Reranking all 68 Power 4 QBs: Who rose and who fell after two months
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Quality always emerges eventually. And with just three regular-season Saturdays (plus Championship Week) to go, we have a pretty good idea of this year’s hierarchy. Ohio State redshirt freshman Julian Sayin has completed more than 80% of his passes during a perfect 9-0 start. After Kurtis Rourke led Indiana to the CFP as a one-year transfer last season, Fernando Mendoza has topped him as this year’s one-year guy. The gutsiest veterans in the sport, Georgia Tech’s Haynes King and Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia, have led their teams to unforeseen heights. Gunner Stockton, the most Georgia of Georgia quarterbacks, has been increasingly stellar.
A month into the season, I ranked every power conference starting quarterback, and it probably isn’t a surprise that the list has changed pretty significantly after six more weeks of play. Who has improved the most (besides Sayin)? Whose production has trailed off? Let’s rank all 68 (or so) once again!
(Note: References to rushing yards in stat lines below do not include sack yardage.)
Last Rank: 11 | Total QBR: 91.1 | Pass Yds: 2,491 | Rush Yds (no sack): 56 | Total TDs: 24
It’s always hard to grade the guys who have the best supporting cast. Alabama’s Mac Jones produced the best Total QBR of the decade in 2020 but lost the Heisman vote to one of his teammates, and if star receiver Jeremiah Smith continues to produce as he has of late (past two games: 16 catches, 260 yards, three touchdowns) he might prevent Sayin from winning the award as well. But as Ohio State has opened up the playbook and asked more of Sayin, he has responded with near perfection. He’s first in the nation in Total QBR, completion rate (80.9%) and success rate* (62.0%)
(Success rate: The percentage of plays gaining at least 50% of necessary yardage on first down, 70% on second and 100% on third and fourth.)
Even with Smith and other star-caliber players at his disposal, his accuracy is incredible. This pass placement map has about as tight a radius as you’ll ever see, even if some away-from-the-body catches also prove the awesomeness of his receivers.
Last Rank: 29 | Total QBR: 84.2 | Pass Yds: 1,888 | Rush Yds (no sack): 787 | Total TDs: 23
Since the last list came out on Oct. 1, King has, in four games, thrown for 282.5 yards per game, averaging 9.6 yards per dropback (first nationally) with a 75.7% completion rate (third) and 57.9% success rate (second). He has also averaged 97.3 non-sack rushing yards per game (fourth among non-option quarterbacks). Projected over a full 13 games, that’s a 3,600-1,200 pace. Good gracious.
Despite an endless number of injuries through the years — and despite his eyes hinting at a certain level of pain I have never experienced after every single tackle he takes — King is doing everything he possibly can to drag Tech to the ACC title and CFP, and he seems to be getting better in the process.
Last Rank: 4 | Total QBR: 88.1 | Pass Yds: 2,342 | Rush Yds (no sack): 304 | Total TDs: 31
I made it clear on Sunday that I thought Sayin should be the Heisman betting favorite instead of Mendoza, but that doesn’t mean Mendoza hasn’t been awesome. He has thrown a pick in five of his past six games, and the fourth-quarter INT against Penn State nearly proved costly, but despite facing loads of pressure for the first time all year, he also engineered a perfect, game-winning TD drive. He’s fourth nationally in Total QBR and first in passing touchdowns. He’s great.
Last Rank: 2 | Total QBR: 86.1 | Pass Yds: 2,440 | Rush Yds (no sack): 691 | Total TDs: 28
After all he has done for Vandy over the past couple of years, Pavia might have played his best game on Saturday. With the Commodores’ defense getting lit up by Auburn, Pavia threw for 377 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 114 more yards and another score. Like King, when he has to put the team on his shoulders, he looks great doing it.
Last Rank: 1 | Total QBR: 90.7 | Pass Yds: 2,614 | Rush Yds (no sack): 175 | Total TDs: 23
He’s still very good, and USC still ranks first in offensive SP+, but the mistakes have added up a bit. In his past five games, Maiava has thrown six interceptions, and he went a combined 31-for-65 with three picks against Notre Dame and Nebraska before rebounding with a nice performance against Northwestern last Saturday. His next two opponents rank sixth (Iowa) and second (Oregon) in defensive SP+, too.
Last Rank: 20 | Total QBR: 89.4 | Pass Yds: 2,040 | Rush Yds (no sack): 350 | Total TDs: 22
At this point, the only thing he’s missing is a deep ball (or someone to catch one). He’s third in Total QBR, he has thrown just two picks, and on passes thrown under 15 yards downfield his completion rate is 79% (fifth). He’s at only 36% (108th) on longer passes, however, and Georgia lacks in the big-play department. Still, the Bulldogs are efficient, and in part because of Stockton’s legs, they’re nearly perfect in the red zone.
Last Rank: 7 | Total QBR: 83.3 | Pass Yds: 2,275 | Rush Yds (no sack): 104 | Total TDs: 21
His job has gotten easier now that star running back Jeremiyah Love has fully checked into the season (Love’s past three games: 552 yards from scrimmage), but Carr is fourth nationally in yards per dropback and eighth in success rate, and while it’s concerning that (a) he has played against only three top-50 defenses (per SP+) and (b) he wasn’t very good against two, Total QBR is still opponent adjusted, and he’s 10th in that.
Last Rank: 3 | Total QBR: 84.3 | Pass Yds: 2,356 | Rush Yds (no sack): 465 | Total TDs: 19
To make the CFP, Ole Miss just had to go and grab a guy with playoff experience. Easy! Chambliss, the Ferris State transfer and Division II champ, has cooled off since his nearly perfect start, and his past four games against FBS opponents have produced only 7.3 yards per dropback and 4.6 yards per carry (no sacks). But Ole Miss has topped 30 points in four of his five SEC starts, and he’s meeting the moment.
Last Rank: 6 | Total QBR: 80.6 | Pass Yds: 2,064 | Rush Yds (no sack): 470 | Total TDs: 29
It’s hard to grade a guy like Sorsby, who has been just about the best QB in the country in seven wins (67% completion rate, 87.8 Total QBR) and just about the worst in two losses (41% completion rate, 43.7 Total QBR). Regardless, if Good Brendan shows up over the next three weeks, the Bearcats could still be factors in the Big 12 race.
Last Rank: 14 | Total QBR: 86.3 | Pass Yds: 2,372 | Rush Yds (no sack): 815 | Total TDs: 25
For two seasons in Fayetteville, Green has simultaneously been a top-five quarterback and a borderline top-50 guy. It almost varies by the play. But even with the random disasters, he’s one of the scarier dual threats in the country, and he’s far more of a reason why Arkansas has stayed within one score of three ranked teams (including A&M and Ole Miss) than he was a reason why they lost all three.
Last Rank: 8 | Total QBR: 81.3 | Pass Yds: 2,461 | Rush Yds (no sack): 186 | Total TDs: 23
Returns have diminished for Simpson and the Tide’s offense, which has topped 30 points just once in its past six games; in fact, he has topped 8.0 yards per dropback only twice in his past six games as well.
Still, without much of a run game to lean on, Simpson has been excellent in the red zone (Bama is 15th nationally in red zone TD rate), and he has thrown just one pick in 296 passes. Bama is mastering the art of gaining all the right yards.
Last Rank: 26 | Total QBR: 78.2 | Pass Yds: 2,193 | Rush Yds (no sack): 429 | Total TDs: 25
Reed pilots a beautifully spaced offense, with transfers KC Concepcion and Mario Craver frequently stretching defenses horizontally and tight ends Theo Melin Öhrström and Nate Boerkircher open over the middle if opponents overcompensate. A&M ranks just 89th in success rate on passing downs, but since he never allows the Aggies to actually fall off schedule, that hasn’t been much of an issue.
