QBs in the 2022 Recruiting Class Who Could Start as Freshmen

National signing day wrapped up on Wednesday. The 2022 recruiting class featured a plethora of talented quarterbacks, and there are a number of guys who could see the field as early as this season. 

While quarterbacks starting as true freshmen used to be a rarity, nowadays we're seeing it happen more and more. Trevor Lawrence, Bo Nix, Jalen Hurts and Lamar Jackson all started as true freshmen.

Let's run through some QBs in the 2022 recruiting class who might have a shot at starting as true freshmen. We're not guaranteeing they will see the field in 2022, but signal-callers on this list have a good chance of moving up the depth chart. 

Clemson QB Cade Klubnik

It's no secret that Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei struggled during his first season as the Tigers' full-time starter in 2021. After backing up Trevor Lawrence for two seasons, Uigalelei finished the year having thrown for 2,246 yards and just nine touchdowns with 10 interceptions. Although the blame doesn't fall solely on Uiagalelei's shoulders, Clemson finished the season 10-3, missing out on both the ACC title game and College Football Playoff. 

Now, Uiagalelei will enter spring football and fall camp competing with 5-star QB prospect Cade Klubnik. Klubnik was 247Sports' No. 1 overall QB prospect and the top-ranked prospect out of the state of Texas. Klubnik's high school career was impressive, featuring three state titles, and he threw for 7,426 yards, 86 touchdowns and just seven interceptions in his career. He was also the first quarterback in Texas to go undefeated as a starting QB in the highest classification and win at least two state titles since Kyler Murray. 

Klubnik will compete for the starting job alongside Uiagalelei and transfer Hunter Johnson, who started his career at Clemson in 2017 before transferring to Northwestern, where he made eight starts over three seasons. All three QBs are former 247Sports 5-star prospects. 

Klubnik obviously doesn't have some of the same collegiate starting experience that Uiagalelei or Johnson have, but he is talented enough to compete immediately for the starting job. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has started true freshmen before—Deshaun Watson started five games as a true freshman in 2014, and Lawrence started over Kelly Bryant in 2018. We'll see if that trend will continue in 2021.

Texas A&M QB Conner Weigman

Texas A&M's 2022 recruiting class made history on Wednesday, as Jimbo Fisher's class went down as 247Sports' highest-ranked recruiting class ever. That class includes 5-star QB prospect Conner Weigman, who was rated as the No. 2 QB prospect from the class of 2022. Weigman, out of Bridgeland High School in Cypress, Texas, is the No. 5 ranked prospect in the state. 

Weigman will enter a quarterback room in College Station that doesn't include the Aggies' starter for most of the 2021 season in Zach Calzada. Calzada threw for 2,185 yards and 17 touchdowns in 12 games last year  and was integral in Texas A&M's upset of then-No. 1 Alabama. Calzada entered the transfer portal following the 2021 season and has since landed at Auburn. 

Prior to Calzada earning the starting job, he backed up Haynes King, who started TAMU's first two games of the year before suffering a season-ending leg injury. King, a rising redshirt sophomore, is a former 4-star QB prospect from the class of 2020. He was 247Sports' No. 5 dual-threat QB prospect from the class of 2020. King threw for 300 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions before going down with his injury. 

Weigman will likely compete with King for the starting job in 2022. The true freshman QB, who played football and baseball at Bridgeland, had his best season during his junior year in 2020, throwing for 3,803 yards and 42 touchdowns with 11 interceptions. 

Weigman will also compete against transfer Max Johnson. Johnson played in six games for LSU as a freshman in 2020 and was LSU's starter in 2021. After Myles Brennan broke his arm prior to the 2021 season, Johnson won the starting job and threw for 2,814 yards and 27 touchdowns with six interceptions.

LSU QB Walker Howard

Speaking of LSU, the Tigers QB room is pretty wide-open heading into 2022. Max Johnson is now at Texas A&M, but Myles Brennan—despite briefly entering the transfer portal—decided to stay put in Baton Rouge. Brennan will compete for the starting job next season under new head coach Brian Kelly alongside true freshman Walker Howard. 

Howard is a 4-star QB prospect out of St. Thomas More High School in Lafayette, Louisiana. The No. 6 prospect out of Louisiana for 247Sports, Howard helped lead his high school to a state championship as a junior in 2020. He threw for 3,049 yards and 35 touchdowns with just four interceptions that season. Here's The Advocate's Devin Jackson on why LSU fans should be excited about Howard: 

"The 6-foot-1, 195-pound St. Thomas More standout has a slender frame but can whip the football with accuracy in the short and intermediate passing game. He values the football as well, as documented by how little he has turned over the football at the high school level. His arm strength won't "wow," you but he can comfortably hit passes on all three levels of the field."

You may remember Howard's name for something he did with Coach Kelly—dancing to Garth Brooks' "Callin' Baton Rouge." The video of the two dancing to the song went viral on Twitter shortly after Kelly was hired. 

Walker will also compete for the job alongside former 4-star QB prospect Garrett Nussmeier, who was part of LSU's 2021 recruiting class. Nussmeier is the song of longtime NFL and college assistant coach Doug Nussmeier. 

We'll see if Walker can make a run for the starting job for the Tigers in 2022.

