The Big 12 quarterback scene has changed a lot this year compared to last season.
Five programs return quarterbacks who started more than half of their team’s games a year ago. Last season, there were nine starting quarterbacks returning in the league, many of whom who were among the nation’s top projected signal callers.
By comparison, about half of the conference this year is projected to have a new starting quarterback that arrived via the transfer portal this offseason.
When former Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby transferred to Texas Tech, he was expected to be one of the country’s best signal callers and lead the Red Raiders in their campaign to repeat as Big 12 champions and return to the College Football Playoff.
With Sorsby’s eligibility in serious question after admitting to a gambling addiction, though, it’s shaken up the QB situation around the league. At this point, the NCAA has denied Texas Tech’s request to reinstate Sorsby’s eligibility for the 2026 season and the school has filed an appeal.
Whether or not Sorsby will be able to play for Texas Tech in 2026 should be answered sometime this month.
For now, when ranking the quarterback situations for every Big 12 team (we’ll eliminate Sorsby as a possibility), here’s a look at where things stand conference-wide going into June.
Time — and actual game experience — will change these rankings, but going into the summer, this provides a gauge on the confidence level at quarterback for each respective program.
1. Devon Dampier, Utah
- 2025 stats: 63.5% completion percentage, 2,490 passing yards, 24 touchdowns, 5 interceptions; 146 carries, 835 rushing yards, 10 touchdowns
Dampier burst onto the scene last year in Salt Lake City after transferring from New Mexico and earned Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year honors as the best true dual-threat quarterback in the conference.
What will he do for an encore? Dampier has a new offensive coordinator, Kevin McGiven, after Jason Beck followed Kyle Whittingham to Michigan. Perhaps that, and having a new offensive line with all five starters gone, will lead to a dip in his numbers — then again, Dampier showed he can be the most electric playmaker on the field at any given time and make game-changing plays with his legs and his arm.
The Utes also have the best overall QB situation in the league, with Byrd Ficklin back one year after he made big plays, particularly in the running game, as a true freshman.
2. Noah Fifita, Arizona
- 2025 stats: 64.3% completion percentage, 3,228 passing yards, 29 touchdowns, 6 interceptions; 114 carries, 216 rushing yards, 3 touchdowns
Fifita isn’t getting a ton of national recognition as one of the top returning quarterbacks in college football, but he should be. During a resurgent junior campaign in 2025, Fifita earned All-Big 12 first-team honors and he is the league’s returning passing yards and passing touchdowns leader.
Fifita shook off a sophomore slump to push his way back into the conversation as one of the conference’s top quarterbacks last season and added a running element to his arsenal. Can the redshirt senior with 34 career starts make Arizona a Big 12 contender?
3. Drew Mestemaker, Oklahoma State
- 2025 stats (at North Texas): 68.9% completion percentage, 4,379 passing yards, 34 touchdowns, 9 interceptions; 57 carries, 89 rushing yards, 5 touchdowns
A former walk-on earning the No. 3 spot on this list? Yep, Mestemaker has earned it. After redshirting his first season at North Texas, he grabbed the starting spot for the Mean Green last year and led the country in passing yards while earning American Conference Offensive Player of the Year honors as North Texas came up just short of a conference title.
There will be a learning curve jumping to the power conference level — and he’s doing it at Oklahoma State, which hasn’t won a Big 12 conference game in two years — but Mestemaker has some intriguing offensive weapons at his disposal and, more importantly, his head coach at UNT, Eric Morris.
4. Bear Bachmeier, BYU
- 2025 stats: 64.9% completion percentage, 3,033 passing yards, 15 touchdowns, 7 interceptions; 147 carries, 527 rushing yards, 11 touchdowns
In these Big 12 QB rankings last offseason, I had BYU ranked No. 15, and for good reason — after Jake Retzlaff withdrew from the program during the summer, the Cougars had little time to sort out their starting situation.
Bachmeier had spent the spring at Stanford, but the true freshman came in as a transfer and won the job last season. He ended up earning Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year honors and proved to be just what BYU needed in leading the team to the conference title game and a 12-2 record.
There will be high expectations on Bachmeier to improve this season and try to get the Cougars over the hump — both in the Big 12 chase and in the program’s pursuit of a College Football Playoff berth. Last season, though, Bachmeier showed he had the moxie to deal with those expectations.