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Last Rank: 17 | Total QBR: 76.1 | Pass Yds: 2,737 | Rush Yds (no sack): 177 | Total TDs: 23
Tennessee went to the CFP on the power of great defense (sixth in defensive SP+) last season, so it seemed like Aguilar was walking into a pretty decent situation. The Vols’ defense has completely collapsed — 56th in defensive SP+, 95th in points allowed per drive — but the team is still 6-3 and ranked because Aguilar has keyed an offensive resurgence. He could end up with 4,000 passing yards.
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Last Rank: 9 | Total QBR: 77.6 | Pass Yds: 2,251 | Rush Yds (no sack): 655 | Total TDs: 19
Williams is a second-year sophomore and first-year starter with massive upside and lots of things to learn. And either everything has worked or nothing has worked in 2025.
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Williams in six wins: 89.0 Total QBR, 9.3 yards per dropback, 90.2 rushing yards per game (non-sack)
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Williams in three losses: 46.6 Total QBR, 4.4 yards per dropback, 34.7 rushing yards per game
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Last Rank: 22 | Total QBR: 77.9 | Pass Yds: 2,794 | Rush Yds (no sack): 67 | Total TDs: 24
Like Aguilar, Mensah thought he was coming to play for one team and instead landed with something far different. Duke won nine games with an offense that ranked 71st in SP+ last season; in 2025, with Mensah throwing for over 300 yards per game, the Blue Devils’ offense is up to 18th. And they’re only 5-4 because the defense has disintegrated.
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Last Rank: 15 | Total QBR: 84.6 | Pass Yds: 2,255 | Rush Yds (no sack): 275 | Total TDs: 22
He couldn’t do any damage in easy losses to Indiana and Ohio State, and Illinois couldn’t make as much of a playoff push as hoped in 2025. But Altmyer is still seventh in Total QBR, and he should still finish in the Illini’s top five in career passing yardage, and second in career TD passes, in under three full seasons. Pretty good work.
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Last Rank: 5 | Total QBR: 69.4 | Pass Yds: 1,884 | Rush Yds (no sack): 240 | Total TDs: 19
He was nearly perfect against a dire Rutgers defense in Week 8, but even including that, Moore’s past five games have seen massive regression after a nearly perfect start.
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First four games: 85.7 Total QBR, 9.8 yards per dropback, 1.1% interception rate, 1.0% sack rate, 50.8 points per game
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Past five games: 58.9 Total QBR, 6.4 yards per dropback, 3.1% interception rate, 5.8% sack rate, 26.4 points per game
Luckily, Oregon’s defense is elite (it hasn’t allowed more than 17 points in regulation all season), and the Ducks can play ball control with a good run game.
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Last Rank: 21 | Total QBR: 75.8 | Pass Yds: 2,780 | Rush Yds (no sack): 120 | Total TDs: 28
The volume shooter of 2025, Robertson is the only P4 quarterback throwing over 40 passes per game. And with a mediocre run game and mostly disappointing defense, Robertson’s right arm has basically had to carry Baylor to a winning record — when his Total QBR tops 75.0 the Bears win, and when it doesn’t they lose. It’s a burden, but he has played well.
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Last Rank: 34 | Total QBR: 83.0 | Pass Yds: 1,588 | Rush Yds (no sack): 552 | Total TDs: 20
Utah ranked 96th in offensive SP+ last season; the combination of Dampier and coordinator Jason Beck has led a surge all the way to 19th. Dampier is second on the team in rushing yards, and while there aren’t many big plays in the passing game, he has been crisp and efficient. (And because backup Byrd Ficklin was exciting in his lone start, Utah can run Dampier without fear of injury.)
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Last Rank: 32 | Total QBR: 81.4 | Pass Yds: 2,411 | Rush Yds (no sack): 227 | Total TDs: 23
NC State has had only one top-40 offense, per SP+, since 2018, but the Wolfpack are charging toward a second because of Bailey. Like Robertson, he has had to be brilliant to drag the Pack to wins — they’re 5-0 when his Total QBR is above 85.0 and 0-4 when it isn’t — but his 340-yard, two-touchdown performance in the 48-36 upset of King’s Georgia Tech was absolutely dynamite.
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Last Rank: 10 | Total QBR: 72.9 | Pass Yds: 2,190 | Rush Yds (no sack): 504 | Total TDs: 24
A career that began during the 2020 COVID season will soon end with Daniels No. 2 on Kansas’ passing yardage and touchdown lists, behind only Todd Reesing. Although he never has gotten enough help from his defense (average defensive SP+ ranking in his time: 89.0), he’s wrapping up the year playing clean ball: He has thrown only three interceptions, and the Jayhawks are 26th in offensive success rate.
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Last Rank: 28 | Total QBR: 68.1 | Pass Yds: 1,969 | Rush Yds (no sack): 62 | Total TDs: 16
He makes me nervous and takes a lot of hits (and has missed time with multiple injuries because of it), but there’s no question that Morton has taken a solid step forward this year, improving to career highs in Total QBR, completion rate (65.7%), yards per completion (13.9) and most of the other stats by which we judge QBs.
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Last Rank: 23 | Total QBR: 72.7 | Pass Yds: 2,690 | Rush Yds (no sack): 110 | Total TDs: 25
TCU can’t run the ball, and its offensive production has trailed off in the past couple of games, but not much of that is Hoover’s fault. (Granted, his two picks against Iowa State didn’t help.) His Total QBR has topped 75.0 in six of nine starts, and he’s top 10 nationally in passing yards (298.9) and touchdowns (2.6) per game.
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Last Rank: 39 | Total QBR: 77.1 | Pass Yds: 1,881 | Rush Yds (no sack): 464 | Total TDs: 21
Unlike many of the Big 12 QBs in this portion of the list, Bachmeier has gotten help from both his defense and run game, and he couldn’t make enough happen at Texas Tech last week, with career lows in success rate (30.6%) and yards per dropback (5.0). BYU’s playoff hopes are still solid despite putting a true freshman in charge of the offense, and he’s only going to get better from here.
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Last Rank: unranked | Total QBR: 71.0 | Pass Yds: 1,547 | Rush Yds (no sack): 242 | Total TDs: 13
He was the No. 48 pocket passer recruit in the class of 2025, with offers primarily from MAC schools, but Heintschel has been the most transformative freshman QB in the country: Pitt is 5-0 and has averaged 40 points per game since sticking him in the lineup. He scrambles well, and he has averaged at least 13 yards per completion in three starts. He has been exactly the shot in the arm the Panthers needed.
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Last Rank: 18 | Total QBR: 78.1 | Pass Yds: 2,194 | Rush Yds (no sack): 83 | Total TDs: 16
I’ve always appreciated Beck’s willingness to make mistakes. He makes tough throws and completes a lot of them (he’s behind only Sayin with his 73% completion rate), but the downside, of course, is the interceptions: He has thrown six in two Miami losses (and only three in seven wins). The Hurricanes still have solid odds of reaching 10-2 and, potentially, the CFP, though.
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Last Rank: 47 | Total QBR: 68.5 | Pass Yds: 1,991 | Rush Yds (no sack): 396 | Total TDs: 23
It appeared at the start of the season that Johnson was trying to play like a professional QB — not much rushing, checking to safe and easy options — to the detriment of his team. Now he’s playing like himself, taking risks and using his legs. Even with more mistakes, it has made a positive difference.
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First four games (1-3): 48.6 Total QBR, 11.1 yards per completion, 0.8% INT rate, 2.3% sack rate, 21.5 non-sack rushing yards per game
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Past five games (3-2): 80.7 Total QBR, 12.7 yards per completion, 2.1% INT rate, 3.3% sack rate, 62.0 non-sack rushing yards per game
That’s better.
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Last Rank: 54 | Total QBR: 67.9 | Pass Yds: 2,136 | Rush Yds (no sack): 186 | Total TDs: 17
It happened too late to save Clemson’s season in any major way (occasional rubbish from the defense didn’t help either), but in October, Cade Klubnik officially became Cade Klubnik again.
