College football QB battles to watch ahead of the 2022 season

QBs to watch: Cade McNamara, J.J. McCarthy

Prediction: Cade McNamara

Need to know: A starting quarterback that beat Ohio State, won the Big Ten, and made the College Football Playoff usually isn't worried about losing his job. 

And to be sure, Cade McNamara comes into 2022 as the favorite, coming off a 2,500-yard, 15 TD performance last season, but he has some real competition.

McCarthy brings a different skill set to the position, an increased mobility in and out of the pocket who can extend plays with his legs. 

The former 5-star prospect scored seven all-purpose TDs in 2021 in limited action and showed flashes. But the Wolverines may decide to stick with proven experience over unproven potential this fall.

QBs to watch: Anthony Richardson, Jack Miller

Prediction: Anthony Richardson

Need to know: Emory Jones elected to transfer out of Florida after all, and with him goes 19 TDs and 13 picks from a year ago to go with a 65% completion rate.

Richardson took more than a few snaps away from Jones last fall, but he's also coming off a meniscus surgery late last year. The Gainesville native had 529 yards passing in 2021 with six TDs and five picks. In games where he threw at least 10 passes, Richardson had three scores and four INTs.

This offseason, a third contender emerged after Jack Miller transferred in from Ohio State. A 4-star, pro-style prospect from Arizona, Miller doesn't project as an athletic fixture behind center, but as a solid, conventional pocket passer. 

QBs to watch: Quinn Ewers, Hudson Card

Prediction: Quinn Ewers

Need to know: The one thing we know is that Texas will have a new starter at quarterback after Casey Thompson up and left for Nebraska and life in the Big Ten.

That leaves a two-man race for the Longhorns to pick from, including the player analysts have long predicted will emerge as a generational prospect at the position. A consensus 5-star recruit out of Texas, Ewers first gave Ohio State a try and elected to move on when CJ Stroud took hold of the QB job there.

This could be a program-defining decision for second-year coach Steve Sarkisian. Does he side with Card, who has more experience? Or with Ewers, who has none, but all the upside in the world.

QBs to watch: D.J. Uiagalelei, Cade Klubnik

Prediction: D.J. Uiagalelei

Need to know: It's been an up and down Clemson career for Uiagalelei, the former 5-star prospect who really impressed when subbing for Trevor Lawrence during the worst of the pandemic.

He accounted for nine all-purpose touchdowns in that brief showing, but didn't quite impress in his first full year as starter. Uiagalelei passed for nine TDs in all of 2021, threw 10 picks, and went five games without throwing a touchdown at all. A sluggish offense overall kept the Tigers from what would have been their seventh-straight College Football Playoff berth.

So, he's not exactly a sure thing. But does that mean 5-star 2022 signee Klubnik can throw some elbows and push himself to the QB1 spot? Dabo Swinney didn't exactly shoot down that possibility, probably to give Uiagalelei some pressure to improve and realize his potential.

But in truth, Swinney isn't ready to give up on such a prominent prospect as Uiagalelei, and will give him another chance this fall.

QBs to watch: Myles Brennan, Jayden Daniels, Garrett Nussmeier, Walker Howard

Prediction: Myles Brennan

Need to know: This QB competition got very interesting after Arizona State's Jayden Daniels elected to transfer to LSU this offseason. Until then, it looked like Brennan's job given his experience and time on the roster. Especially given he had originally entered the transfer portal before deciding to stay on.

Daniels brings on spotty production, but proven athleticism. That could be the X-factor that first-year coach Brian Kelly needs to give this offense the jolt it certainly needs. That, plus Brennan's history of injury, could nudge things in Daniels' direction, but would LSU take a chance on a player who arrived so recently?

Nussmeier and Howard likely don't figure into things right now. Both are prospects for the future, but will be in what figures to be a QB3 race that's worth watching, too.

QBs to watch: Max Johnson, Haynes King, Conner Weigman

Prediction: Max Johnson

Need to know: Arguably the most impactful decision Jimbo Fisher will make at this stage of his time at the school. A&M appears on the cusp of finally breaking through to the College Football Playoff, and needs the right piece at this position to realize that dream.

King won the job last offseason, but his season ended thanks to injury in Week 2, and he wasn't seen again. His replacement, Zach Calzada, is now at Auburn, which would have been a help if not for LSU transfer Max Johnson arriving in College Station.

Johnson also inherited a job through injury, replacing Myles Brennan at LSU, and passing for 27 TDs against six picks in 2021, completing 60.3% of his attempts. (And also beat the Aggies in Death Valley in the season finale.)

Weigman is the quarterback of the future for A&M. The 5-star phenom out of Cypress is a natural playmaker with an arm that can take this team somewhere special.

QBs to watch: Zach Calzada, TJ Finley, Robby Ashford

Prediction: Zach Calzada

Need to know: A trio of transfers for embattled second-year coach Bryan Harsin to choose from. Calzada, from Texas A&M. Finley, from LSU (in his second year). And Ashford, from Oregon.

Finley held down the fort late last season for Auburn after Bo Nix's injury. He had two TDs against Alabama, but did he do enough to keep the gig?

Calzada had 2,185 yards, 17 touchdowns, and nine INTs for Texas A&M last season and helped engineer an upset of then-No. 1 Alabama.

Ashford is yet to attempt a pass in his college football career.

QBs to watch: Jacolby Criswell, Drake Maye

Prediction: Drake Maye

Need to know: A tale of two styles: Criswell, the dual-threat, and Maye, the pocket passer who most onlookers thought was the natural heir to Sam Howell.

Criswell went 11 of 19 passing for 125 yards a year ago and a TD on five rush attempts. Maye was 7 for 9 with a score and 38 rushing yards. Clearly not a lot of experience for Mack Brown to go on here. This decision will come down to a hotly contested battle between these two all spring and summer.

QBs to watch: Bo Nix, Ty Thompson, Jay Butterfield

Prediction: Bo Nix

Need to know: One of many players to transfer out of Auburn this offseason, Nix finds himself on the other side of the country and the favorite to replace Anthony Brown and give first-year coach Dan Lanning some stability at the position.

Nix is Auburn's No. 3 all-time passer with 7,251 yards, scoring 57 total touchdowns, passing and rushing combined, but he struggled through inconsistent play and  changes at head coach and offensive coordinator.

But don't overlook Thompson just yet: he was Oregon's highest-ever rated quarterback, but is yet to get a real shot at the job. Mario Cristobal's departure and Nix's arrival could throw another monkey wrench into his plans, or could it? This could be the moment Thompson finally breaks out and takes the job himself.