Ranking all 68 Power 4 QBs: A surprise No. 1, where’s Arch Manning and more
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Bill Connelly
Preseason All-American Cade Klubnik’s team is 1-3 and he’s 94th in Total QBR. Preseason Heisman favorite Arch Manning is 71st. Sam Leavitt, Nico Iamaleava and Drew Allar, all playoff quarterbacks in 2024, are 61st, 76th and 88th, respectively. On the flip side, Notre Dame redshirt freshman C.J. Carr and Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss, a Division II transfer, are in the top five in Total QBR.
We knew this could be an odd college football season for quarterback play, with so many top teams fielding new starters and only a few known entities — including Klubnik and Allar, who have not earned that label — starting out near the top of the polls. But this has all been even stranger than we could have imagined.
With a month gone in the 2025 season, let’s take stock. We’ve seen plenty of stellar quarterback play, but a lot of it has come from unexpected sources. So let’s rank every power conference team’s quarterback (or quarterback situation) as we head into October.
(Note: References to rushing yards in stat lines below do not include sack yardage.)
Total QBR: 93.4 | Pass Yds: 1,587 | Rush Yds: 80 | Total TDs: 15
He was let down by his defense against Illinois on Saturday, but Maiava is comfortably No. 1 in Total QBR through September, and among QBR-qualified quarterbacks, he’s one of only two to rank in the top 20 in both completion rate (70.5%) and yards per completion (16.2). Illinois was comfortably his worst game of the season, and he still threw for 364 yards with a Total QBR of 85.5.
Total QBR: 88.4 | Pass Yds: 1,211 | Rush Yds: 306 | Total TDs: 15
We still don’t know if Vandy has the raw explosiveness (or defense) to survive a brutal upcoming run of opponents — next four games: at Alabama, LSU, Missouri, at Texas — but we do know that Pavia’s efficiency has gone from good to ruthless in 2025. Fewer negative plays, fewer (but more effective) scrambles and a 75% completion rate. Ridiculously good.
Total QBR: 87.6 | Pass Yds: 1,033 | Rush Yds: 269 | Total TDs: 7
Austin Simmons started the season pretty well as Ole Miss’ starter, but when he injured his ankle, Chambliss stepped in and Wally Pipp’d him. He’s creating more explosive plays with far fewer negative plays and more of a run threat. Last December, he torched Valdosta State to lead Ferris State to the Division II national title. This December, he might lead Ole Miss onto the field for its first SEC championship game.
Total QBR: 82.1 | Pass Yds: 1,208 | Rush Yds: 132 | Total TDs: 18
Indiana ranks first nationally in success rate*, and Mendoza ranks first among QBs. He survived an always tricky trip to Iowa City this past weekend, too, throwing for 233 yards and two touchdowns (albeit with an interception and two sacks). Kurtis Rourke was a huge part of Indiana’s surprise success last season, and thanks to Mendoza the Hoosiers are doing as well or even better this year.
(* Success rate: How frequently an offense is gaining 50% of necessary yardage on first down, 70% on second and 100% on third or fourth.)
Total QBR: 83.0 | Pass Yds: 1,210 | Rush Yds: 131 | Total TDs: 14
After an easy start to his first season as Oregon’s starter, Moore faced the biggest test of his career on a White Out evening at Penn State last Saturday. He threw for a wonderfully controlled 248 yards and three touchdowns with no sacks or interceptions and three rushing first downs. There are more tests to come, but that’s how you become the Heisman betting favorite virtually overnight.
Total QBR: 87.6 | Pass Yds: 1,043 | Rush Yds: 238 | Total TDs: 14
Cincinnati is basically one poor pass away from being one of the biggest stories of the early season. Sorsby’s underthrown interception cost the Bearcats a potential win over Nebraska in Week 1. He has otherwise piloted what might be the most well-rounded offense this side of USC and Indiana.
Saturday’s track meet win at Kansas inserted Sorsby and Cincy into the Big 12 race.
7. CJ Carr, Notre Dame
Total QBR: 88.4 | Pass Yds: 1,091 | Rush Yds: 60 | Total TDs: 10
Trinidad Chambliss against Arkansas two weeks ago: 21-of-29 passing for 353 yards with a touchdown. Carr against Arkansas on Saturday: 22-of-30 for 354 yards with four touchdowns. Arkansas’ defense may have completely quit Saturday, but the Fighting Irish made it happen. Carr doesn’t offer much of a run threat, but his Total QBR rating has improved each game this season.
Total QBR: 84.2 | Pass Yds: 1,138 | Rush Yds: 86 | Total TDs: 13
In his first road start of 2025, against Florida State, Simpson was stressed and inaccurate. In his second road start, he beat Georgia, throwing for 276 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for another score (and two other first downs). Projected over 13 games, he’s on pace for 3,700 passing yards, 42 combined touchdowns and, at the moment, zero interceptions. First impressions are rarely accurate.
Total QBR: 87.0 | Pass Yds: 951 | Rush Yds: 283 | Total TDs: 8
The less fair way to look at Williams’ performance this season: He has faced one good defense (Ohio State) and bombed the test, averaging 4.2 yards per dropback with as many sacks (six) as points scored. The fairer way: Ohio State’s defense is going to do that to just about anyone, and he has torched everyone else. He’s still top 10 in Total QBR, after all, and that’s opponent-adjusted.
Total QBR: 77.6 | Pass Yds: 1,262 | Rush Yds: 250 | Total TDs: 17
Kansas hasn’t solved its close-game woes this season, but considering the Jayhawks topped 30 points in both losses, it’s hard to blame Daniels and the offense for that. Daniels threw for 668 yards with 109 non-sack rushing yards and seven combined touchdowns in those losses, and he and the KU offense will continue to give the Jayhawks a chance in the close games still to come.
Total QBR: 82.2 | Pass Yds: 987 | Rush Yds: 17 | Total TDs: 10
It’s almost impossible to grade Sayin on the same scale as everyone else. He leads the nation with a 79% completion rate, he has taken only two sacks and he’s third in success rate. He’s keeping the trains on time beautifully. But he’s also throwing mostly short passes to extremely talented receivers, and his defense has yet to allow double-digit points in a game.
Total QBR: 75.5 | Pass Yds: 1,215 | Rush Yds: 211 | Total TDs: 11
Obviously this one’s a bit tricky, as Mateer is out for an undetermined amount of time after hand surgery. But since he’s expected back at some point this season, we’ll put him on this list.