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First four games (1-3): 44.9 Total QBR, 60.1% completion rate, 11.2 yards per completion, 2.7% INT rate
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Past four games (3-1): 89.6 Total QBR, 77.8% completion rate, 12.5 yards per completion, 0.9% INT rate
This will always go down as a massively disappointing season, but Klubnik did show up, at least.
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Last Rank: 30 | Total QBR: 71.2 | Pass Yds: 2,705 | Rush Yds (no sack): 165 | Total TDs: 20
Per SP+ rankings, Rutgers is fielding its worst defense since 2000 but its best offense since 2007 this fall. It’s hard to blame Kaliakmanis for the Scarlet Knights’ 5-5 record, in other words, and he was prolific in two recent wins (combined: 588 yards, five TDs). With a home upset of Penn State, Rutgers could salvage bowl eligibility for the third straight year.
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Last Rank: 35 | Total QBR: 62.7 | Pass Yds: 2,810 | Rush Yds (no sack): 180 | Total TDs: 23
After a bumpy start, SMU has won five of six to entrench itself back in the ACC title race, and Jennings has been a key reason for that. He was trying to do too much early on, but he has lowered both his interception and sack rates, and even with a drop-off in explosiveness, the SMU offense is producing more and handing its defense better field position.
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Last Rank: 51 | Total QBR: 68.8 | Pass Yds: 2,200 | Rush Yds (no sack): 274 | Total TDs: 26
It’s been quite the up-and-down career for Fifita at this point, but he has had some brilliant games during Arizona’s rebound season. He has topped 370 passing yards twice, and he has produced a Total QBR of 88.6 or higher three times. Defense has been the primary driver for the Wildcats’ 6-3 start, but they’re still averaging 38.0 points per game in wins — Fifita’s doing his job.
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Last Rank: 12 | Total QBR: 68.6 | Pass Yds: 1,949 | Rush Yds (no sack): 396 | Total TDs: 14
He rushed back from a hand injury and played horribly against Texas, but he shifted back into “make all the key plays” mode in OU’s season-saving win at Tennessee, completing 12 of 16 passes and rushing for 58 yards in the second half. OU’s offense is more gritty than good, but the Sooners still have playoff hopes heading into mid-November.
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Last Rank: 16 | Total QBR: 69.2 | Pass Yds: 2,128 | Rush Yds (no sack): 428 | Total TDs: 17
Things have gone south after September, just as they did for Castellanos in 2024. But despite the Seminoles losing five of their past six, he did produce brilliance — 271 passing yards on 12 completions, plus a rushing touchdown — against an excellent Wake Forest defense just two weeks ago. There’s still time to write a rebound story in November.
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Last Rank: 46 | Total QBR: 65.9 | Pass Yds: 2,113 | Rush Yds (no sack): 503 | Total TDs: 27
He was the No. 1 pocket passer in the 2022 recruiting class, but Weigman has found his way in Houston as a dual-threat QB, averaging more than 10 non-sack rushes and 50 yards per game (he had 44 rushing yards in the fourth quarter alone in last week’s tight win over UCF). Add that to decent passing — 7.3 yards per dropback, 64.9% completion rate — and you have a QB capable of playing his part for an 8-2 team.
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Last Rank: 41 | Total QBR: 63.1 | Pass Yds: 2,123 | Rush Yds (no sack): 308 | Total TDs: 24
Saddled with a surprisingly poor run game and a shaky line (122nd in pressure rate), Manning has been swimming upstream all season. He still holds on to the ball too long despite throwing tons of behind-the-line passes, and his footwork on downfield passes still betrays him, but he was good against Vanderbilt two weeks ago, and a great November would erase a lot of early-season stigma.
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Last Rank: 13 | Total QBR: 66.6 | Pass Yds: 2,088 | Rush Yds (no sack): 303 | Total TDs: 16
Even before leaving last Saturday’s loss to Wake Forest with injury, Morris’ productivity was starting to wane — in terms of Total QBR, four of his five worst games have come in his past five games.
His status for Saturday’s huge game at Duke is uncertain — and a loss would crush UVA’s ACC title hopes — but this season has already been a spectacular life-giver for the Virginia program, and Morris played the largest possible role in that.
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Last Rank: 68 | Total QBR: 69.2 | Pass Yds: 1,544 | Rush Yds (no sack): 191 | Total TDs: 13
Kentucky has won two straight and has produced maybe its three best performances in the past four games, and Boley’s improvement has contributed to that. In his past five starts, he has produced a 79.7 Total QBR with 10 passing touchdowns, two games over 250 passing yards and solid rushing. The four-star redshirt freshman is showing his potential.
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Last Rank: 38 | Total QBR: 66.0 | Pass Yds: 1,671 | Rush Yds (no sack): 326 | Total TDs: 11
After encouraging performances against Wisconsin and Washington, Underwood has struggled of late, going a combined 21-for-39 for just 221 yards and a pick against Michigan State and Purdue. He gets plenty of help from his run game and defense, he scrambles well, and his pure arm talent is obvious, but the blue-chip freshman remains an extreme work in progress.
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Last Rank: unranked | Total QBR: 67.2 | Pass Yds: 538 | Rush Yds (no sack): 226 | Total TDs: 4
I thought Daniels might win the starting QB job over Jackson Arnold in the offseason, and although I was incorrect about that … maybe he should have? Granted, his first start after replacing Arnold, against Kentucky, was bad enough to get Hugh Freeze fired, but he was outstanding in leading a near upset of Vanderbilt last Saturday. Let’s see if he can build on that in the season’s final two games.
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Last Rank: 37 | Total QBR: 72.7 | Pass Yds: 1,927 | Rush Yds (no sack): 78 | Total TDs: 13
Woof. The good news for Nussmeier is that, when he was benched in favor of Michael Van Buren Jr. late against Alabama last week, nothing really improved. The bad news is that this has been an epic wasted year for the fifth-year senior and preseason All-America candidate. He has barely seemed healthy all season, and his offensive line regressed significantly.
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Last Rank: 58 | Total QBR: 65.0 | Pass Yds: 1,659 | Rush Yds (no sack): 600 | Total TDs: 16
There’s no way to spin this season as a positive for Iamaleava, who voluntarily left a CFP team (Tennessee) to go 3-6 at UCLA, but he was vital to a three-game midseason winning streak that briefly brought life to a lifeless program, and his best game — 166 passing yards, 150 non-sack rushing yards, five combined touchdowns against Penn State — was a perfect showcase of his dual-threat potential.
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Last Rank: 48 | Total QBR: 55.7 | Pass Yds: 2,056 | Rush Yds (no sack): 287 | Total TDs: 17
Playing the game on the hardest possible difficulty level is catching up with the true freshman. He is genuinely elite at escaping pressure — he has taken only two sacks from 96 pressures — but his productivity has slid during Maryland’s five-game losing streak. (No, his supporting cast hasn’t done him many favors: Maryland receivers’ 7.2% drop rate is the second worst in the power conferences.)
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Last Rank: 24 | Total QBR: 61.2 | Pass Yds: 2,230 | Rush Yds (no sack): 217 | Total TDs: 20
Although ISU’s defense has been a big part of the Cyclones’ up-and-down season, allowing 14.7 points per game in wins and 31.8 in losses, Becht’s own play has prompted a lot of success (or lack thereof) as well.
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Becht in six wins: 79.5 Total QBR, 48.4% success rate, 7.5 yards per dropback
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Becht in four losses: 39.3 Total QBR, 39.6% success rate, 5.8 yards per dropback
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Last Rank: unranked | Total QBR: 63.6 | Pass Yds: 466 | Rush Yds (no sack): 81 | Total TDs: 6
Easily the hardest guy on the list to evaluate. A true freshman, Lateef made his first start on Saturday, replacing the injured Dylan Raiola, and he completed his first 11 passes as the Huskers bolted to a big early lead and won. He ended up with only 15 passes and five rushes, but he produced a 98.7 Total QBR. A week earlier, his seven passes gained only 17 yards in a loss to USC. Which was the more accurate impression?
