star tackle Dontay Corleone (who’s as questionable this week), but they’re 136th, last nationally, in completion rate allowed. But quarterback Brendan Sorsby is on a roll, and Cincy ranks first nationally in rushing success rate. Track meets could work out well for the Bearcats.
Iowa State is not a track meet team. The Cyclones have allowed more than 16 points just once in five games, but they’ve also topped 24 only twice. ISU runs a lot on first down but doesn’t get very far, so quarterback Rocco Becht has to convert a lot of third downs. He usually pulls it off, though, either with deep shots to Brett Eskildsen and Chase Sowell or passes to any of four tight ends.
The ISU defense is strong once again. The Cyclones rarely invade the backfield, but Domonique Orange occupies space up front (he’s listed as probable this week), and they tackle well, prevent big plays and pounce on mistakes. Sorsby hasn’t made many mistakes lately, though.
Current line: Cincy -1.5 | SP+ projection: ISU by 3.2 | FPI projection: ISU by 0.3
Kansas State at Baylor (noon, ESPN+)
Kansas State suffered a three-week funk after losing to Iowa State in Dublin, Ireland, but quarterback Avery Johnson just enjoyed, by far, his best game of the season, and RB Dylan Edwards is finally healthy. The Wildcats still have only one conference loss, but their next four games — at Baylor, TCU, at Kansas, Texas Tech — will require a sustained A-game. Sawyer Robertson and the prolific Bears also have one conference loss and could easily stay in the conversation with a strong performance.
Current line: Baylor -6.5 | SP+ projection: Baylor by 3.4 | FPI projection: Baylor by 2.6
Kansas at UCF (7:30 p.m., ESPN2)
UCF makes a lot of big plays but can’t keep a quarterback healthy and missed a solid upset opportunity with a poor performance at Kansas State last week. With last week’s defeat to Cincinnati, meanwhile, Kansas has dropped eight of its past nine one-score finishes since late 2023. Iowa State weathered a similar streak recently before flipping that script, and if KU does the same, it’s not too late to get into the race. It’s now or never, though.
Current line: Kansas -4.5 | SP+ projection: Kansas by 1.2 | FPI projection: Kansas by 1.5
A CFP eliminator of sorts
Boise State at No. 21 Notre Dame (3:30 p.m., NBC)
Last week was great and terrible for Notre Dame. On one hand, the Fighting Irish looked spectacular in making Arkansas quit in a 56-13 road blowout. The offense is improving rapidly, and CJ Carr is quickly becoming one of the nation’s best quarterbacks. Meanwhile, despite injuries to star corner Leonard Moore and tackle Donovan Hinish, among others, the defense finally showed some life after a poor start to 2025. Notre Dame is the projected favorite in every remaining game.
On the other hand, the Irish’s potential CFP résumé, should they win out and get to 10-2, took a hit. USC’s loss to Illinois hurt their potential for a top-10 win, and four other upcoming opponents all lost. It will be difficult for the Irish to stand out in a pile of two-loss teams, even if they deliver blowouts.
The blowouts must continue regardless. And we’ll see how that goes against a Boise State team that has shifted nicely into gear. The running back trio of Sire Gaines, Dylan Riley and Malik Sherrod combined for 190 yards from scrimmage last week against Appalachian State, while Maddux Madsen threw for 321 yards and four touchdowns. The pass rush, led by Jayden Virgin-Morgan and Braxton Fely, delivered five sacks. The Mountain West has a growing number of potential contenders this season — UNLV, Fresno State, perhaps New Mexico or San Diego State — but the Broncos still lead the pack.
Under Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame has been either ridiculously rude or ridiculously accommodating to aspirational Group of 5 opponents. The Irish fell 26-21 to Marshall in 2022 and, famously, 16-14 to Northern Illinois last year, but they also pummeled excellent Army and Navy teams last fall. Boise State has looked like Boise State since the demoralizing Week 1 dud against South Florida, and an upset here would push the Broncos back to the top of the pile in the Group of 5. Both of these teams have big-play capabilities, plus defenses that have been a little too willing to give up a chunk play or two. Let’s see if BSU can keep up with an increasingly ruthless Notre Dame attack.