Oklahoma QB Nick Evers

Oklahoma's 2022 quarterback situation looks a whole lot different than it did just a year ago. In 2021, Spencer Rattler was Oklahoma's starter until the Texas game in October, when backup Caleb Williams came off the bench and led the Sooners to a 55-48 come-from-behind victory. Williams started the rest of the season but has since transferred to USC to follow former coach Lincoln Riley, and Rattler has since transferred to South Carolina.  

That's good news for 4-star QB prospect Nick Evers, who was verbally committed to Florida before flipping to Oklahoma in December. Evers is the No. 9 QB prospect from the 2022 class, per 247Sports. In Norman, Evers will join a quarterback room that's pretty thin on depth, for now. 

Oklahoma's roster contains just Evers and former UCF quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who transferred to Oklahoma after previously committing to UCLA. Gabriel missed most of the 2021 season at UCF thanks to season-ending collarbone injury he suffered in the third game of the season. He started 25 out of 26 games he played in over three seasons and threw for 8,037 yards and 70 touchdowns with 14 interceptions. 

Evers, who played his high school ball at Flower Mound High School in Texas, threw for 2,366 yards, 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions during his senior season. While Evers doesn't have the collegiate game experience that Gabriel has, the lack of depth at the QB position for the Sooners in 2022 means Evers will be in the mix for the starting job.

Wisconsin QB Myles Burkett

Unlike Oklahoma's situation, new Wisconsin quarterback Myles Burkett steps into a pretty crowded QB room. Burkett, 247Sports' No. 8 prospect out of Wisconsin, led his Franklin High School team to a state championship as a senior in 2021. 

Burkett will be one of four quarterbacks on the Badgers roster in 2022. Wisconsin's starter for the last two seasons, Graham Mertz, has thrown for 3,196 yards and 19 touchdowns with 16 interceptions over the last two years. His backup is redshirt senior Chase Wolf, who has thrown just 25 passes in his Badger career, including two touchdowns and four picks. Redshirt freshman Deacon Hill was on Wisconsin's scout team in 2021. 

As a senior, Burkett threw for 3,427 yards and 36 touchdowns with just two interceptions—far better numbers than Mertz and Wolf combined. The true freshman quarterback isn't shying away from the competition, either.

"I set my goals very high," Burkett said in a recent interview with The Athletic's Jesse Temple. "I think that when I tell people I want to play as a true freshman and I don't really want to redshirt, people kind of see it as maybe arrogant or far-fetched. But I feel like if I come in with that mindset that I want to play right away, it's going to push the other guys in that room. I think me coming in with the mindset to learn, work hard and push the other guys in the room is going to benefit everyone."

Don't be too surprised if Burkett makes some noise come fall camp.

Penn State QB Drew Allar

OK, I know what you're probably thinking—isn't longtime Nittany Lions QB Sean Clifford returning in 2022? While it's true that Clifford will be returning to Happy Valley for his sixth year, there's still a chance we could see at least some of Allar. 

247Sports' No. 4 QB prospect in the class of 2022 burst onto the recruiting scene after having a huge senior year in which he threw for 4,444 yards, 48 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. He rushed for another 382 yards and nine touchdowns as well. Penn State head coach James Franklin touched on his late rise in the recruiting process during his NSD presser on Wednesday: 

"As a guy that just steadily rose up the rankings based on what he did at camps and combines," Franklin said. "But then what he did as a senior, had a huge year, ends up, depending on which site you look at, the No. 1-ranked quarterback in the country. 

"He's on campus already. He's big, He's strong. He's more athletic than people give him credit for and he can whip the ball all over the field and has been a great decision maker. There's a lot of excitement about him in our program as well."

There's no doubt that Clifford will be the presumed starter in 2022. But a guy as talented as Allar will definitely be in the mix for the starting job come fall camp. Not to mention Clifford has left games in 2019 and 2021 due to injury before, which might be another reason Allar could see the field early.

Texas QB Maalik Murphy

New Texas Longhorns quarterback Maalik Murphy is stepping into a quarterback room that won't include UT's 2021 starter after Casey Thompson transferred to Nebraska following a season in which he led the Big 12 in touchdowns (28 total). Murphy, the No. 12 quarterback in the class of 2022 out of Gardena, California, is a 4-star QB prospect, per 247Sports. Murphy threw for 2,973 yards and 22 touchdowns with nine interceptions as a senior at Junipero Serra High School in 2021. 

It looks like Murphy will compete for the starting job alongside former Ohio State transfer Quinn Ewers. Ewers was a 5-star QB prospect that lost out to C.J. Stroud for the Buckeyes' starting job prior to the 2021 season. Ewers played high school football at Southlake Carroll High School in Texas, where he was the No. 1 overall QB prospect, as well as 247Sports' top-ranked prospect in the state. 

"They both have great arm talent," Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian told reporters of Ewers and Murphy during his early signing day press conference. "Both these guys have big arms. Their physical stature, they're both big guys, which is which is really helpful. Both guys when you watch them play have the unique ability to throw the ball from different arm angles, have the ability to throw the ball without their feet perfectly set in the pocket because they have the arm talent to get it done."

Ewers and Murphy will also compete with former 4-star QB prospect Hudson Card in 2022. Card redshirted in 2020 and started in two games last season for the Longhorns. We'll see which quarterback comes out on top in 2022, but one thing's for sure—Murphy has a shot.