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Last Rank: 45 | Total QBR: 60.1 | Pass Yds: 2,234 | Rush Yds (no sack): 250 | Total TDs: 16
He left last week’s loss to Georgia with injury, and we’ll see what his status is moving forward, but the grizzled veteran, who has started games in parts of five seasons but technically still has a year of eligibility left, could end up with career highs in passing yards, touchdowns and rushing yards this season, and MSU is one win from its first bowl bid in three years.
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Last Rank: 49 | Total QBR: 51.0 | Pass Yds: 2,518 | Rush Yds (no sack): 71 | Total TDs: 15
Like Malik Washington, JKS has been playing on the highest difficulty level and hasn’t always shined. But after one of his worst performances of the season in a loss to Virginia, he responded with his best game to date, a 323-yard, two-touchdown performance in an upset of Louisville. He’s resilient and exciting; you could sort of say the same about Cal.
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Last Rank: 33 | Total QBR: 66.1 | Pass Yds: 1,984 | Rush Yds (no sack): 438 | Total TDs: 21
After a run of diminishing form from Chiles, coach Jonathan Smith started Milivojevic in the past game against Minnesota. The redshirt freshman threw for 311 yards — more than Chiles in any start this season — but took seven sacks, and State fell in overtime. Smith was coy about who might start moving forward, but honestly, the defense has been the far bigger issue regardless.
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Last Rank: 36 | Total QBR: 59.7 | Pass Yds: 2,132 | Rush Yds (no sack): 65 | Total TDs: 18
Last season at USC, Moss was good in September and benched in November. I’m not saying the same fate awaits in 2025, but his Total QBR slipped from 72.8 in his first four games to 60.8 in the next four, and he was abysmal in last week’s loss to Cal, averaging just 4.8 yards per dropback with an interception, two sacks and a late-game disappearing act.
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Last Rank: 27 | Total QBR: 58.6 | Pass Yds: 1,536 | Rush Yds (no sack): 442 | Total TDs: 10
It just hasn’t clicked in 2025. Being burdened with a poor line and inconsistent skill corps has exacerbated all of Sellers’ worst tendencies. He has been sacked on 14.1% of dropbacks (132nd) and hit on 46.7% (121st), and he has had more games with fewer than 4.0 yards per dropback (three) than games above 8.0 (two). Dismal stuff in a dismal season.
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Last Rank: 56 | Total QBR: 55.1 | Pass Yds: 1,592 | Rush Yds (no sack): 643 | Total TDs: 23
After the team’s dreadful start got Brent Pry fired, Drones’ play has improved from awful to merely inconsistent, and Tech has won three of its past six. His rushing has improved of late, but the passing game has never come around, and if the Hokies lose their last three games as projected, they’ll finish with their worst record since 1992. That’s not how Drones’ senior season was supposed to go.
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Last Rank: 42 | Total QBR: 58.5 | Pass Yds: 1,743 | Rush Yds (no sack): 12 | Total TDs: 14
If you didn’t know Lindsey was a redshirt freshman, you could probably tell it from his game-to-game Total QBR chart.
He has produced a rating over 93.0 on two occasions, and two games ago at Iowa, he produced a 4.8. Season averages of 5.7 yards per dropback and a 41.8% success rate are not amazing.
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52. Jeff Sims, Arizona State
Last Rank: unranked | Total QBR: 59.4 | Pass Yds: 359 | Rush Yds (no sack): 370 | Total TDs: 4
You know what you’re going to get with Jeff Sims at this point. The journeyman, starting with Sam Leavitt’s season-ending injury, can run as well as anyone, as evidenced by his 100 non-sack rushing yards against Utah and 228 against Iowa State. But if you’re relying on his arm, you’re going to be disappointed. He’s completing 51% of his passes and averaging 4.7 yards per dropback.
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Last Rank: 57 | Total QBR: 57.4 | Pass Yds: 1,084 | Rush Yds (no sack): 412 | Total TDs: 17
The celebrated FCS transfer has found his way in Iowa City, contributing good things to the run game and nearly helping Iowa to knock off Oregon with a late rushing touchdown (his 12th of the season) last Saturday. But the passing numbers — 5.3 yards per dropback, 9.3 per completion — are extremely subpar. Iowa has averaged just 14.7 points in three losses with Gronowski primarily at the wheel.
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Last Rank: unranked | Total QBR: 67.7 | Pass Yds: 562 | Rush Yds (no sack): 21 | Total TDs: 3
Thrust into the lineup after Drew Allar’s injury, the redshirt freshman is slowly taking on more responsibility, and his numbers are rising slowly. His 219 passing yards and 78.6 Total QBR helped to nearly pull off an upset of Indiana last week, but he has thrown just one TD pass to four INTs in three starts. There’s still a learning curve here.
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Last Rank: 61 | Total QBR: 57.9 | Pass Yds: 1,762 | Rush Yds (no sack): 138 | Total TDs: 11
You know it’s a lost season when your passes don’t really go anywhere (10.3 yards per completion, 116th nationally), but you’re still near the bottom in interception rate (4.5%, 129th) and you’re taking plenty of sacks (5.0% sack rate, 61st). Lagway was excellent in the upset of Texas, but his Total QBR has sunk back to 56.2 since then.
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Last Rank: 44 | Total QBR: 58.0 | Pass Yds: 1,898 | Rush Yds (no sack): 277 | Total TDs: 13
He has had some bright moments this season — three 300-yard games, four games with a Total QBR over 75.0 — but this is another “high difficulty level” job, and everything has regressed of late. After starting 2-0, Browne’s Boilers have lost eight in a row, averaging just 12.5 points per game in the past four.
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Last Rank: 40 | Total QBR: 58.5 | Pass Yds: 2,097 | Rush Yds (no sack): 547 | Total TDs: 22
Deion Sanders has changed his starting QB three times (Salter, then Staub, then Salter, then Lewis) and changed his playcaller last week. With Lewis (a blue-chip freshman) and new coordinator Brett Bartolone (a Mike Leach disciple), the Buffs’ offense perked up but got only 22 points from Lewis’ 299 yards, and CU fell to 3-7. It’s a lost season — might as well keep finding out what Lewis and Bartolone can do.
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Last Rank: unranked | Total QBR: 57.5 | Pass Yds: 290 | Rush Yds (no sack): 16 | Total TDs: 2
Zollers basically pulled a reverse Lateef, nearly saving Mizzou against Vanderbilt after Beau Pribula dislocated his ankle but then laying an egg in his first career start. Having to face Texas A&M’s pass rush right out of the gate was a bit cruel, but he missed makeable passes, too, while going just 7-of-22. The former blue-chipper could still be the Tigers’ future, but he’s a clear work in progress in the present.
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Last Rank: 64 | Total QBR: 50.6 | Pass Yds: 825 | Rush Yds (no sack): 248 | Total TDs: 8
Five different QBs have taken snaps for WVU this year, and it says something that Fox has been the clear standout of the bunch while averaging just 5.7 yards per dropback and 3.9 yards per carry (no sacks) in four starts. Still, the Mountaineers have won two straight, scoring 74 points in the process. That’s definitely an improvement!
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Last Rank: 67 | Total QBR: 50.0 | Pass Yds: 1,522 | Rush Yds (no sack): 89 | Total TDs: 11
Northwestern’s defense is good enough that, as long as Stone hits a Total QBR of 50.0 or more, the Wildcats will probably win. They’re 5-1 when he does so, but unfortunately he has fallen far short of that mark in three other losses. Still, at 96th in offensive SP+, this is NU’s best offense since 2020.
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Last Rank: 60 | Total QBR: 39.6 | Pass Yds: 1,940 | Rush Yds (no sack): 417 | Total TDs: 13
Wake is a surprising 6-3 thanks to a defense that ranks 12th in yards allowed per play and 24th in defensive SP+. But the offense has vanished of late, averaging 12.0 points per game in its past three with Ashford and Purdie combining to complete just 49% of their passes. Ashford’s a good runner, but Wake’s winning despite the offense.