Current line: Irish -20.5 (up from -17.5) | SP+ projection: Irish by 13.5 | FPI projection: Irish by 18.8
Week 6 chaos superfecta
We’re once again using this space to will chaos into existence, looking at four carefully curated games with pretty big point spreads and mashing them together into a much more upset-friendly number. Houston’s overtime win over Oregon State cost us a fourth win in five tries — how could you do that to us, Coogs? — but 3-for-5 is still pretty good.
Going 4-for-6 is even better, though. SP+ tells us there’s only a 55% chance that Nebraska (81% win probability against Michigan State), Illinois (85% over Purdue), Michigan (88% over Wisconsin) and Ohio State (90% over Minnesota) all win. It’s time to take down a Big Ten favorite.
Week 6 playlist
Here are some more games you should pay attention to if you want to get the absolute most out of the weekend, from both information and entertainment perspectives.
Friday evening
West Virginia at No. 23 BYU (10:30 p.m., ESPN). I’m sticking this one in the Playlist instead of the Big 12 section above because of the larger point spread. BYU overcame a poor performance to remain unbeaten against Colorado, and the Cougars could probably withstand another iffy game this weekend. But it feels like a race to get quarterback Bear Bachmeier — 48th in Total QBR, 51st in yards per dropback — ready for an epic run of high-stakes Big 12 games on the horizon.
Current line: BYU -18.5 | SP+ projection: BYU by 22.4 | FPI projection: BYU by 23.5
New Mexico at San José State (10 p.m., FS1). I’m not sure anyone in college football is having more fun than New Mexico.
You Know The Vibes™️#GoLobos pic.twitter.com/Ix1Nx8lPxZ
— New Mexico Football (@UNMLoboFB) September 27, 2025
The Lobos frustrated Michigan, stomped UCLA and beat rival New Mexico State for the Chile Roaster trophy. Now, with trips to San José and Boise in the next two weeks, we find out if this is a fun bowl push or a fun Mountain West title push.
Current line: SJSU -2.5 | SP+ projection: UNM by 1.0 | FPI projection: UNM by 0.9
Early Saturday
Clemson at North Carolina (noon, ESPN). One of the most noteworthy ACC games in the preseason — Dabo Swinney’s top-five Clemson versus Bill Belichick’s North Carolina! — still packs intrigue, but it’s mostly negative. Clemson has lost to all three of its power-conference opponents, and UNC has lost to two by a combined 82-23. Clemson likely has too much talent for the Heels, but, well, that hasn’t stopped the Tigers from playing like they have thus far.
Current line: Clemson -14.5 | SP+ projection: Clemson by 7.7 | FPI projection: Clemson by 8.3
No. 22 Illinois at Purdue (noon, BTN). Illinois responded well to its humiliation at Indiana two weeks ago, beating USC in a nailbiter in Champaign. Now comes a different kind of test. Purdue has a spry passing game and an aggressive (if spectacularly dysfunctional) defense, and if the Illini are caught looking ahead to next week’s Ohio State game, the Boilermakers could land some punches.
Current line: Illinois -9.5 | SP+ projection: Illinois by 16.7 | FPI projection: Illinois by 7.0
Kentucky at No. 12 Georgia (noon, ABC). Kentucky nearly beat Georgia last season before the wheels totally fell off in Lexington, but four games into 2025, the Wildcats still haven’t put the wheels back on. This is a get-right opportunity for Kirby Smart’s surprisingly mediocre (by their standards) Dawgs before Ole Miss visits in two weeks.
Current line: UGA -20.5 | SP+ projection: UGA by 17.4 | FPI projection: UGA by 17.0
Wisconsin at No. 20 Michigan (noon, Fox). Michigan is a week away from a huge trip to USC, but the Wolverines must first handle a Wisconsin team that has just continued to fall into further depths. Badgers quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. should finally be near full strength, which can’t hurt, but they have just been lifeless this year.
