Early Predictions for CFB's Most Intriguing 2025 Starting Quarterback Roles
Even if spring practice hasn't formally begun for a college football team, a major competition may already have started.
If there's a vacancy at the sport's most important position—or the incumbent starter didn't play particularly well last season—every single offseason day is part of this offseason position battle.
Back a couple weeks, we highlighted the six teams in B/R's early Top 25 with a real QB competition this offseason.
And now, it's time for predictions.
Note: The other 19 programs in our Top 25 either have a returning starter or a clear-cut newcomer.
Alabama
1 of 6
No matter who wins the competition, Alabama will showcase a different style of offense in 2025.
Jalen Milroe, who's headed to the NFL, possessed elite mobility and—even including sacks—rushed for 1,257 yards and 32 touchdowns over the last two seasons. His playmaking upside gave the Crimson Tide a dangerous third element in the offense.
But if Ty Simpson wins the battle, the system changes.
Simpson is a real threat to scramble on occasion, yet he's more a drop-back passer at his best. He's the favorite after holding the backup role to Milroe in 2024.
Austin Mack and 5-star newcomer Keelon Russell are also in the competition. However, their lack of college experience gives Simpson a meaningful edge.
Georgia
2 of 6
Perception is a funny thing.
Gunner Stockton replaced an injured Carson Beck during the SEC Championship Game and Sugar Bowl. Texas limited him when Georgia won the SEC crown, but Stockton fared reasonably well against an elite Notre Dame defense with a 20-of-32 mark for 234 yards in the College Football Playoff.
Sure, the final box score isn't gaudy. When you consider that he wasn't a full-time starter and four QBs, at best, had a more effective game opposite Notre Dame, it looks pretty solid.
As with Alabama, there's a returning reserve (Ryan Puglisi) and incoming blue-chip signee (Ryan Montgomery) in the mix.
Similarly, though, UGA seems most likely to promote its backup and hand the offensive reins to Stockton.
Michigan
3 of 6
Before you fire up those torches, Michigan fans, there is a very important distinction to make.
Who starts the Wolverines' season might not finish it.
There is no doubt that Bryce Underwood, the No. 1 overall prospect of the 2025 cycle, is where most Michigan fans are hoping this competition ends. I think it's fair to assume the coaching staff prefers Underwood to take the job and run, too.
Nevertheless, the Wolverines added Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene for good reason. He's an experienced stop-gap option who is capable of letting U-M ease Underwood into action.
I'll take Keene to open the campaign against New Mexico.
But by the time Michigan hosts rival Ohio State in the regular-season finale, it'll probably be Underwood.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Notre Dame
4 of 6
The future of the program is CJ Carr.
Like Underwood at U-M, might his arrival be delayed in 2025?
Ask me again once spring practice is over, and my opinion may have shifted. The trouble is Carr couldn't play in October and beyond due to an elbow injury, so he didn't have a chance to keep challenging Steve Angeli for the second-string job.
As a result, Angeli has been the backup for two years. He guided ND to a Sun Bowl rout of Oregon State in 2023 and led an important drive against Penn State in the recent Orange Bowl.
Since the Fighting Irish travel to Miami and host Texas A&M during their first two games, though, experience may tilt the battle in Angeli's favor.
Carr's upside, however, will be tough to ignore if ND struggles early. I believe he'll be QB1 by October.
Ohio State
5 of 6
Will Howard graduated after leading Ohio State to a national title, and both Devin Brown and Air Noland have since transferred. Yet the Buckeyes are still stacked at the position.
Lincoln Kienholz was a 4-star in 2023, then Julian Sayin and Tavien St. Clair earned 5-star rankings in the last two cycles.
Early expectation? Sayin.
Simultaneously, that educated guess is based solely on Sayin throwing 12 passes in 2024, whereas Kienholz had 22 attempts two years ago. Head coach Ryan Day insists OSU has an open competition this spring with those two QBs and St. Clair.
The answer can't actually be clear here in mid-February but certainly may be during the next couple months.
Oregon
6 of 6
Because the Ducks kick off the campaign against lower-division Montana State, the stakes are not as high immediately. They could use both Dante Moore and Austin Novosad in Week 1.
But there's a championship to win.
Oregon, subsequently, will likely aim to build up a single QB—whether that's Moore or Novosad—in preparation for its Big Ten opener at Northwestern in mid-September and a major showdown at Penn State to close the month.
Experience is probably going to shape the battle in Eugene, too. Moore logged 213 attempts as a true freshman at UCLA in 2023 before sliding into the backup slot at Oregon last year.
Spring practice is an opportunity for Novosad to show the answer isn't quite so simple, but Moore is the favorite.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