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Last Rank: 52 | Total QBR: 50.8 | Pass Yds: 2,563 | Rush Yds (no sack): 214 | Total TDs: 18
James was pretty good late in 2024, but Lonergan, an Alabama transfer, beat him out for the starting job this season. Both have gotten ample playing time, and neither has done much. Lonergan has completed 67% of his passes, but they haven’t gone anywhere. James can run a little bit but throws too many picks and takes too many sacks. Pretty dire stuff.
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Last Rank: 53 | Total QBR: 49.6 | Pass Yds: 1,470 | Rush Yds (no sack): 131 | Total TDs: 8
After cycling through a few options because of injuries, Scott Frost has given most of the work to Jackson of late but hasn’t really been rewarded for it. He was excellent in a blowout of West Virginia in Week 8, but UCF has lost four of its past five, and his cumulative performance in those losses — 19.1 Total QBR, 4.3 yards per dropback, 0-to-4 TD-to-INT ratio — has been atrocious.
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Last Rank: 59 | Total QBR: 33.5 | Pass Yds: 2,315 | Rush Yds (no sack): 36 | Total TDs: 11
A journeyman’s journeyman, Gulbranson provided a beautiful moment for a bad team with his last-minute, game-winning drive against San Jose State. Otherwise, he and Brown have combined to lead an offense that ranks 126th in points per drive and 128th in yards per play.
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65. Gio Lopez, North Carolina
Last Rank: 66 | Total QBR: 44.4 | Pass Yds: 1,224 | Rush Yds (no sack): 186 | Total TDs: 10
I really liked Lopez at South Alabama last season, but in a lineup with almost no standout talent, he obviously hasn’t made things happen. He’s 108th in Total QBR, 105th in yards per dropback and 123rd in passing success rate, and he hasn’t scrambled very effectively either. Tough year.
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Last Rank: 63 | Total QBR: 28.7 | Pass Yds: 1,042 | Rush Yds (no sack): 235 | Total TDs: 7
Collins has provided some useful moments with his legs, especially against SMU, but his struggles in replacing the injured Steve Angeli were bad enough that coach Fran Brown went to walk-on freshman Joseph Filardi against North Carolina. When that failed miserably, he went back to Collins.
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67. Carter Smith (or the punter, or whoever Wisconsin’s sending out there this week), Wisconsin
Last Rank: 62 | Total QBR: 25.8 | Pass Yds: 1,241 | Rush Yds (no sack): 243 | Total TDs: 9
Wisconsin pulled the most Big Ten thing imaginable last Saturday, upsetting Washington 13-10 with its punter, Sean West, leading the team in passing yards. Smith, a true freshman, went just 3-for-12 for 8 yards (and 16 yards lost from two sacks) in his first action of the season, but he did rush 13 times for 63 yards to keep the field position battle somewhat neutralized. That’s something!
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68. All sorts of guys, Oklahoma State
Last Rank: 65 | Total QBR: 35.8 | Pass Yds: 1,365 | Rush Yds (no sack): 227 | Total TDs: 6
Five different quarterbacks have taken snaps for OSU this season, and since Hauss Hejny got hurt in Week 1, the other four — Zane Flores, Sam Jackson V, Noah Walters and Banks Bowen — have combined to lose eight straight starts and average 13.8 points per game. Incredibly, the defense has been even worse, but the offense wasn’t going to win any games regardless.
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Sports
MLB Awards Week predictions, results: Will All-Star Game starters Skubal and Skenes win Cy Young Awards?
Published
46 mins agoon
November 12, 2025By
admin

-

Bradford DoolittleNov 12, 2025, 04:00 PM ET
Close- MLB writer and analyst for ESPN.com
- Former NBA writer and analyst for ESPN.com
- Been with ESPN since 2013
The hot stove season is already burning, but even amid the roster shuffling for the 2026 season, we have one last bit of 2025 business: handing out the major awards.
The most prestigious are the four major honors determined by BBWAA voting. These awards will have a lasting impact on baseball history books and Hall of Fame résumés.
On Monday, Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz was unanimously selected as the American League Rookie of the Year, and Atlanta Braves rookie catcher Drake Baldwin earned the National League honor.
Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy and Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt each won their second consecutive Manager of the Year award on Tuesday.
Here is the remaining schedule (awards are announced starting at 7 ET each night on MLB Network):
Wednesday: Cy Young Awards
Thursday: MVP Awards
MLB will also hold its annual awards show in Las Vegas on Thursday, during which it will recognize its All-MLB squads, the Hank Aaron Awards for each league’s best offensive performer, the Comeback Player of the Year Awards, the Mariano Rivera/Trevor Hoffman Awards for the top relievers, and the Edgar Martinez Awards for best designated hitters. The Executive of the Year Award will also be announced.
I’ll be reacting to each night’s awards announcement throughout the week, but in the meantime, here are some opening comments and some brief reaction to the honors that have been awarded.
Below, we list the three finalists in each of the remaining categories, with what you need to know before the results are announced and my picks to take home the hardware. We’ll update each section with news and analysis as the winners are revealed.
Jump to:
MVP: AL | NL
Cy Young: AL | NL
Rookie of the Year: AL | NL
Manager of the Year: AL | NL

American League Cy Young
Finalists:
Hunter Brown, Houston Astros
Garrett Crochet, Boston Red Sox
Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers
My pick: Skubal
Skubal is well positioned to become the AL’s first repeat Cy Young winner since Pedro Martinez in 2000. He might just be getting started. The dominant lefty didn’t repeat as a pitching Triple Crown winner, but he posted a lower ERA (2.21 to 2.39) and struck out more batters (241 to 228) than he did while winning the Cy Young Award in 2024. For the second straight year, he led the AL in pitching bWAR, FIP and ERA+.
That’s a tough résumé for Crochet to top, but he came pretty close, leading the AL in innings (205⅓) and strikeouts (255) and beating Skubal in wins (18 to 13). Skubal was a little more consistent in terms of average game score (64.2 to 62.6). Skubal really didn’t rout Crochet in any key area, but he beat him just the same in most columns.
Brown is a worthy No. 3, but for him, it’s the same story: He hung with the big two in most areas but didn’t top them. Still, it was another season of improvement for Brown, whose ERA over the past three seasons has gone from 5.09 to 3.49 to 2.43.
Cy Young must-reads:
The extraordinary mystery of the Tigers’ Tarik Skubal
National League Cy Young
Finalists:
Cristopher Sanchez, Philadelphia Phillies
Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Los Angeles Dodgers
My pick: Sanchez
My AXE system wasn’t particularly emphatic about the No. 3 pitcher in the NL Cy Young column, so Yamamoto is as good a pick there as any. We start with him because his dominant postseason run is fresh in our minds. But that doesn’t factor in here. Maybe it should, but it doesn’t. In any event, I’d have gone with Milwaukee’s Freddy Peralta as my No. 3.
Regardless of the third finalist, during the regular season, Skenes and Sanchez gradually separated themselves from the pack, especially after Sanchez’s teammate Zack Wheeler was injured. They are the easy top two but picking between them isn’t that easy.
Sanchez has the edge in volume — 202 innings to 187⅔, in part because the Pirates eased up on Skenes toward the end. Indeed, failure to do so would have been malpractice. Despite that, Skenes struck out more batters (216 to 212), posted a better ERA (1.97 to 2.50) and led the league in ERA+, WHIP and FIP. The extra 14⅓ innings allowed Sanchez a narrow win in bWAR (8.0 to 7.7).
In the end, their runs saved against average is a virtual dead heat: 53 for Sanchez against 52 for Skenes. Thus for me it comes down to context. Sanchez put up his season for a division champ, Skenes for a cellar dweller. That is not Skenes’ fault, but we’ve got to separate these pitchers somehow. Sanchez’s season was worth 3.2% championship probability added against Skenes’ 0.5%. That’s the clincher for me.