Current line: Michigan -17.5 | SP+ projection: Michigan by 18.8 | FPI projection: Michigan by 15.8
Air Force at Navy (noon, CBS). Air Force might have found its next awesome option quarterback in sophomore Liam Szarka. Unfortunately, the Falcons’ defense has allowed at least 44 points against all three of its FBS opponents. Will that matter or will this become the typical battle of attrition that service-academy rivalry games frequently become?
Current line: Navy -12.5 | SP+ projection: Navy by 18.7 | FPI projection: Navy by 13.2
Saturday afternoon
No. 9 Texas at Florida (3:30 p.m., ESPN). I wouldn’t have guessed this one would be relegated to the Playlist, but here we are. Florida’s defense is excellent and could absolutely frustrate Arch Manning & Co., but the Gators have scored 33 points in three games against FBS opponents, and Texas has the best defense in the country, per SP+. It’s hard to think of anything else mattering beyond that.
Current line: Texas -6.5 | SP+ projection: Texas by 9.9 | FPI projection: Texas by 7.8
Washington at Maryland (3:30 p.m., BTN). On Christmas Day in 1982, Washington’s Tim Cowan outdueled Maryland’s Boomer Esiason, throwing for 369 yards and three touchdowns — including the game winner with six seconds left — as the Huskies won a 21-20 Aloha Bowl thriller. I just listed the entire football history between these two new conference mates.
Current line: UW -6.5 | SP+ projection: Maryland by 1.6 | FPI projection: UW by 0.5
Michigan State at Nebraska (4 p.m., FS1). Michigan State’s Aidan Chiles and Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola have made nice strides this season, but only Raiola is getting help from his defense. Can Chiles, receiver Omari Kelly and the Spartans’ offense suck the Huskers into a track meet or is the NU pass defense — first nationally in yards per dropback — too much?
Current line: Nebraska -11.5 | SP+ projection: Nebraska by 13.7 | FPI projection: Nebraska by 13.1
No. 7 Penn State at UCLA (3:30 p.m., CBS). Penn State should get back on track after last week’s frustrating loss to Oregon, but I’m highlighting this game primarily to point out that, per SP+, UCLA is a projected underdog of at least 16 points in every remaining game and has a 61% chance of finishing 0-12. It was easy to see this season perhaps not going well, but wow.
Current line: PSU -25.5 | SP+ projection: PSU by 32.5 | FPI projection: PSU by 20.2
Kent State at No. 5 Oklahoma (4 p.m., SECN). OK, yes, OU will win by a lot. But with John Mateer out because of injury, we’ll get a look at how backup Michael Hawkins Jr. runs the Ben Arbuckle offense and what kind of chance the Sooners might have against Texas next week.
Current line: OU -45.5 | SP+ projection: OU by 48.0 | FPI projection: OU by 46.3
Saturday evening
Mississippi State at No. 6 Texas A&M (7:30 p.m., SECN). Texas A&M nearly suffered a “stuff happens” loss last week, dominating Auburn statistically but winning by only 6, but the Aggies remain unbeaten and are projected favorites in the next three games. This one’s interesting, though. A&M makes and allows big plays, while Mississippi State, having already played in two down-to-the-wire finishes with more to come, makes and allows few.
Current line: A&M -14.5 | SP+ projection: A&M by 4.9 | FPI projection: A&M by 9.0
Minnesota at No. 1 Ohio State (7:30 p.m., NBC). Ohio State faced one of the best offensive teams in the country (to date) last week at Washington and brushed the Huskies aside with relative ease. Now, the Buckeyes face one of the most reliably solid defenses in the country. Minnesota tackles well and generates loads of negative plays, which will provide Julian Sayin & Co. with a different type of test. I’m guessing they’ll ace this one too.
