Big CFB Programs with the Toughest QB Decisions Entering 2023
College football teams across the country have already started preparations for the 2023 season. Part of those preparations includes determining which quarterback will start in Week 1. Starting quarterbacks who play well can often be the key to having a good season.
As we look forward to 2023, there are a number of teams that will have to make big decisions regarding their starting quarterback. Some have to decide between veteran QBs and ones who recently transferred into the program. Others have talented true freshmen coming on to their team who might be good enough to start early on.
There's still a long ways to go before fall camp quarterback battles begin, but there are several big programs that will have to pick between some talented guys at the position this season.
Let's run through the college football programs that will have some of the toughest quarterback decisions to make for the 2023 season.
UCLA Bruins
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The UCLA Bruins will have to replace longtime starter Dorian Thompson-Robinson in 2023. It will be a big change for head coach Chip Kelly, who had Thompson-Robinson play quarterback for him for five seasons.
But the good news is that the Bruins have some talented options to choose from for next season. For starters, true freshman Dante Moore has the talent to start from the get-go in 2023. Moore signed to UCLA's 2023 recruiting class as a 5-star prospect and is the Bruins' highest-rated QB recruit in school history. Moore was previously committed to Oregon before flipping to the Bruins.
But Moore isn't the only signal-caller who will compete for the No. 1 quarterback job for the Bruins next season. UCLA's quarterback room also includes Kent State transfer Collin Schlee, who threw for 2,109 yards with 13 touchdowns and five interceptions for the Golden Flashes last season. Also expected to compete for the job are redshirt junior Ethan Garbers and redshirt freshman Justyn Martin, who was a 4-star QB prospect.
Schlee completed just 24 passes in his first two seasons at Kent State before this past year. But he definitely has experience starting at the college level. We'll see if Moore has what it takes to start as a true freshman, or if Martin or Garbers can rise to the occasion.
Whoever ends up starting under center at UCLA, the Bruins will look to improve upon their 9-4 record from last season.
Oregon State Beavers
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Oregon State is coming off of a great season in 2022, finishing with 10 wins for just the third time in school history. The year was capped off with a dominant victory over Florida in the Las Vegas bowl.
But as the Beavers look forward to 2023, the next step for head coach Jonathan Smith will be competing for a Pac-12 title. Quarterback play could be a big reason the Beavers do just that next season.
Smith landed a big-time transfer quarterback in December, as former Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei is now in Corvallis. Over two seasons as the Tigers' starter, Uiagalelei threw for 4,767 yards with 31 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. He rushed for another 853 yards and 11 scores on the ground, too.
Still, Uiagalelei struggled to play well consistently, and he was ultimately benched for true freshman Cade Klubnik in the ACC title game against UNC. A fresh start might be what Uiagalelei needs, but if he has some of the same struggles he did at Clemson, he might not win the starting job.
Uiagalelei will have to compete against redshirt freshman Ben Gulbranson, Oregon State's starter for eight games last season. Gulbranson went 7-1 as the Beavers starter last season and threw for 1.455 yards and nine touchdowns with five interceptions.
Also set to compete for the job will be 4-star quarterback Aidan Chiles. Chiles is Oregon State's second-highest-rated signal-caller recruit in school history.
Oregon State's quarterback battle looks quite intriguing already.
Ole Miss Rebels
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Ole Miss finished 8-5 last season in a year that included the Rebels dropping five out of their last six games. Ole Miss' starting quarterback Jaxson Dart, who transferred to Oxford from USC last offseason, finished with 2,974 yards passing with 20 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He rushed for 614 yards, too.
But as Ole Miss enters the 2024 season, Dart will have to compete for the starting job against some talented signal-callers who head coach Lane Kiffin grabbed from the transfer portal. First, Kiffin landed former 4-star QB Walker Howard from LSU last month. Then, literally one day later, former Oklahoma State quarterback Spencer Sanders announced he was also transferring to Ole Miss.