But I think Skenes will win the vote.
Cy Young must-reads:
How young aces Skenes, Skubal dominate

American League MVP
Finalists:
Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners
Jose Ramirez, Cleveland Guardians
My pick: Raleigh
What to know: We’re going to dive deep into the riveting race between Judge and Raleigh later this week. According to my AXE rating, which is an index that expresses the consensus of the leading bottom-line metrics, the winner is Judge (164 to 150) and it’s not particularly close.
Despite the easy statistical case for Judge, I see this as a case in which the narrative and intangible elements overwhelm the metrics. And that’s not to undersell Raleigh’s metrics, which are more than MVP-worthy. But despite another historic season from Judge, I’m going with Raleigh.
Again, we’ll get into the nitty-gritty of the numbers later, but the soft factors that swing my thinking are these: Raleigh’s 60-homer season is the stuff of science fiction when viewed through the lens of what’s expected from every-day catchers. It not only shattered the single-season mark for the position, but it broke Mickey Mantle’s record for homers by a switch-hitter. Mickey freaking Mantle. And Raleigh’s a (darn good) catcher!
Raleigh did all of this as the defensive anchor and clubhouse leader on a division champion. There aren’t many seasons when I’d pick someone as MVP over the 2025 version of Aaron Judge, but this is one of them. Sure, I’m a stat guy, so this feels like a departure from that foundation, but sometimes a narrative is just too compelling to ignore.
Finally, poor Jose Ramirez. This is Ramirez’s sixth time landing in the AL’s top five in MVP balloting, and eighth time in the top 10. But he’s not going to win. Ramirez just keeps churning out the same great season every year. It’s just that there has always been someone a little greater each season.
That being said: Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr. should have been the third finalist. He’ll be back.
MVP must-reads:
What it’s really like facing Aaron Judge
Can Yankees build a title-winning team around Aaron Judge?
‘It’s something that’s never been done’: Inside Cal Raleigh’s road to HR history
Why the Mariners are built to last after a crushing ALCS loss
National League MVP
Finalists:
Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers
Kyle Schwarber, Philadelphia Phillies
Juan Soto, New York Mets
My pick: Ohtani
What to know: Together, the three NL MVP finalists logged 63% of their starts at designated hitter. Most of the non-DH starts came from Soto, whose defensive metrics continue to suggest a future of increased DH time. Still, the days of DHs being locked out of the MVP chase are clearly over.
Ohtani was the first exclusive DH to win an MVP last year, though he’d won it before while serving as an every-day DH in addition to pitching. He logged 1.1 bWAR this season for his 47 innings on the mound, which could have proved to be a tiebreaker if he and the other finalists were close. But it’s Ohtani all the way.
As hitters, all three used up a similar number of outs as Ohtani, who had at least a 20-run advantage in runs created over both. Shockingly, it was Soto who had the best baserunning numbers, thanks to his 38-steal breakout and Ohtani deemphasizing that part of his game. But Ohtani provided easily the most defensive value with his pitching, while Soto’s defense was a negative and Schwarber was almost exclusively a DH.
Basically, everything Schwarber and Soto did, Ohtani did better — and he pitched well. Even Schwarber’s league-leading RBI count (132) is trumped by Ohtani’s decided edge in WPA, a category in which he led the league. It’s Ohtani’s award, again, and it will be No. 4 for him. Only Barry Bonds has won more.
Not for nothing, you know which position player posted the highest bWAR total? That would be a nonfinalist: Arizona’s Geraldo Perdomo (7.0 bWAR), though he did finish behind Ohtani when the latter’s pitching bWAR is added.
MVP must-reads:
2025 MLB most exciting player bracket: Ohtani, Judge, more
The improbability of Shohei Ohtani’s greatness
Schwarber, All-Star swing-off captures the beauty of baseball
Inside Juan Soto’s wild first Mets season
Juan Soto, the showman, finally showing up for Mets

American League Rookie of the Year
Winner: Nick Kurtz, Athletics (unanimous)
Final tally: Nick Kurtz 210 (30 first-place votes), Jacob Wilson 107, Roman Anthony 72, Noah Cameron 54, Colson Montgomery 23, Carlos Narvaez 21, Jack Leiter 6, Will Warren 5, Luke Keaschall 3, Braydon Fisher 2, Shane Smith 2, Cam Smith 2, Chandler Simpson 1, Luis Morales 1, Jasson Dominguez 1
Doolittle’s pick: Kurtz
Takeaway: Before the season, Kurtz’s name wasn’t near the top of the list for AL Rookie of the Year candidates. He didn’t lack hype — he was viewed by many as the Athletics’ top prospect — but his meteoric rise was unexpected.
Kurtz, the fourth pick in 2024, played just 12 minor league games and another 13 in last year’s Arizona Fall League before this season. So, it made sense that he began the season in Triple-A, where he posted a 1.000-plus OPS, which he has done every step of the way.
Kurtz debuted in the majors April 23, and 117 games later, his 1.002 rookie-season OPS ranks as the fifth best for a rookie (minimum 480 plate appearances) behind Aaron Judge, Ted Williams, Albert Pujols and Ryan Braun. But none of those greats matched Kurtz’s accomplishment against the Astros on July 25, when he hit four homers, finished with six hits and tied Shawn Green’s big league record for total bases in a game (19).
The ninth Rookie of the Year in Athletics history, Kurtz’s slash line (.290/.383/.619) at 22 is evidence that he’s the complete package at the plate and still might improve. But even if he doesn’t, and this is what he is going forward, he’s one of the best hitters in the majors.
The other two finalists — Anthony and Wilson — were both high on preseason lists for the award and validated that anticipation with fine rookie seasons. Wilson’s .311 average ranked third in the majors. He was one of seven qualifying hitters in the majors to hit at least .300. Anthony lived up to massive hype upon his arrival at Fenway Park, but he suffered an oblique injury Sept. 2, ending his chances of overtaking Kurtz for the award.
Here’s how my AXE leaderboard had it:
1. Nick Kurtz, Athletics (126 AXE, finalist)
2. Jacob Wilson, Athletics (118, finalist)
3. (tie) Roman Anthony, Red Sox (115, finalist)
Noah Cameron, Royals (115)
Colson Montgomery, White Sox (115)
6. Carlos Narvaez, Red Sox (110)
7. Shane Smith, White Sox (109)
ROY must-reads:
Passan Awards: Nick Kurtz wins ‘Individual Performance of the Year’
How a swing tweak has Red Sox rookie Roman Anthony rolling
National League Rookie of the Year
Winner: Drake Baldwin, Atlanta Braves
Final tally: Drake Baldwin 183 (21 first-place votes), Cade Horton 139 (9), Caleb Durbin 69, Isaac Collins 62, Daylen Lile 17, Agustin Ramirez 10, Chad Patrick 9, Jakob Marsee 8, Jack Dreyer 4, Matt Shaw 4, Jacob Misiorowski 2, Nolan McLean 2, Heriberto Hernandez 1
Doolittle’s pick: Baldwin
Takeaway: The voters favored Baldwin’s full-season production over Horton’s remarkable second half. It was a tough call, but Baldwin established himself as one of the game’s outstanding young catchers. Baldwin hit .274/.341/.469 over 124 games, numbers strong enough to earn him regular DH time on days he wasn’t catching. That’s key, because Atlanta still has veteran Sean Murphy under contract for three more years.
Like his AL counterpart Kurtz, Baldwin was considered his organization’s top prospect by many when the season began, but he was expected to make his big league debut late in 2025 or in 2026. Baldwin got his chance when Murphy suffered a cracked rib in spring training. The Braves had several journeyman backups in camp, but Baldwin was so impressive that he started behind the plate on Opening Day.