Current line: OSU -23.5 | SP+ projection: OSU by 20.7 | FPI projection: OSU by 23.1
Colorado at TCU (7:30 p.m., Fox). As with BYU, TCU is a Big 12 contender facing a theoretically easier challenge this year. Granted, all three of Colorado’s losses were by one score, and the Buffaloes could score an upset or two down the stretch (especially with more stable QB play). But TCU should control the line of scrimmage in this one and move to 4-1.
Current line: TCU -13.5 (down from -15.5) | SP+ projection: TCU by 12.4 | FPI projection: TCU by 9.0
UNLV at Wyoming (7 p.m., CBSSN). UNLV is unbeaten and has scored at least 30 points in every game; the Rebels’ defense, however, is dreadful, especially against the run. Wyoming backs Samuel Harris and Sam Scott are both strong yards-after-contact players, and the Cowboys might have a shot at making this one awkward for an ambitious conference rival.
Current line: UNLV -3.5 (down from -5.5) | SP+ projection: UNLV by 4.9 | FPI projection: UNLV by 6.6
Late Saturday
Duke at California (10:30 p.m., ESPN). Washington-Maryland feels like the most geographically ridiculous conference game of the week, but this one isn’t much better. It’s a pretty big one, though, with the teams a combined 3-0 in ACC play. Duke’s offense (31st in points per drive) facing Cal’s defense (29th) could be appointment viewing. Cal’s offense (86th) against Duke’s defense (99th), not so much.
Current line: Duke -2.5 | SP+ projection: Duke by 6.1 | FPI projection: Duke by 2.9
Nevada at Fresno State (10:30 p.m., CBSSN). Since a poor Week 0 performance against Kansas, Fresno State is unbeaten. Plus, the Bulldogs are projected underdogs in only one remaining game, meaning they’re Mountain West contenders until proven otherwise. Nevada doesn’t have much to offer, but the Wolf Pack have a randomly explosive run game with backs Herschel Turner and Caleb Ramseur.
Current line: Fresno -13.5 | SP+ projection: Fresno by 18.9 | FPI projection: Fresno by 14.7
Smaller-school showcase
Let’s once again save a shout-out for the glorious lower levels of the sport. Here are three games you should track.
FCS: Yale at No. 8 Lehigh (noon, ESPN+). We’re looking at a ferocious Ivy League race among Harvard (fourth in FCS SP+), Yale (10th) and Dartmouth (18th) — one that has FCS playoff implications because the Ivy is sending a team now. But first, Yale gets a huge nonconference showdown with a Lehigh team that has won 11 of its past 12 games thanks, in part, to backs Luke Yoder and Jaden Green (combined: 207.2 rushing yards per game) and a ferocious and diverse pass rush.
SP+ projection: Lehigh by 1.8.
Division III: No. 5 Wisconsin-La Crosse at No. 10 Wisconsin-Whitewater (2 p.m., local streaming). It’s the first weekend of one of college football’s most exciting conference races: the WIAC, which has four of the top 11 teams in Division III, based on SP+. Two of them meet Saturday. Whitewater has dominated this series through most of the 2000s, but La Crosse, led by prolific quarterback Kyle Haas, has won the past two games.
SP+ projection: UWW by 6.4.
Division II: No. 9 UT Permian Basin at No. 5 Angelo State (7 p.m., FloCollege). Angelo State is unbeaten and averaging 39 points per game this season behind backs Cameron Dischler and Jayden Jones and a relentless, deep run game. UTPB? Also unbeaten and averaging 38.8 points per game thanks to quarterback Kanon Gibson and a prolific passing game. Track meet: likely.
SP+ projection: Angelo State by 7.6.
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Greg Wyshynski
The Anaheim Ducks have locked up defenseman Jackson LaCombe, a key part of their rebuilding team, on an eight-year contract extension, the team announced Thursday.
The deal carries a $9 million average annual value, a source told ESPN on Thursday, the same AAV as the deal defenseman Luke Hughes signed with the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday, although that was on a seven-year term.
LaCombe’s contract is the largest ever given out by the Ducks and will begin in the 2026-27 season and end in 2033-34. He has one year left on a two-year bridge deal ($925,000 AAV) that he signed in 2024.