Mateer is also tricky to evaluate because Oklahoma’s offense has been mediocre this season (61st in points per drive, 56th in yards per play), but anything good has probably been because of him. He’s carrying a heavy load for an otherwise poor run game, and he’s distributing the ball nicely among four pass catchers. I didn’t think he should be the Heisman favorite for his play, but he’s playing well with a high degree of difficulty.
Total QBR: 85.7 | Pass Yds: 1,279 | Rush Yds: 183 | Total TDs: 14
Over the past three seasons, Virginia’s leading passers have averaged 2,098 passing yards, 11 touchdowns and 11 interceptions per season. Projected over 13 games, Morris is on pace for 3,325 yards, 26 touchdowns and 10 picks. Throw in quality red zone rushing, and this is easily the best QB play the Cavaliers have seen since Brennan Armstrong’s peak in 2021.
Total QBR: 87.6 | Pass Yds: 1,398 | Rush Yds: 483 | Total TDs: 14
Like Jalon Daniels, you can’t really blame Green for his awful defense. All he has done is put himself on a pace for a season with 3,300 passing yards and 1,100 rushing yards (projected over 12 games). He still plays with fire — he has thrown five interceptions, and he has tempted fate with a few more INT-worthy throws — but he’s sixth in Total QBR because he makes more big plays than almost anyone.
Total QBR: 84.8 | Pass Yds: 1,183 | Rush Yds: 106 | Total TDs: 13
Sacks have become a problem for the veteran (he has taken 17 of them in five games), but he has hinted at a new level of upside in 2025 as well. In Saturday’s big rebound win over USC, Altmyer completed 20 of 26 passes for 328 yards and two scores and had a rushing TD as well. He’s completing a career-high 71% of his passes for a career-best 13.1 yards per completion.
Total QBR: 78.3 | Pass Yds: 848 | Rush Yds: 223 | Total TDs: 8
He’s never going to be the most consistent passer in the world, but almost no other QB combines Castellanos’ big-play passing threat with dangerous scrambling.
Virginia showed what can happen if you manage to hem Castellanos in and force him to pass instead of scrambling, but FSU still scored 35 points in regulation, and he still combined 254 passing yards with 78 rushing yards.
Total QBR: 72.2 | Pass Yds: 1,459 | Rush Yds: 76 | Total TDs: 15
After a nearly flawless start, Aguilar’s game has sprung some leaks of late — he has thrown five interceptions in his past three games and took a pair of sacks against Mississippi State. Still, he has brought the explosiveness back to the Tennessee offense, averaging 14.3 yards per completion while taking only three sacks all season. Not bad for a guy on his third school (and third offense) in 12 months.
Total QBR: 81.9 | Pass Yds: 972 | Rush Yds: 38 | Total TDs: 8
It’s hard to figure out Beck and Miami’s offense at the moment. The Hurricanes are up to third in the AP poll, and he’s the No. 4 Heisman betting favorite with a 73% completion rate (ninth among qualified QBs). But he’s 68th nationally in yards per completion (11.9) and 95th in interception rate (2.7%), and he provides no run threat whatsoever. The defense has been more responsible than the offense for Miami’s 4-0 start.
Total QBR: 77.6 | Pass Yds: 1,203 | Rush Yds: 184 | Total TDs: 12
Opponents have begun to figure Pribula out a bit, and he has seen his interception rate rise while his sack rate remains high. But the good still drastically outweighs the bad: He’s third nationally in completion rate (76%), and among power conference QBs, his third-down success rate (59%) ranks behind only Maiava’s 61%. He left Penn State because he was stuck behind Drew Allar, but he has drastically outplayed Allar thus far in 2025.
Total QBR: 88.2 | Pass Yds: 851 | Rush Yds: 158 | Total TDs: 8
At this point, Stockton is the personification of the Georgia program as a whole: clearly talented, pretty good at everything and not necessarily elite at anything. He has thrown 39% of his passes at or behind the line of scrimmage (sixth most), and he’s averaging just 5.9 air yards per attempt (seventh lowest). That’s keeping the Dawgs on schedule, but explosiveness is proving to be an issue.
Total QBR: 77.9 | Pass Yds: 1,713 | Rush Yds: 58 | Total TDs: 18
Keep the pass rushers off Robertson, and you’ll win games. Baylor is 0-2 when his pressure rate is above 27% (and his sack rate is above 3%), and the Bears are 3-0 and averaging 45 points per game otherwise. And no matter what, he’s a hell of a volume passer: Projected over 13 games, he’s on pace for nearly 4,500 yards and 44 TDs, and he leads the nation in both categories.
Total QBR: 77.0 | Pass Yds: 1,573 | Rush Yds: 23 | Total TDs: 13
The high-profile Tulane transfer has rebounded from error-prone losses to Illinois and Tulane. In his first two ACC games, Mensah threw for 537 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions and an 88.9 Total QBR, and Duke scored 83 points. If that’s a sign of things to come, the Blue Devils’ investment could end up paying off, and they could become sleeper ACC title game contenders.
Total QBR: 78.5 | Pass Yds: 1,242 | Rush Yds: 53 | Total TDs: 12
The negative plays were too much for Hoover and TCU to overcome at Arizona State last Friday — his 242 passing yards (and rushing touchdown) put the Horned Frogs in position for an upset, but two interceptions and a back-breaking late sack-and-strip (the last of six sacks) were too much to overcome. Still, Hoover’s high-volume explosiveness could keep the Frogs in the Big 12 race.
Total QBR: 77.6 | Pass Yds: 1,103 | Rush Yds: 97 | Total TDs: 12
ISU’s run game isn’t nearly as effective as it was supposed to be, but the Cyclones are 5-0 all the same, both because the defense is again solid and because Becht is nicely efficient. He ranks 24th in success rate — 11th on third or fourth down — and 26th in yards per dropback. The big plays are picking up too: He’s averaging 18.1 yards per completion over the past two games.
Total QBR: 77.2 | Pass Yds: 1,137 | Rush Yds: 29 | Total TDs: 11
Raiola’s 76% completion rate ranks fourth nationally, and his 11-to-1 TD-to-INT ratio is pretty sexy, but he somehow takes forever to throw (2.89 seconds on average, 108th) extremely short passes (6.2 air yards per attempt, 123rd) and takes a lot of sacks in the process (28.6% sacks to pressures, 119th). Still, the Cornhuskers rank 16th in points per drive and ninth in success rate so he’s doing something right.