Baldwin is the first catcher to win NL Rookie of the Year since Buster Posey in 2010. The only other Braves catcher to win the award was Earl Williams (1971), though Williams divided his time between catching and the infield.
If Horton had a first half that matched his post-All-Star-break performance, he might have been a unanimous pick and even entered the Cy Young debate. In 12 second-half starts, Horton went 8-1 with a 1.03 ERA, allowing just 33 hits while striking out 54 over 61⅓ innings. He allowed one run or fewer in 11 of those outings. Horton’s efforts helped the Chicago Cubs, who were scrambling to make the postseason with a short-handed rotation. This shows up in his probability stats: Horton ranked 12th among all NL pitchers in win probability added and 13th in championship probability added.
Durbin was a vital cog in the Brewers’ run to a franchise-best 97 wins. He was also one of several rookies in Milwaukee who were key contributors to the Brewers’ run to the NLCS. If “Brewers rookie” was an option on the ballot, “Brewers rookie” should have won.
Here’s how my AXE leaderboard had it:
1. Drake Baldwin, Braves (115 AXE, finalist)
2. Caleb Durbin, Brewers (113, finalist)
3. Cade Horton, Cubs (112, finalist)
4. Isaac Collins, Brewers (111)
5. Chad Patrick, Brewers (110)
6. Jakob Marsee, Marlins (109)
7. Braxton Ashcraft, Pirates (108)

American League Manager of the Year
Winner: Stephen Vogt, Cleveland Guardians
Final tally: Vogt 113 (28 first-place votes), John Schneider 91 (10), Dan Wilson 50 (2), Alex Cora 7 (1), A.J. Hinch 6, Joe Espada 3
Doolittle’s pick: Schneider
Takeaway: The AL Manager of the Year race remained murky to me up to and including the day that awards finalists were announced. EARL, an algorithm that seeks to create order out of the chaotic process of rating managers, was all over the place through the season. Hinch, who was favored in many of the betting markets until he turned out to not be a finalist, was submarined by his team’s drastic midseason fall-off (though he should have received credit for side-stepping a complete collapse and earning a playoff spot).
That left last year’s winner, Vogt, whose Guardians made a stirring run to overtake the Tigers in the AL Central, as well as Wilson, skipper of the AL West champion Mariners, and Schneider, who guided the Blue Jays to the East crown. In the end, the voters were picking between the AL’s three division-winning managers.
Worst to first is always a great narrative — and perhaps the best argument in favor for Schneider after the Blue Jays rebounded from 2024’s last-place finish to win Toronto’s first division title in a decade, one that was validated with a postseason run all the way to extra innings of Game 7 of the World Series. Schneider was strong in wins versus Pythagorean-based expectation (94 wins for a win expectation of 88.5) and record in one- and two-run contests (43-30).
But Vogt beat him in both areas, and the same held true in terms of preseason expectations. Toronto beat its preseason over/under consensus by 10 wins, the fourth-best performance in the majors. Third best? Vogt, at 10.5. Vogt becomes the fourth manager to win back-to-back awards, minutes after the Murphy in the NL became the third.
Worst to first: Great story. Coming back from 15½ games back on July 8? Even better.
Here’s how my EARL leaderboard had it:
1. A.J. Hinch, Tigers (108.3 EARL)
2. John Schneider, Blue Jays (107.8, finalist)
3. Joe Espada, Astros (107.0)
4. Stephen Vogt, Guardians (105.2, finalist)
5. Dan Wilson, Mariners (103.5, finalist)
6. Matt Quatraro, Royals (101.8)
7. Mark Kotsay, Athletics (99.6)
Note: EARL is a metric that looks at how a team’s winning percentage varies from expectations generated by projections, run differential and one-run record. While attributing these measures to managerial performance is presumptive, the metric does tend to track well with the annual balloting.
Manager of the Year must-reads:
The magic chemistry of the Blue Jays clubhouse
National League Manager of the Year
Winner: Pat Murphy, Milwaukee Brewers
Final tally: Murphy 141 (27 first-place votes), Terry Francona 49 (2), Rob Thomson 32 (1), Craig Counsell 24, Clayton McCullough 22, Torey Lovullo 1, Mike Shildt 1
Doolittle’s pick: Murphy
Takeaway: The measures that feed EARL anointed Murphy pretty early in the season. Though the Brewers were a division winner in 2024, when Murphy won the award in his first full season as a big league manager, they were pegged for a .500-ish baseline entering the season. Instead, Milwaukee raced to a franchise record, a 17-win surplus against expectation that was the most in the majors. (McCullough’s Marlins were plus-15, hence his presence in the EARL leaderboard below.)
Murphy creates a fun, positive clubhouse atmosphere, keeping things light when it’s warranted, and getting heavy when it’s needed. He treats everyone the same, from the journeyman roster fill-in to franchise cornerstone Christian Yelich, not to mention everyone else in the great ecosystem of baseball that comes across his path on a daily basis. His skill set in building an upbeat culture doesn’t get enough attention — it’s an essential trait for a club that’s always iterating its roster.
One sign of a good manager is the ability to integrate rookies. Well, this season Milwaukee easily led the majors in rookie WAR, even as the Brewers chased another division crown. They played an exciting brand of offensive baseball that featured plenty of action on the basepaths and adherence to situational execution. They deployed one of the game’s top defenses. All of these things are hallmarks of a well-managed squad.
The Brewers remain perhaps baseball’s best-run franchise, a distinction that requires aptitude from the front office to the dugout, where Murphy presides. He becomes the first back-to-back NL Manager of the Year winner since Bobby Cox (2004-05), who did it with the Braves. The only other back-to-back winner was Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash, the AL’s honoree in 2020-21. Murphy, who managed San Diego on an interim basis in 2015, is the first skipper to win in his first two full seasons.
Here’s how my EARL leaderboard had it:
1. Pat Murphy, Brewers (113.7 EARL, finalist)
2. Clayton McCullough, Marlins (106.9)
3. Oliver Marmol, Cardinals (106.1)
4. Rob Thomson, Phillies (103.9, finalist)
5. Craig Counsell, Cubs (103.4)
6. Mike Shildt, Padres (103.2)
7. Terry Francona, Reds (101.7 finalist)
Manager of the Year must-reads:
Welcome to ‘Milwaukee Community College’: How the Brewers built a $115 million juggernaut
Why Terry Francona, Bruce Bochy came back to managing in MLB

Other awards
Just a run-through of my picks, leaving aside the Comeback Player category, which is tough to attack analytically:
Executive of the Year: Matt Arnold, Milwaukee Brewers. I have a metric I use to track organizational performance. It looks at things such as the performance of acquired players, organizational records and the value produced by rookies. Arnold’s club topped the charts. Arnold won this award last year, so we’ll find out if there is an Arnold fatigue at work here. If Arnold doesn’t win, I’d lean toward Seattle’s Jerry Dipoto.
All-MLB: My All-MVP first team, courtesy of AXE:
1B: Matt Olson, Atlanta Braves
2B: Nico Hoerner, Chicago Cubs
SS: Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals
3B: Jose Ramirez, Cleveland Guardians
C: Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners
OF: Juan Soto, New York Mets
OF: Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
OF: Corbin Carroll, Arizona Diamondbacks
DH: Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers
LHP: Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers
RHP: Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates
RP: Aroldis Chapman, Boston Red Sox
Hank Aaron Award: Aaron Judge (AL, New York Yankees); Shohei Ohtani (NL, Los Angeles Dodgers)
Mariano Rivera Award: Aroldis Chapman, Boston Red Sox
Trevor Hoffman Award: Edwin Diaz, New York Mets
Gold Gloves: The winners have been announced and can be found here. My quibbles: I would have gone with Toronto’s Alejandro Kirk at AL catcher over Detroit’s Dillon Dingler. On the NL side, I’d have liked to find a spot for Washington’s Jacob Young, but the insistence on LF/CF/RF distinctions ruled that out. All in all, another pretty solid job in an awards category that used to be rife with absurdities.