5. Conner Weigman, Houston
- 2025 stats: 65.2% completion percentage, 2,705 passing yards, 25 touchdowns, 9 interceptions; 171 carries, 700 rushing yards, 11 touchdowns
Weigman, a former five-star recruit, finally had his breakout season as a redshirt junior last year, leading Houston to 10 wins. He has the highest QB efficiency rating among returning Big 12 quarterbacks at 147.1.
Weigman could be complemented this season by incoming five-star freshman Keisean Henderson — if Willie Fritz can find creative ways to get them both involved. The senior 6-foot-3 Weigman, though, has Houston’s program on the upswing and can beat you with his legs and his arm.
6. Avery Johnson, Kansas State
- 2025 stats: 59.8% completion percentage, 2,385 passing yards, 18 touchdowns, 6 interceptions; 109 carries, 477 rushing yards, 8 touchdowns
Johnson is headed into his third season as Kansas State’s starting quarterback, though the Wildcats are coming off a 6-6 season that fell well short of the team’s projections entering the season.
The senior QB will be playing for a new coach, though, with Colin Klein taking over for Chris Kleiman. Klein has extensive experience as a quarterbacks coach, which could be a boon for Johnson. Will he cap his career with his best season yet?
7. DJ Lagway, Baylor
- 2025 stats (at Florida): 63.2% completion percentage, 2,264 passing yards, 16 touchdowns, 14 interceptions; 71 carries, 136 rushing yards, 1 touchdown
Coming out of high school, Lagway was rated the No. 3 overall talent in the 2024 class and the top prep QB talent that year. Things didn’t quite work out in Florida, though, and now he comes to Baylor as a junior looking for a fresh start.
His 14 interceptions last season were the most in the SEC, and Lagway will need to show a better command of the offense than he did as a Gator. With 19 career starts to his name, though, and favorable measurables, Lagway has high-end potential — something Weigman had last year when he ended up being a strong transfer for Houston.
8. Jaden Craig, TCU
- 2025 stats (at Harvard): 61.5% completion percentage, 2,869 passing yards, 25 touchdowns, 7 interceptions; 48 carries, 78 rushing yards, 3 touchdowns
The Horned Frogs hit the portal after Josh Hoover transferred to defending national champion Indiana. TCU found a veteran in Craig, who started 24 games over the past three years for the Crimson and helped them make the FCS playoffs last season.
Craig could be a good fit in coach Sonny Dykes’ offense, and his ball security acumen — he had 10 interceptions total over the past three years — will be welcome after Hoover threw a Big 12-worst 13 a year ago.
9. Cutter Boley, Arizona State
- 2025 stats (at Kentucky): 65.8% completion percentage, 2,160 passing yards, 15 touchdowns, 12 interceptions; 66 carries, 85 rushing yards, 2 touchdowns
The Sun Devils had to rebuild their quarterback room with Sam Leavitt transferring to LSU and Jeff Sims running out of eligibility. Boley, who stands 6-foot-5, is an intriguing option to start for the Sun Devils after he started 10 games — and went 4-6 as a starter — for Kentucky as a redshirt freshman a year ago. He’ll need to cut down on the turnovers, though.
Mikey Keene, who was at Michigan last season, is in his fourth program in six years and joins ASU as a transfer quarterback who could push for playing time if Boley doesn’t hold onto the job. He was a two-year starter at Fresno State in 2023 and 2024.
10. Alonza Barnett III, UCF
- 2025 stats (at James Madison): 58.4% completion percentage, 2,806 passing yards, 23 touchdowns, 8 interceptions; 127 carries, 589 rushing yards, 15 touchdowns
A banged-up Barnett missed all 15 spring practices as head coach Scott Frost said they wanted to “make sure that he’s 100% ready to go before we put him out there,” per Sports Illustrated. Assuming he’s healthy when the season starts, the redshirt senior showed at James Madison he can be an electric playmaker — just look at his rushing TD total last season.
Barnett led the Dukes to the College Football Playoff in 2025 and has 27 career starts to his name. He’ll have to fend off Florida International transfer Keyone Jenkins for the job, but Barnett is likely the quarterback with the most upside here, at least to begin the year.
11. Julian Lewis, Colorado
- 2025 stats: 55.3% completion percentage, 589 passing yards, 4 touchdowns, 0 interceptions; 24 carries, minus-35 rushing yards
Lewis was primarily a backup for the Buffaloes last season — Kaidon Salter was the starter much of the year — but the true freshman did earn some playing time that primarily came in November.