Total QBR: 66.6 | Pass Yds: 1,076 | Rush Yds: 162 | Total TDs: 10
Reed is an explosive playmaker (14.7 yards per completion, 6.0 yards per non-sack carry) who, unlike lots of other playmakers, avoids sacks. He’s excellent against zone coverage too (14th in QBR vs. zone). But his overall efficiency is hit-or-miss (52nd in success rate), and he hasn’t solved man coverage (123rd in QBR vs. man). He’s good, but his profile is a mixed bag right now.
Total QBR: 66.0 | Pass Yds: 886 | Rush Yds: 210 | Total TDs: 5
He’s getting no help from a dreadful run game, and sacks remain a devastating issue — South Carolina ranks 126th in pressure rate allowed (which is potentially on the O-line) and 119th in sacks per pressure (which is on Sellers). But he’s still a playmaker: He averages 15.3 yards per completion (ninth) — with only one interception — and 9.2 yards per scramble. Both flaws and upside remain obvious.
Total QBR: 64.5 | Pass Yds: 1,065 | Rush Yds: 37 | Total TDs: 11
Injuries have piled up for Morton through the years, and he has already had to leave a couple of games this season with minor injuries as well. But when he’s out there, he’s super explosive: He’s seventh nationally in yards per completion (15.4) and sixth in yards per dropback (sixth). And backup Will Hammond has proved pretty stellar when he has had to enter the game.
Total QBR: 75.5 | Pass Yds: 758 | Rush Yds: 398 | Total TDs: 10
King attempts more designed runs than anyone on this list, and every time he takes a hit, he gets up looking like he has taken more career hits than Adrian Peterson. His toughness is unquestionable, but his actual passing rankings — 71st in yards per dropback, 48th in success rate — are awfully mediocre this year. He has a good backup in Aaron Philo, but the Tech offense has one note when King is in the game.
Total QBR: 72.5 | Pass Yds: 1,399 | Rush Yds: 86 | Total TDs: 11
Rutgers is averaging over 30 points and 400 yards per game for the first time since 2007 — the Scarlet Knights just hit 28 points in back-to-back games against top-25 defenses — and despite some pretty big sack issues, Kaliakmanis’ passing has been the primary reason for that. Unfortunately, the defense hasn’t held up its end of the bargain.
Total QBR: 64.1 | Pass Yds: 1,039 | Rush Yds: 352 | Total TDs: 13
After an offseason of pretty large hype, Leavitt stumbled out of the gate in 2025. But he has picked up steam since.
First two games: 42.0 Total QBR, 57% completion rate, 5.7 yards per dropback, 3 INT
Last three games: 73.6 Total QBR, 67% completion rate, 7.0 yards per dropback, 0 INT
He hasn’t been a top-30 quarterback over five games, but the guy we’ve seen in recent weeks sure is.
Total QBR: 78.4 | Pass Yds: 1,323 | Rush Yds: 125 | Total TDs: 12
Bailey has pulled an anti-Leavitt. Things started well, but the mistakes are adding up in a hurry.
First three games: 85.2 Total QBR, 7.7 yards per dropback, 1.1% INT rate, 2.2% sack rate
Last two games: 66.7 Total QBR, 7.0 yards per dropback, 4.1% INT rate, 8.8% sack rate
Perhaps not surprisingly, Bailey’s Wolfpack started 3-0 but have now lost two straight.
Total QBR: 78.8 | Pass Yds: 868 | Rush Yds: 225 | Total TDs: 11
We’re definitely seeing a lot of examples of a specific prototype in this section — lots of time to throw, lots of sacks, high completion rate on mostly short passes, a healthy number of (non-sack) rushing yards — and Chiles is a particular example. He’s hinted at huge explosiveness (17.7 yards per completion vs. USC), but the State defense is poor enough that he has to be great for the Spartans to do well.
Total QBR: 72.1 | Pass Yds: 1,027 | Rush Yds: 273 | Total TDs: 13
Dampier is mobile and heavy on designed runs, but he bucks the stereotype by taking almost no sacks. You can stay on schedule well with Dampier as your QB — as Utah is learning — but you won’t see many big pass plays, and if an opponent like, say, Texas Tech is knocking you off schedule frequently, disaster could follow. (Especially since nagging injuries are often a thing for a guy who gets hit that much.)
Total QBR: 55.7 | Pass Yds: 1,126 | Rush Yds: 111 | Total TDs: 10
Kevin Jennings charged into the starting lineup in place of a slow-starting Preston Stone last year and thrived, winning nine straight starts and eventually leading SMU to the CFP. Then, something broke.
First nine starts (2024): 9-0 record, 77.9 Total QBR, 9.2 yards per dropback, 2.5% INT rate, 3.6% sack rate
Last five starts (2024-25): 1-4 record, 59.0 Total QBR, 6.5 yards per dropback, 4.4% INT rate, 5.7% sack rate
He made some solid plays in losses to Baylor and TCU this September, but he’s still making too many mistakes to account for a sketchy defense.
Total QBR: 72.7 | Pass Yds: 1,029 | Rush Yds: 23 | Total TDs: 7
Moss pretty much had to be in the middle of this list because he couldn’t have a more average statistical profile if you created it in a lab: He’s 59th in completion rate (65.6%), 67th in yards per completion (12.0), 70th in yards per dropback (7.0), 76th in sack rate (5.8%) and 79th in INT rate (2.3%). You could do better, and you could do worse.
Total QBR: 76.4 | Pass Yds: 1,159 | Rush Yds: 50 | Total TDs: 8
The preseason Heisman contender dealt with a torso injury before the season and sure looks like he’s still dealing with it, but he has to throw all the time because LSU’s run game stinks. So he’s throwing quick passes (115th in air yards per attempt) but not completing a huge percentage (43rd in completion rate), and the ones he’s completing aren’t going anywhere (112th in yards per completion). LSU’s defense is finally excellent, but Nussmeier and the offense aren’t living up to their end of the bargain.
Total QBR: 77.3 | Pass Yds: 733 | Rush Yds: 185 | Total TDs: 5
Underwood is mature, and he has a huge arm and strong fight-or-flight instincts — he’s 38th in sack rate (3.8%) and seventh in yards per scramble (12.4). He’s also still learning the whole quarterbacking thing. He fires 99 mph fastballs when they aren’t necessary, and he has experienced bouts of inaccuracy (120th in completion rate). Improvement over Michigan’s 2024 QBs? Absolutely. Altogether good? Not quite yet.