Anaheim general manager Pat Verbeek said extending LaCombe was “a priority” for the team and that the young defenseman has “all of the tools to be an anchor on our back end for many years to come.”
“Both sides were looking at long-term deals, so I think it came together pretty quickly,” Verbeek said after the Ducks’ practice in Irvine, California. “What we’re all trying to gauge the landscape of where salaries are going [with the future NHL salary cap], so I feel really comfortable with the contract and the character of Jackson LaCombe. And the player, and I still think there’s lots of upside and growth in his game. I think the best is still to come from Jackson.”
LaCombe, 24, was selected No. 39 in the 2019 NHL draft. He has 60 points in 148 NHL games, with a career-best 14 goals and 29 assists in 75 games last season for the Ducks as he formed an effective pairing with bruising veteran defenseman Radko Gudas.
LaCombe said it was an “easy decision” to go long term in Anaheim.
“I love it here,” LaCombe said. “I love being here. I love playing here. I love all my teammates here, too, so for me it was an easy decision. … It’s easy to live here. You could say the weather [is a positive] and the place is so nice, but just the group we have has been great for me. Everybody has been so welcoming for the last two years, so I’m grateful for that and I’m just excited to be here for a long time.”
A Minnesota alum, LaCombe was invited to the U.S. men’s Olympic orientation camp, putting him in contention for a spot on the 2026 men’s hockey team that will contend for gold in Italy. LaCombe helped the U.S. win gold at the 2025 world championships — the Americans’ first gold at the event in 92 years.
LaCombe is the first player to re-sign in the Ducks’ large class of restricted free agents coming up next summer. He was slated to be an RFA alongside center Leo Carlsson, left wing Cutter Gauthier and defensemen Olen Zellweger and Pavel Mintyukov.
“Jackson is the first domino to fall, and we’re working on other stuff as well,” Verbeek said.
Overall, LaCombe is the second big signing for Verbeek in the past week. The Ducks and restricted free agent center Mason McTavish agreed to a six-year, $42 million extension Saturday, ending a contentious negotiation that kept him out of training camp.
Anaheim is seeking its first playoff berth since 2018.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
The Florida Panthers have agreed to an eight-year extension with defenseman Niko Mikkola, and as a result have locked in each of their top four defensemen until at least 2030.
Sources said the extension has an average annual value of $5 million.
Mikkola’s new deal, announced Thursday by general manager Bill Zito without financial terms, comes as the Panthers begin their quest for a three-peat without two of their biggest stars. Matthew Tkachuk is recovering from offseason surgery and is expected to be back around December. Captain Aleksander Barkov tore an ACL and MCL at a preseason practice and has a projected recovery from surgery of seven to nine months.
Mikkola, 29, has found his game with the Panthers, where he was a key defensive cog in each of their Stanley Cup wins. He has appeared in 46 playoff games over the past two seasons, averaging 19:23 per contest. He also scored some clutch (if unlikely) goals, including the game winner in Game 3 of the 2025 Eastern Conference finals against the Carolina Hurricanes. At 6-foot-6 and 205 pounds, Mikkola’s game blends physicality with strong skating.
“Niko has proven himself to be a dependable defenseman who uses his speed and physicality to impact both ends of the ice,” Zito said in a statement. “He was an indispensable piece of our past two championship campaigns, and we are thrilled that Niko will be continuing his career with the Florida Panthers.”
A native of Finland, Mikkola was selected by the St. Louis Blues in the fifth round (No. 127) of the 2015 NHL draft. After three seasons in St. Louis, he was traded to the New York Rangers in 2023 as part of the Vladimir Tarasenko deal.
He signed a three-year, $7.5 million contract with the Panthers in 2023 as a free agent. This season is the final year of that deal; the extension will kick in for 2026-27 and runs through 2033-34. Fellow Panthers defensemen Gustav Forsling, Aaron Ekblad and Seth Jones have already committed to long-term deals.
Mikkola is expected to be named to the Finnish team for the 2026 Olympics in Milan.
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