While both guys are talented quarterbacks, Spencer put up some huge numbers over his four seasons in Stillwater. Since starting as a true freshman in 2019, the QB accounted for 9,553 yards and 67 touchdowns with 40 interceptions over his OK-State career. He also rushed for 1,956 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Sanders put up the best numbers of his career in 2021 when he finished with 2,839 yards and 20 touchdowns with 12 interceptions. He rushed for another 668 yards and four touchdowns while leading the Cowboys to a Big 12 title game and beating Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl. Sanders finished as the game's MVP after finishing with 496 total yards of offense, which was a Fiesta Bowl record.
Kiffin did need to build some depth at the position, so landing a couple of guys isn't too much of a surprise. Dart's backup last season, Luke Altmyer, has since transferred to Illinois.
"The quarterback room is ... in a much better position than it was a year ago," Kiffin said on National Signing Day. "That's really our goal with our whole roster and every position every year, which is to continue to improve. ... What goes out versus what comes in and trying to win that battle. That will be very exciting to see those guys develop and to also work with the young one, too."
It's clear that Kiffin sees something in all three of the guys he brought in. It will be interesting to see who ends up winning the job. Sanders has had a lot more success at a high level in college football, but Dart will likely be eager to prove he won the starting job last season for a reason.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Tennessee Volunteers
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Tennessee had a great season in 2022, finishing 11-2 with an Orange Bowl victory over Clemson. Although Hendon Hooker, the Vols' starter for the last two seasons, is off to the NFL, Tennessee has some talented guys to choose from in 2023.
Hooker's backup last season, Joe Milton III, will be back in Knoxville in 2023. The QB, who started his career at Michigan before transferring to Tennessee in the spring of 2021, had an impressive outing in the Orange Bowl against Clemson. He finished with 251 yards passing, three touchdowns and zero interceptions.
"Joe (Milton III) did a great job when he was the backup last year of preparing himself like he was the starter," new Tennessee offensive coordinator said earlier in February. "Which is why whenever he came into the game, he played at a really high level. When he moved over to the starter at the end of the year, same type of guy. He didn't change. He didn't think he had to be different because he was in the starting role, like 'hey, I'm a different guy now I change.' No, he's still him, he's still himself moving forward."
But the Vols will also have a talented true freshman available to play quarterback in 2023, too. Nico Iamaleava, a 5-star QB prospect who was No. 2 at the position in the 2023 recruiting class, is in Knoxville. Over two seasons tracked by MaxPreps, Iamaleava threw for 3,248 yards with 50 touchdowns and just two interceptions.
Milton obviously has more experience at the college level, but there's no question Iamaleava is talented. Both guys are great options at quarterback to choose from, so Tennessee should be in good hands with whoever ends up starting for the Vols in 2023.
Texas Longhorns
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Texas finished 8-5 last season, which was an improvement from the Longhorns' 5-7 season in 2021. A big reason for the Longhorns' success was the play of quarterback Quinn Ewers, who made his first start for Texas last season.
Ewers transferred to Texas last offseason after starting his career at Ohio State. Although he missed a few games because of a shoulder injury he suffered in Week 2 against Alabama, he finished with 2,177 yards passing, 15 touchdowns and six interceptions on the season.
But entering the 2023 season, Ewers will have to compete against a talented true freshman in 5-star QB prospect Arch Manning. Manning, the nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning, threw for 8,539 yards, 115 touchdowns and just 19 interceptions over his four years in high school in New Orleans, per MaxPreps.
Ewers obviously has more college experience, but Manning has the talent to win the job come fall camp. In June 2022, 247Sports listed him as one of the highest-rated quarterbacks in the outlet's history, tied with fellow Texas quarterbacks Vince Young and Ewers.
It will be quite interesting to see how this quarterback battle plays out. Manning is already on Texas' campus as an early enrollee, so things should heat up during spring practice. Regardless of whoever ends up starting for Texas this fall, the Longhorns will have a talented quarterback under center.
Georgia Bulldogs
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Georgia will look to win a third national title in 2023. But this year, the Bulldogs will have to do so without quarterback Stetson Bennett, who has no eligibility left in Athens.