Total QBR: 67.6 | Pass Yds: 697 | Rush Yds: 183 | Total TDs: 10
BYU has an excellent running back (LJ Martin) and an effective defense. The Cougars have the key components to survive starting a true freshman and trying not to ask too much of him. He’s completing 68% of his (mostly short) passes, using his legs a decent amount and avoiding negative plays. As long as he’s not being asked to make huge plays on third-and-long, he can keep managing the game.
Total QBR: 76.6 | Pass Yds: 684 | Rush Yds: 260 | Total TDs: 9
After briefly losing his job early in the season, Salter, the Liberty transfer, is back in the lineup, and he’s 21st in success rate with only one interception. But he’s facing constant pressure, scrambling and throwing outside the pocket a lot. It worked against Wyoming, not so much against BYU, and with games against TCU, Iowa State and Utah on deck, any hopes of a decent season will require some immediate stability.
Total QBR: 57.2 | Pass Yds: 888 | Rush Yds: 132 | Total TDs: 14
It almost looks like paralysis by analysis for Manning. He has been raised as a perfect quarterback specimen and knows every passing angle, and he seems to freeze up while considering what to do sometimes. He averages 3.1 seconds to throw (seventh most in the country), and he’s 100th in interception rate (2.8%) and 96th in completion rate (61.3%). Texas’ defense will buy him development time, and things could click at any moment, but they haven’t yet.
Total QBR: 66.8 | Pass Yds: 958 | Rush Yds: 5 | Total TDs: 8
Lindsey enjoyed a nice performance against Rutgers, throwing for 324 yards and three touchdowns in a win. He’s 15th nationally in success rate (52.8%) despite rarely throwing at or behind the line, though he’s averaging only 10.6 yards per completion against power-conference opponents. There’s absolutely no run threat here, but safe passing combined with strong defense should produce at least seven or eight wins.
Total QBR: 70.0 | Pass Yds: 846 | Rush Yds: 311 | Total TDs: 10
The returns, they are diminishing quickly.
Arnold has completed at least 65% of his passes in three of five games (with zero interceptions on the year). But he has taken at least four sacks three times, and he has taken 14 in the past two games. His protection is poor, and holding on to the ball too long is getting him hit constantly without any threat of big plays (9.7 yards per completion). This is an increasing disaster.
Total QBR: 55.6 | Pass Yds: 1,036 | Rush Yds: 131 | Total TDs: 8
After transferring to North Carolina and then returning, Browne has had three pretty good games (with a Total QBR of 71 or higher) and one dreadful one (three picks and five sacks against USC). He is getting little help from his run game and almost none from his defense, but he’s averaging 13.5 yards per completion, and he’s on pace for 3,100 yards and 18 touchdowns. Massive improvement for Purdue.
Total QBR: 54.3 | Pass Yds: 1,064 | Rush Yds: 117 | Total TDs: 9
Shapen scrambles a lot and takes too many sacks, but he does have occasional success as a big-play hunter. That has resulted in an upset of Arizona State — and a pick-six and a fumble-six in a narrow loss to Tennessee. We can probably expect similar volatility the rest of the year. (We can also probably expect MSU’s first bowl in three seasons.)
Total QBR: 58.3 | Pass Yds: 839 | Rush Yds: 175 | Total TDs: 10
Regarded as the top pocket passer in the 2022 recruiting class, Weigman has come to rely on his mobility. He has run for 13 first downs and four touchdowns, but he also has taken hits on 44% of his dropbacks (120th nationally). Regardless, it has added an extra dimension to pretty average passing (106th in success rate, 63rd in yards per dropback), and has helped keep Houston unbeaten into October.
Total QBR: 59.7 | Pass Yds: 1,019 | Rush Yds: 168 | Total TDs: 10
Where’s the sense of adventure? Johnson’s instincts seem to be tangled up as he attempts to convert great athletic skills into NFL-caliber QB play. He has spent most of 2025 taking few chances with his arm (one interception but only 10.7 yards per completion) and trying to avoid making plays with his legs (seven scrambles, albeit for 106 yards). He finally used his legs last week against UCF, however, and produced his best game of the year. Maybe that’s a sign of improvement to come?
Total QBR: 53.2 | Pass Yds: 1,038 | Rush Yds: 26 | Total TDs: 10
Maryland has given Washington training wheels. The true freshman has started from day one, and he dropped back to pass at least 35 times against his first three FBS opponents. Granted, a lot of those were quick sideline passes, and he’s completing only 51% of his passes at least 5 yards downfield. But he has thrown just one pick and taken one sack, and avoiding disaster has helped to keep the Terps unbeaten.
Total QBR: 48.5 | Pass Yds: 1,242 | Rush Yds: 62 | Total TDs: 9
Like Washington, Sagapolutele has gone straight to the deep end. The true freshman has thrown 178 passes, eighth most in FBS, and has alternated between flashes of excellence and, against San Diego State, absolute disaster (17-for-38 with two picks). If you grade on a curve, however, this is going about as well as the blue-chipper could have expected, and he should top 3,000 yards with about 20 touchdowns.
Total QBR: 50.0 | Pass Yds: 1,050 | Rush Yds: 133 | Total TDs: 12
Last season, Holstein was pretty good for about five games, then faded rapidly. This season, it took only two games. After torching overwhelmed Duquesne and Central Michigan defenses, he took six sacks with an interception against West Virginia, then threw two costly picks and got benched in the fourth quarter last week against Louisville. At his best, he’s a bold playmaker. But there are too many picks and sacks.
Total QBR: 63.0 | Pass Yds: 965 | Rush Yds: 133 | Total TDs: 11
Arizona has shown some life after a 2024 collapse, but it mostly has come from the defense and run game. In three games against FBS opponents, Fifita averaged a ghastly 4.9 yards per dropback with six sacks, and in the Wildcats’ loss to Iowa State last week he threw two interceptions and averaged just 7.9 yards per completion. When Arizona has to throw, the ball doesn’t really go anywhere.
Total QBR: 54.8 | Pass Yds: 1,188 | Rush Yds: 24 | Total TDs: 10
The Alabama transfer averaged 8.7 yards per dropback in his first start against an FBS opponent, then averaged 6.8 in his second and 4.9 in his third. Teams blitz him a little more each week, and his interception rate is going up at the same time that his average yards per completion is going down. He beat out incumbent Grayson James upon his arrival from Tuscaloosa, but the shine has worn off quickly.
53. Three injured QBs, UCF
Total QBR: 58.4 | Pass Yds: 938 | Rush Yds: 288 | Total TDs: 9
Cam Fancher injured his back just nine passes into the season. Tayven Jackson led UCF to three wins but hurt his shoulder and struggled against Kansas State. When Jacurri Brown also hurt his shoulder, Jackson came back in but accomplished little. Fancher should be ready this week if Jackson is too limited, and Jackson was pretty good in the blowout of North Carolina. But this is a fluid situation.