That included two starts, and Pro Football Focus named him the Big 12 QB of the Week after his 299-yard, two-touchdown day in a loss to West Virginia. Lewis, a five-star recruit out of high school, will need to show greater development, though, as he fully takes the reins of the Colorado offense.
12. Will Hammond, Lloyd Jones Jr. or Kirk Francis, Texas Tech
- Hammond 2025 stats: 63.3% completion percentage, 680 passing yards, 7 touchdowns, 3 interceptions; 43 carries, 299 rushing yards, 5 touchdowns
- Jones 2025 stats: 80% completion percentage, 74 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions; 3 carries, 15 rushing yards
- Francis 2025 stats (at Tulsa): 60.2% completion percentage, 493 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, 4 interceptions; 9 carries, 1 rushing yard
This is assuming that Sorsby ultimately is unable to play and that a position that was expected to be one of Texas Tech’s strengths will instead have question marks.
Hammond, who tore his ACL in late October last season, is presumed to be the starter at some point sans Sorsby, once he’s healthy. Texas Tech will need others like Francis or Jones to step up early in the season.
In eight games before getting hurt, Hammond showed a strong command of the offense, particularly in a 34-10 win at Utah when he played nearly the entire second half for an injured Behren Morton.
For now, Texas Tech’s QB situation is fluid — though it could end up being among the best in the Big 12 if the right circumstances line up.
13. Jaylen Raynor, Iowa State
- 2025 stats (at Arkansas State): 66.5% completion percentage, 3,361 passing yards, 19 touchdowns, 11 interceptions; 154 carries, 423 rushing yards, 7 touchdowns
There is tons of change in Ames after former coach Matt Campbell left for Penn State and took a large portion of the roster with him. The biggest hole from an experience standpoint is at signal caller, as three-year starting quarterback Rocco Becht also became a Nittany Lion.
Raynor was the starter the past three seasons at Arkansas State and he can help fill that experience gap, after he averaged 2,898 passing yards and 394 rushing yards per season for the Red Wolves. He looks like the favorite to lead the Cyclones offense in 2026, though Oklahoma State transfer Zane Flores, who started eight games a year ago, could also get a shot.
14. JC French IV, Cincinnati
- 2025 stats (at Georgia Southern): 63.8% completion percentage, 2,929 passing yards, 20 touchdowns, 8 interceptions; 133 carries, 315 rushing yards, 6 touchdowns
When Sorsby hit the transfer portal following his redshirt junior season and ultimately moved to another Big 12 school in Texas Tech, that left the Bearcats in need of finding a starting quarterback.
French comes to Cincinnati with 26 career stats at Georgia Southern and nearly 6,000 career passing yards, to go along with 600 rushing yards. If he falters, the Bearcats also brought in former Penn quarterback Liam O’Brien, who has 10 career starts, this offseason.
15. Michael Hawkins Jr. or Scotty Fox Jr., West Virginia
- Hawkins 2025 stats (at Oklahoma): 55.6% completion percentage, 167 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, 0 interceptions; 15 carries, 58 rushing yards, 1 touchdown
- Fox 2025 stats: 59.4% completion percentage, 1,276 passing yards, 7 touchdowns, 6 interceptions; 84 carries, 201 rushing yards, 3 touchdowns
This could be one of the more fun quarterback situations to monitor in the Big 12. There’s the incumbent Fox, who started five games a season ago, and Hawkins, who started four games over two years in Norman but sought a fresh start.
Fox led West Virginia to wins over Houston and Colorado and became the first West Virginia true freshman QB to start a game since 1952, but he also had a couple games where he really struggled. Hawkins’ athleticism is a bit reminiscent of former Mountaineer quarterback Pat White, though he needs to prove it on the field.
16. Isaiah Marshall or Cole Ballard, Kansas
- Marshall 2025 stats: 100% completion percentage (on 3 attempts), 28 passing yards, 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions; 15 carries, 160 rushing yards
- Ballard 2025 stats: 45.5% completion percentage, 108 passing yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception; 15 carries, 92 rushing yards
Jalon Daniels is no longer at Kansas, ushering in a new era at quarterback for the program. Unlike most every other Big 12 school that has a QB opening, though, the Jayhawks look more likely to go with an internal candidate versus a transfer to take over.
Ballard, a redshirt junior headed into his fourth year in the program, has only seen spot duty in his time at Kansas. The same goes for the redshirt sophomore Marshall, who did start one game a year ago. The Jayhawks did bring in Rice transfer Chase Jenkins, and he could factor into the situation as well.