Sports
Bottom 10: It’s just one loss, but BYU, come on down
Published
55 mins agoon
November 12, 2025By
admin

-
Ryan McGee
Nov 12, 2025, 07:00 AM ET
Inspirational thought of the week:
I’m riding slow in my Prius
All-leather, tinted windows, you can’t see us!
Everybody’s trying to park you can feel the tension
I’m in electric mode, can’t even hear the engine
Just then I saw a spot open up
My timing’s perfect! I’m creeping up …
But then this other dude try to steal it
Going the wrong way!
“Hey man I’ve had a long day!”
It’s getting real in the Whole Foods parking lot!
I got my skill and you know it gets sparked a lot
— “It’s Getting Real in the Whole Foods Parking Lot,” DJ Spider
Here at Bottom 10 Headquarters, located in the massive audio warehouse where Kirk Herbstreit keeps all of the recordings of the “AAAAAWWWWWW”s that people release when they see Peter the dog, we took a look at the calendar hanging on the front of our refrigerator and realized … hang on … we realized that it’s not 2008 like this calendar says … OK … here’s the new one … let’s start over.
We looked at the calendar hanging on the front of our refrigerator and realized there are only three weekends remaining in the 2025 college football season. Or, if you live in the world of #MACtion like we do, only three more weekends plus three more weeks of Tuesday and Wednesday games played between banks of plowed snow.
That means stuff is about to get real. Sure, the hoity-toity top 10 will tell you it’s all about the CFP. But around here, it’s about the BFP, the Bottom 10 Football Playoff. And once we wake up Charlie Weis and get our internet dialed back up, we too shall be shaping up a bracket that shall determine a champion. The real champion. The champion of life. Or, actually, Life. The board game. Where the gold revenge squares give you the option to “sue for damages” with the goal of hitting “retire in style” or “retire to the country to become a philosopher.”
And now it suddenly dawns on us that Brian Kelly and his lawyers must like board games.
With apologies to former Ohio back David Board, former Idaho receiver Tom Gamelin, as well as Georgia State receiver Keron Milton, Air Force lineman Brian Bradley and Steve Harvey, here are the post-Week 11 Bottom 10 rankings.

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The Minuetmen are the nation’s only remaining winless team, but the final three weeks of their #MACtion revenge reunion tour would seem to provide two solid chances to taste victory before tasting the Thanksgiving turkey, beginning with a Wednesday night Pillow Fight of the Week of the Year Mega Bowl visit from Bottom 10 Wait Lister Northern Ill-ugh-noise, which airs at 7 p.m. ET on ESPNU. The ESPN Analytics Ouija board says UMass has a 21.8% chance of victory, its best shot for the rest of the season.
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During this week’s traditional post-weekend #Bottom10Lobbying deluge on social media, I heard from a Nevada grad named @mugtang who wrote: “Nevada would lose by 3 touchdowns to UMass! Rank us #1 in the bottom 10. Or would it be #136?” In related news, after reading his tweet, I went to the store, bought some Tang drink mix and drank it from a mug. With rum in it. Like the astronauts used to do.
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The Panthers lost last week at Coastal Carolina 40-27. Next, they host Marshall, which is convenient for fans of the Thundering Herd, who could just follow the Georgia State bus as it left town because it is a natural law that at any given time, half the population of West Virginia is at Myrtle Beach.
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The Niners travelled Down East to EC-Yew and lost 48-22. In their defense, they weren’t themselves because they were already testing out what it’s like to play covered in bubble wrap and rubber boat bumpers, preparing for their Week 14 trip to Georgia.
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Legend has it that after the angel Moroni showed Joseph Smith the golden plates upon which the Mormon Church was founded, he also warned Smith to make sure to heed the oft-forgotten inscription located on the scratched up backside of the plates: “BEWARE THE COVETED FIFTH SPOT LEST IT BITE YOU IN THE BEHIND IN LUBBOCK.”
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Sources tell Bottom 10 JortsCenter that BC and UMass are secretly looking to play a Bottom 10 Toilet Bowl title game on Christmas Eve morning, to be held in the parking lot of the Mass Turnpike Natick Service Plaza, sponsored by Dunkin’, D’Angelo’s sandwiches and Vinny’s Vape and Spray Tan. Go Sox.
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Hear me out. A reality show where all the college football coaches who have been fired this season meet at a Buffalo Wild Wings and watch games together. Or better yet, they do it at Mike Gundy’s ranch.
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It’s always tough when you didn’t know what you wish you’d known at one time, but it felt better because you thought you knew plenty about a time that was still to come, only to see the time still to come not be what you thought you knew and make that first thing you didn’t know at the time feel like even more of a missed unknown opportunity. See: We didn’t realize how big the Week 3 game between MTSU and Nevada was, and now the game we thought was going to be big — MTSU vs. Sam Houston State on Nov. 22 — isn’t as large as it once was. Why?
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Because of what the Beavs just did. Or, actually, what they failed to do. The Other OSU spent the first two months of the season in these rankings before departing thanks to two straight wins, over Lafayette and fellow 2Pac members Warshington State. It was like the scene in “The Dark Knight Rises” when Bruce Wayne climbed out of that underground desert prison he’d been banished to by Bane … only this time when he got to the top, Bane was waiting to step on his fingers. And who is Bane in this Batman Bottom 10 metaphor?
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(For full Bane effect, read the next lines with your hand cupped over your mouth while doing the accent of a shouting cockney actor who is constipated, while wearing a Bearkats hoodie.) “Kurious how you konkluded this kontrived eskape would be sukcessful, Kaped Krusader! Now we kome for you, Blue Raiders!”
Waiting List: Livin’ on Tulsa Time, Colora-duh State, UTEPid, Arkansaw Fightin’ Petrinos, South Alabama Redundancies, Northern Ill-ugh-noise, billable hours.
Sports
MSU hit with 3-year probation, 14 wins vacated
Published
1 hour agoon
November 12, 2025By
admin

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Jake TrotterNov 12, 2025, 03:22 PM ET
Close- Jake Trotter is a senior writer at ESPN. Trotter covers college football. He also writes about other college sports, including men’s and women’s basketball. Trotter resides in the Cleveland area with his wife and three kids and is a fan of his hometown Oklahoma City Thunder. He covered the Cleveland Browns and NFL for ESPN for five years, moving back to college football in 2024. Previously, Trotter worked for the Middletown (Ohio) Journal, Austin American-Statesman and Oklahoman newspapers before joining ESPN in 2011. He’s a 2004 graduate of Washington and Lee University. You can reach out to Trotter at jake.trotter@espn.com and follow him on X at @Jake_Trotter.
The NCAA has placed Michigan State football on three years of probation for violations that occurred under Mel Tucker’s tenure as coach.
The violations occurred due to the participation of three ineligible players. Now, the Spartans will vacate all 14 wins from the past three seasons, a school spokesperson confirmed. That includes all five wins last season during Jonathan Smith’s first year as coach.
The three players are no longer with the program, the spokesperson said.
Michigan State will also be penalized $30,000 plus 1.5% of the football program’s budget. For the 2024 season, that budget was $58.6 million, according to figures provided by Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.
The Spartans will also face restrictions on official and unofficial visits, recruiting communications, recruiting person days, and off-campus recruiting contacts and evaluations over the probationary period.
The school released a statement saying it negotiated a resolution with the NCAA to minimize the penalties on the current team.
The NCAA handed Tucker, former Michigan State general manager Saeed Khalif and former assistant coach Brandon Jordan show-cause penalties. Tucker was given a three-year order. The NCAA said Tucker “failed to adequately monitor his program.” Khalif (six years) and Jordan (five years) were given longer penalties for knowingly providing impermissible recruiting inducements, according to the NCAA. The three cannot coach in college until their show-cause orders end.
Michigan State fired Tucker for cause in 2023 after he was accused of sexual harassment.
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