Total QBR: 45.1 | Pass Yds: 996 | Rush Yds: 94 | Total TDs: 7
It’s just shocking how poor Clemson’s passing game has been this year. Klubnik ranks 93rd in yards per dropback, 102nd in success rate and 96th in interception rate. He’s facing blitzes constantly behind a banged-up offensive line (the run game has been wholly mediocre), and he’s firing short and mostly ineffective passes. He posted a 78.7 Total QBR in 2024, but he hasn’t topped 60.0 in a 2025 game yet. This has been an utterly disastrous September.
Total QBR: 48.4 | Pass Yds: 763 | Rush Yds: 86 | Total TDs: 6
In one drive against Oregon, with Penn State down 14, Allar completed three passes for 56 yards and a beautiful touchdown lob. The rest of the game, he went 11-for-22 for 81 yards and a game-clinching pick. His big-game production is a known issue, but he hasn’t really produced against anyone, throwing few deep balls and averaging 10.8 yards per completion. This has not yet become the breakthrough year Allar hoped for.
Total QBR: 53.7 | Pass Yds: 1,105 | Rush Yds: 257 | Total TDs: 12
One of the more proven QBs in the ACC heading into 2025, Drones has averaged just 4.8 yards per dropback in four games against FBS opponents, with three interceptions and two fumbles. He remains a solid scrambler, but he’s facing constant pressure and has only once completed more than 59% of his passes. Tech has won two straight after an 0-3 start, but Drones hasn’t been particularly responsible for that.
Total QBR: 46.9 | Pass Yds: 636 | Rush Yds: 200 | Total TDs: 10
I had high hopes for the South Dakota State transfer, and he certainly has improved since a dismal start.
First two games: 25.7 Total QBR, 53.8% completion rate, 2.8 yards per dropback
Last three games: 64.5 Total QBR, 70.1% completion rate, 6.5 yards per dropback
Still, Iowa scored just 15 points against Indiana on Saturday and missed a shot at an upset. He’s getting up to speed, but the remaining schedule has lots of good defenses on it.
Total QBR: 54.6 | Pass Yds: 788 | Rush Yds: 252 | Total TDs: 5
Iamaleava was an unfinished product at Tennessee in 2024 — took too long to throw, too many sacks, too few big plays — but he has seen everything fall apart with a bad supporting cast at UCLA. He ranks 119th in yards per completion (9.7), 83rd in INT rate (2.4%) and 91st in sack rate (6.8%), and UCLA seems to start every game down 21-0. Per SP+, the Bruins now have a 61% chance of finishing 0-12. Ouch.
Total QBR: 35.7 | Pass Yds: 1,167 | Rush Yds: 20 | Total TDs: 5
Credit where it’s due: Like Gronowski, Gulbranson has recovered from an abysmal start.
First two games: 11.7 Total QBR, 51.6% completion rate, 4.8% INT rate, 3.2 yards per dropback
Last three games: 56.6 Total QBR, 66.0% completion rate, 0.0% INT rate, 8.0 yards per dropback
He led three late scoring drives to save Stanford against San José State last weekend, and honestly, 2-3 is better than I thought the Cardinal would be right now. But unless Gulbranson has another gear, a fifth straight 3-9 finish is likely.
Total QBR: 39.8 | Pass Yds: 916 | Rush Yds: 226 | Total TDs: 5
The well-traveled Ashford is what he is at this point: a low-efficiency (111th in completion rate, 120th in success rate), high-explosiveness (25th in yards per completion) passer with solid legs (29th in non-sack rushing yards). Ashford and Wake Forest started strong against both NC State and Georgia Tech, but he went a combined 13-for-31 in the second half, and the Demon Deacons lost both games.
Total QBR: 46.9 | Pass Yds: 690 | Rush Yds: 68 | Total TDs: 5
Lagway battled back from offseason injuries, but he has been a shadow of his freshman self. He’s making no big plays (8.3 yards per completion), his already-high interception and sack rates have gone up — he’s 127th in the former and 92nd in the latter — and his 1-3 Gators are projected favorites in just one more game. Barring an immediate course correction, this looks like a massive lost season.
Total QBR: 36.2 | Pass Yds: 753 | Rush Yds: 138 | Total TDs: 6
Edwards won the starting job and got hurt almost immediately. O’Neil has thrown mostly short passes ineffectively, combining 10.7 yards per completion (100th) with a dreadful 5.9% interception rate (131st). Edwards should return soon, but is he good enough to totally save an offense without a run game or deep threats (and zero remaining games as a projected favorite)? Probably not.
Total QBR: 21.6 | Pass Yds: 328 | Rush Yds: 20 | Total TDs: 2
Steve Angeli suffered a season-ending injury in Syracuse’s upset of Clemson, and against a disappointing Duke defense on Saturday, Collins struggled. Granted, his receivers lost two fumbles, but he also fumbled and threw an interception while averaging 5.6 yards per dropback in a 38-3 loss. He avoids pressure nicely, and there are a few more iffy defenses on the schedule, but this could be a learning process.
64. Two or three square pegs for round holes, West Virginia
Total QBR: 35.7 | Pass Yds: 770 | Rush Yds: 270 | Total TDs: 4
Nicco Marchiol can throw a little. Jaylen Henderson can run. Neither seems to be able to fulfill all the requirements in a Rich Rodriguez offense, however. After Marchiol oversaw a blowout loss to Kansas, Henderson oversaw a blowout loss to Utah. It’s possible a third option, Khalil Wilkins, starts against BYU this week after decent work during garbage time last week. Regardless, no answers have emerged thus far.
Total QBR: 37.6 | Pass Yds: 649 | Rush Yds: 122 | Total TDs: 1
Thrust into the lineup when Hauss Hejny suffered a foot injury early in Week 1, Flores threw two pick-sixes against Oregon and engineered a total of 15 points in his first two starts. He improved against Baylor, but he still averaged only 5.8 yards per dropback with a 45.3 Total QBR. Hejny should return soon, but per SP+, OSU (1-3) is a projected underdog of at least 12 points in every remaining game.
66. Gio Lopez, North Carolina
Total QBR: 16.3 | Pass Yds: 430 | Rush Yds: 105 | Total TDs: 4
After an exciting season at South Alabama (Total QBR: 72.3), Lopez has bombed in his first year in Freddie Kitchens’ offense. He has yet to produce a Total QBR higher than 35.0 in any game, and he averaged just 4.4 yards per dropback in two blowout losses, both of which he left injured. It might be best for both UNC and Lopez if Max Johnson were named the starter moving forward.