Replacing a two-time national championship quarterback—not to mention a 2022 Heisman finalist—won't be easy. But the Dawgs have a few options to choose from to do so next season.
The quarterback with the most experience out of the group is Carson Beck. Beck, a 4-star recruit and the nation's No. 9 pro-style quarterback from the class of 2020, completed 36 passes for 486 yards and six touchdowns with two interceptions backing up Bennett the last two seasons.
But the Bulldogs will also have a couple of highly rated quarterback recruits from Georgia's 2021 and 2022 recruiting classes in Brock Vandagriff and Gunnar Stockton.
Vandagriff is the higher rated of the two, signing to Georgia's 2021 class as the nation's No. 4 signal-caller. Per MaxPreps, Vandagriff threw for 10,097 yards and 107 touchdowns with 17 interceptions over four seasons at Prince Avenue Christian in Athens. He also rushed for 4,372 yards and 77 touchdowns on the ground.
Stockton is a 4-star recruit, who was the No. 7 rated signal-caller in his class. He threw for 13,652 yards with a whopping 177 touchdowns over his four seasons at Rabun County High School, according to MaxPreps. He added 4,372 yards and 77 touchdowns rushing.
Georgia did not sign a quarterback with its 2023 class, so the starting job will come down to these three guys. Vandagriff and Stockton can both run the football, something Bennett did quite a bit while at Georgia.
Winning three national championships in a row hasn't been done since Minnesota did so in 1934-36. It might be hard for the Bulldogs to do it with a new quarterback, but they obviously have some solid options to choose from.
Alabama Crimson Tide
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Just like Georgia, for the first time in two seasons, Alabama will have to replace a talented quarterback in Bryce Young. The 2021 Heisman winner is headed to the NFL, so the Tide will have to reload under center for the 2023 season.
The good news for head coach Nick Saban is that one of the candidates to replace him, Jalen Milroe, has some experience from last season. While Young left Bama's game against Arkansas on Oct. 1, Milroe came in and threw for 65 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 91 yards and a score. The Tide were up 14-0 at the time of Young's injury, and Bama ended up winning 49-26.
The following week against Texas A&M, Milroe started for Young while he was still rehabbing his injury. On the night, Milroe finished with 111 yards passing, three touchdowns and an interception while leading the Tide to a 24-20 victory. The rest of the season, Milroe finished with three completions for 35 yards and an interception.
But Milroe isn't the only signal-caller who will compete for the starting job. Sophomore Ty Simpson, a 5-star QB recruit from the class of 2022, completed four passes for 35 yards last season. 4-star QBs Eli Holstein, and Dylan Lonergan, who both signed to Bama's No. 1 overall ranked class for 2023, will also be on-campus.
Ohio State Buckeyes
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Ohio State will look to make it to the College Football Playoff for a second consecutive season in 2023. However, to do so, head coach Ryan Day and Ohio State will look to get there without star quarterback C.J. Stroud under center.
It looks like the competition will come down to Devin Brown and Kyle McCord. Brown, a 4-star quarterback from OSU's class of 2022, threw for 7,961 yards with 85 touchdowns and 32 interceptions over three seasons in Daper, Utah. Behind Stroud, Brown didn't complete a single pass in 2022 and finished with just one rushing yard on one attempt on the season.
That's why there's a chance that McCord, a 5-star prospect, could have a leg-up on the competition. Unlike his fellow signal-caller, McCord has completed 606 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions over the last two seasons for the Buckeyes, playing in 12 games.
It sounds like Day is looking forward to seeing which quarterback can win the job.
"It's going to be a heck of a competition," Day said on Feb. 1, per Cleveland.com's Stephen Means. "I'm really looking forward to seeing it. They both have a little bit of a different skill set. It's gonna be fun to watch them compete this spring."
Day also told reporters that he hopes to make a decision on his new starting quarterback by the end of spring practice, so we might not have to wait too long to see how this battle plays out.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