Total QBR: 22.1 | Pass Yds: 656 | Rush Yds: 15 | Total TDs: 4
Stone lost his job to Kevin Jennings at SMU last season and transferred, hoping to save both his college career and Northwestern’s offense. Four games in, he ranks 130th nationally in Total QBR, 100th in completion rate (60.6%), 103rd in yards per completion (10.4), 130th in interception rate (5.8%) and 98th in sack rate. That might actually represent improvement for the Wildcats, but yuck.
Total QBR: 25.4 | Pass Yds: 636 | Rush Yds: 89 | Total TDs: 3
Boley threw for 240 yards against Eastern Michigan, with seven completions over 20 yards. Against three defenses ranked higher than 135th in SP+, however, he and Calzada have gone a combined 36-for-75 for 396 yards with two interceptions and nine sacks. And 53 of those yards came on a single dump-off pass. The QB position offered almost nothing for UK last season, and it’s offering even less in 2025.
MICHAEL JOHNSON WAS trying to find a way home.
In 2019, Johnson was the executive chef of the Seattle Seahawks, but he wanted to get back to Baton Rouge, where his children and their mother lived. One late night, Johnson dove into a job search that yielded a surprising result.
“I googled ‘executive chef Baton Rouge,’ and the first job that popped up was a listing for the executive chef of LSU Athletics,” Johnson said. “I like to tell people that God found me this job.”
Johnson had applied for a culinary position with LSU before where he would be working at Tiger Stadium, but LSU’s response was that he was overqualified.
This new gig looked perfect, but first, Johnson had to prove himself. As part of his interview, he cooked for 35 people — executives, dieticians and other high-ranking LSU officials. Johnson served up his best: a carved tenderloin and Carolina-style barbecue shrimp and grits with a tomato broth to show how he could make comfort foods a little healthier, plus several other dishes that were Louisiana-themed with a twist. The feedback came quickly.
“I remember [executive deputy AD] Verge Ausberry asking me questions like ‘Why did you hold back the salt on this?'” Johnson said. “It was an intense moment, but I just remember smiling all the way through it. Even when I was being grilled, I was so happy to be there and had all the confidence.”
Less than an hour after the demo, LSU offered Johnson the job.
In the six years since, Johnson has helped head up the LSU performance nutrition center, which opened in July 2019, has around 50 employees — 35 of them report to Johnson — and feeds athletes three meals, five days of the week. For the first three years of his time in Baton Rouge, Johnson also traveled with the football team to ensure quality control.
Now, Johnson stays back and helps manage the extensive operation, which is a collaborative effort among him, his four sous chefs and the four dieticians (one exclusively for football) on staff. Johnson’s job can also extend to include meals for recruiting visits and donor events, but his biggest task may be menu creation in a way that caters to everyone.
Johnson is one of a handful of executive chefs around the country who work directly with a college football team or athletic program. His headshot, along with the sous chefs’, is featured on the school’s athletic directory. A search through Power 4 school directories revealed that only 21 programs publicly feature a chef of some kind on their staff, and only 10 of those are in-house employees, including chefs at Colorado, Georgia, Clemson and Missouri.
Today I learned that LSU puts the team chefs on the athletics website like they’re on the team. And that’s why LSU athletics is one of our greatest national treasures https://t.co/a5MtULtYG7 pic.twitter.com/kxxtyKUame
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) June 5, 2024
“To be treated as an equal is everything,” Johnson said. “I’ve never felt like I wasn’t part of the team.”
What is largely a behind-the-scenes job, chefs at top-tier programs often work 10-12 hours a day, helping cook hundreds of meals while managing quality, a budget, evolving nutrition plans for athletes and the vexing challenge of pleasing people’s palates.
“I have gumbo on the menu every Monday, and it’s because I like my job,” said Johnson with a laugh. “It wasn’t an ask, it was a demand.”
CARL SOLOMON HAS worked in the restaurant business since he was 15 years old. He has cooked at fine-dining establishments from Portland, Oregon, to Denton, Texas, and his Instagram, which showcases the various farm-to-table dishes he crafts, is as clean as his plating. Yet nothing could have prepared him for becoming Deion Sanders’ personal chef.
That is not Solomon’s official title — that would be executive chef for Colorado Athletics — but it has become a part of his role. Their relationship is such that Solomon now makes Sanders’ meals two to three times a day.
“He comes into the kitchen daily, like hooting and hollering,” Solomon said. “He’s just an incredible human in every regard, and I get a lot of daily feedback and interaction from him.”
So what does Prime like to eat? Local, marinated roasted chicken. Well-done steak — high-quality New York strips that Solomon and his team cut and prepare in-house. Yellow rice, some broccoli, asparagus, watermelon and for dessert, a red velvet cake, cupcake or a chocolate chip cookie.
“He’s a man that knows what he wants,” Solomon said. “Which makes it a little easier for me to keep him happy.”
For a chef who had used the kitchen as a creative canvas, there was a learning curve for Solomon, who realized that variety and upscale were not always the goal when it came to Sanders. It’s emblematic of the progression Solomon has had to make over the past six years on the job as he orchestrates a system that produces roughly 800 meals a day for 330 student-athletes and about 250 athletics staff members, sometimes six days a week. The past five of those years for Solomon have come as an in-house Colorado employee — a change that he says made a dramatic difference.
“It’s huge, because I’m here every day, I’m serving the same folks every day,” Solomon said. “So I have accountability to these people I see, and my name is on this operation. That just creates this extra level of commitment and dedication you might not get otherwise.”
Solomon’s commitment and expertise can be seen in how he has set up every aspect of the dining experience. While others may gravitate toward a buffet setup, Solomon’s team cooks everything fresh and in smaller batches. The front-of-house staff Solomon manages serves the food banquet style, meaning each hot food plate is put together by a member of the team.
“I’m always on top of that, making sure we’re plating those plates nicely,” Solomon said. “I’m really proud of the fact that we bring all those fundamentals that a good restaurant has run on, we bring that to this setting.”
Then there’s the food itself. Solomon gets ample freedom to design his menus, which he crafts based on several factors, including locality, what’s in season and pricing. He also considers, as he puts it, the varying palettes and needs of a 300-pound football player versus a 100-pound track athlete.
“I’m looking for new stuff all the time,” Solomon said. “I’m very lucky in the sense that being able to do that in this setting is rare, and I take full advantage of that.”
The result is a bustling food hall with different daily options that get adjusted based on which sports are in season and which are not. And if an athlete isn’t feeling the taco bar on any given Tuesday, Solomon and his sous chefs are open to preparing them a made-to-order special item.
“We aren’t just putting out really high-quality food or great ingredients,” Solomon said. “We’re also tailoring it to specific athletes’ needs all day every day.”
Sanders’ arrival in Boulder three years ago and the attention it brought to the program trickled down to here, too, giving Solomon the kind of flexibility that allows him and his team to fabricate meats internally and source top-notch ingredients.
“That’s another big impact that we’ve seen since [Sanders] has been here — I have a lofty budget,” Solomon said. His team has grown from five cooks to 12 in the past few years.
(Clemson executive performance chef Dalton Ledford, estimated the food budget for a high-profile football program alone can range anywhere from $2 million to $3 million per year, if not more.)
The responsibility that comes with the extra resources is one Solomon cherishes and tries to pay forward with local businesses and vendors. Recently, he made a connection with a local mushroom farmer who grows “some of the best gourmet mushrooms in the state” out of a train car that he refurbished. Anything to make a dish, a meal and an entire operation just a little bit better.
“I think we put out great food, of course I’m biased, but I have been around the block, and I have done my research, and I go out to eat all the time myself,” Solomon said. “I’d put us right up there with any restaurant in the city.”
MONDAY NIGHTS IN Athens, Georgia, are reserved for victory meals.
Kirby Smart’s team gathers around as executive chef Brandi Allen and her staff go all out and treat the team to a feast that includes items such as ribeyes, lobster tails, lobster mac and cheese and often a special dessert.
“This is Georgia,” Allen said. “So we don’t lose a lot of games.”
Since 2021, the Bulldogs have lost a total of five regular-season games in five seasons, four of which have been to Alabama, which beat Georgia 24-21 earlier this season in Sanford Stadium. In the aftermath, Allen had no choice but to change up the plans for Monday’s meal.
“We just turned it into a grill day with a more chill, laid-back vibe,” Allen said. “It was a bad game, but it’s not the end of the world.”
Allen, who has a culinary school degree and a background in cooking competitions, has been working for Georgia in some capacity going on 14 years now. Until this June, she was working exclusively in general dining services before she was handpicked to cook for the football program after the previous chef moved on to a job in the NFL.
Though she didn’t have a background in nutrition or working with athletes, Allen jumped into the job with eagerness. She took time to research what went into being a performance chef, met with the program’s culinary manager and team dietician, and most importantly, spoke with the players. If she was going to revamp the entire menu and program, she needed to know what her audience needed and wanted to eat.
“These are 18- to 20-year-old kids, honestly. It’s never a good idea to go too fancy — you gotta keep it simple, but also delicious,” Allen said. “So it’s figuring out ways to incorporate that into the diet so it’s beneficial to them and that they enjoy eating it.”
Allen tried to make sure players’ input was heard and that they knew what they were going to be eating and why. It helped that the feedback she received was easy to incorporate — after all, her background and specialty was in exactly the kind of cuisine more players were requesting. As Allen puts it: “comforting food for the soul.”
“We have a lot of Southern boys on our team and that is their background as well with comfort foods and Southern cuisine that their parents cook for them,” Allen said. “A lot of them miss home and they miss their parents’ cooking. We try to give them a home away from home.”
Football players, she says, are not “vegetable kids,” so she gets creative with meals, adding peas, green beans, broccolis and carrots to carbs as opposed to having them by themselves. Allen also divides the entire team into three buckets: those who need to lose weight, those who need to maintain weight and those who need to gain weight, providing different protein options for all of them.
After discussing with the team dietician, who is in contact with Smart about the cadence of any given practice week, Allen landed on a four-week cycle of different menus specifically crafted for the team. Then, she pays close attention to what players like and don’t like in order to adjust.
“It’s one of the biggest reasons why I kind of sit with them and ask them what it is that they would want to see on the menu,” Allen said. “That way I can try to make it more appealing to them so that they come and eat with us versus eating out.”
Allen knows she can’t please them all as she tries to make food for about 150 people a day, including staff and coaches, but she tries. So far, her jalapeño ranch fried chicken wing has been a runaway winner.
“It’s a hit, they love it,” Allen said. And the Georgia coaching staff? “They say it’s the best chicken in town.”
DALTON LEDFORD HAS been the executive performance chef at Clemson for three years. He has fed hundreds of players, seen many go on to the NFL, been part of two ACC titles and one College Football Playoff appearance. But his greatest accomplishment?
“It’s getting Coach [Dabo] Swinney to not eat a well-done steak,” Ledford said. “I finally talked him into eating a medium steak and he said, ‘Hey, it wasn’t leathery!'”
A lifelong Clemson fan, Ledford grew up working at Sticky Fingers, his dad’s rib joint in Fountain Inn, South Carolina. He went on to serve $300 plates at a five-star resort in Colorado Springs, Colorado, before landing back in his home state, where his excitement about the fact that he gets to cook for Swinney and the football team he roots for on Saturdays is palpable.
“Tajh Boyd is my favorite player ever,” Ledford said. “I remember fourth-and-16 like it was yesterday.”
When the previous executive chef left the program in 2023, Ledford. who was then working as a sous chef, but not in-house, volunteered to come up with menus for fall camp. One day, Swinney asked to talk to him. A scared Ledford thought his food had gotten someone sick and he was in trouble. He wasn’t. Swinney wanted to know if he’d be interested in the executive chef position. Ledford balked — he hadn’t attended culinary school and didn’t have a degree in nutrition. He told Swinney that he didn’t feel qualified.
“And the exact words Coach told me was, ‘Do you think I was qualified to take over the head coach job when I did?'” Ledford said. “He said, ‘I was young, I didn’t understand all of it yet, but I was given an opportunity and I was going to try my best in that opportunity to do everything I can for this program. You’ll figure it out. I trust you.'”
Like Allen at Georgia, Ledford works hand-in-hand with team dieticians to cater specifically to the football team and staff in the football operations building. Every player has access to an app called Notemeal, which Ledford uses to input the daily menu and macronutrients for each meal, and it allows players to order lunch in between classes or meetings.
But Ledford wanted to go beyond simply feeding the players; he wanted them to learn how to feed themselves, too. In the football facility kitchen, Ledford began hosting three-hour cooking demos once a month, showing players how to make everything from pizza to sushi to hibachi to grilling on a Blackstone.
“It’s a skill these guys are learning, but also for those that do get to go on to the next level, they already kind of have a base,” Ledford said. “If you’re a late-round pick, you really don’t have the money after taxes and depending on what state you live in and stuff like that, you don’t always have that available to you to be able to hire a chef and a nutritionist.”
At first, only 10 players participated. Now, attendance ranges from 60 to 70 players who take pride in showing Ledford a picture of a protein bowl or some other meal they made at home. It’s not just the players — coaches and staff members have wanted to get in on the experience, too.
“I did hibachi with the guys on Blackstone, and man, I had so many coaches come out and be like, ‘Yo, can I jump in with them and learn how to make this? I want to learn,'” Ledford said. “It ends up being a bonding moment between all of them.”
The demos, along with Ledford’s day-to-day food, also play a key role in recruiting. Ledford and his staff do all the food for recruiting events in-house, and when there is a player visiting campus with his parents, the recruiting staff has asked that Ledford meet with them to showcase their culinary experience.
“I always make the joke that Coach Swinney is going to make them into a man, and I’m going to feed ’em like it,” Ledford said. “A lot of these kids are coming from other states, across the country, across the world sometimes. As a parent, you want to know that you’ve got a group of people that are not just looking out for them on the field, but off the field, too.”
MISSOURI HEAD COACH Eli Drinkwitz does not have a difficult palate to please. But Joe Moroni, the Tigers’ executive performance chef, knows the one thing that Drinkwitz is particular about.
“He loves crispy bacon,” Moroni said.
Moroni knows all too well how things can get complicated inside a kitchen depending on who will be eating the meal he’s preparing. Moroni honed his craft in the Army as a cook and a staff sergeant for 11 years, eventually working his way up to the Pentagon, where he worked for the Joint Chiefs of Staff and concocted meals for an eclectic list of visitors including the New York Yankees, the Princess of Jordan and Robert De Niro.
After his stint in the Pentagon, Moroni was then selected as a general’s aid to four-star general Keith B. Alexander, whom he followed to the National Security Agency — where he cooked for Alexander and many foreign diplomats — until 2006, when Moroni moved back to Missouri.
Eventually, Moroni applied for a sous chef position in campus dining at Mizzou before ascending to his current position where he helped create a role that oversees all of athletic dining with an emphasis on football. Drinkwitz’s team gets an exclusive menu, meals six days a week and their own dining area on the south end of Faurot Field; it’s a nonstop affair and Moroni is right at the center of it.
“It’s a unique job. It’s one of those things that there’s just no schooling out there for it,” Moroni said, adding that his team is feeding someone at least 48 weeks out of the year. “I’ll tell you what, I had more days off at the Pentagon.”
Moroni now lives and dies with every Tigers football game, in part, because it determines what his job may look like on a given week. If Mizzou loses, the team usually gets a catered meal from an outside restaurant Sunday to avoid food fatigue. If they win, they get the catered meal plus a bonus — be it as extravagant as a filet mignon or as simple as a build-your-own nacho bar.
“We basically look at it like there’s 12 victories. So if those victories are victories, then we have 12 extravagant meals that they’re going to get,” Moroni said. “We all know that that doesn’t always happen. So if they don’t win, then we basically roll that victory menu to the next week, and we still feed them.”
Beyond the customary work with dieticians, Moroni, much like Allen at Georgia, takes pride in doing his research on the team ahead of a football season, talking to players about where they’re from and what foods they like. Whenever possible, he and his team will try to incorporate foods from specific regions of the country where a certain player may be from to provide a nostalgic meal.
“If I have somebody who’s coming from New Jersey, we might be trying to source something from the coast of New Jersey,” Moroni said. “Or if it’s someone from Texas and they’re looking for something like a specific type of way of cooking a brisket, we try to do those kinds of things.”
Moroni may no longer have the highest security clearance he once had in Washington D.C., or the chance to cook for dignitaries and celebrities. But in Columbia, he has witnessed firsthand how his cooking has brought teams and people from different parts of the country or the world together. Food is a love language for him just as it is for Solomon, Allen, Ledford and Johnson — the long hours they put in is in service of not just plying their craft, but creating those moments when a player sits down after a long day of practice and finds bliss in a bite of food.
“At the end of the day, we all want to feel loved, we all want to be warm, we all want a full belly,” Moroni said. “I never really got interactions with those particular celebrities. Whereas I cooked for [Mizzou QB] Brady Cook for four years, and I knew [linebacker] Nick Bolton and his mannerisms. And you get to know these people on a personal basis, you know what they like and don’t like, how they like to be, what their different mannerisms are when they win, how you help make them feel better if they drop that pass or had that fumble. So yeah, I like cooking for who I cook for right now.”
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Jorge Castillo
TORONTO — Bo Bichette, who has not played since spraining his left knee in early September, was added to the Toronto Blue Jays‘ roster for the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Blue Jays also included first baseman Ty France on their roster for the first time this postseason. Outfielder Joey Loperfido and right-handed reliever Yariel Rodriguez, who were on the American League Championship Series roster, were not included.
The question is how limited is Bichette.
A two-time All-Star shortstop, Bichette has not played in a game since injuring his knee in a collision with Yankees catcher Austin Wells on Sept. 6. He attempted to return in time for the AL Championship Series but could not run the bases without significant pain the day before the Blue Jays had to submit their roster.
Bichette worked out at second base and faced live pitching Wednesday and Thursday. Blue Jays manager John Schneider said Bichette could play second base, shortstop or serve as the team’s designated hitter. If he is the DH, George Springer would likely move to right field.
A free agent this winter, Bichette had a rebound season after posting a .598 OPS in 81 games in an injury-plagued 2024 campaign. The homegrown star, 27, finished second in the majors with a .311 batting average and hit 18 home runs with 94 RBI and an .840 OPS.
Without him, the Blue Jays have played Andres Gimenez, their regular second baseman, at shortstop in the postseason with Isiah Kiner-Falefa getting most of the starts at second base.
Los Angeles added right-handers Edgardo Henriquez and Will Klein while dropping lefty Alex Vesia and righty Ben Casparius. The Dodgers said Thursday that Vesia was not with the team in Toronto because of a family matter.
Former closer Tanner Scott was not added. The left-hander was dropped from the National League Division Series roster following surgery on Oct. 8 to remove of an abscess from an infection on his lower body.
Clayton Kershaw, who was left off the Dodgers’ wild-card series roster and did not pitch in the NL Championship Series, is on the World Series roster. Kershaw has said he plans to retire after this season.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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