When it comes to star power in college football, it's a transition year of sorts. Of the 10 highest vote-getters in last year's Heisman race, eight are off to the pros -- just No. 6 (Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe) and No. 7 (Oklahoma State running back Ollie Gordon II) are poised to return. There are still some stars behind center -- Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel, arriving via Oklahoma, should finish his career with the second-most passing yards in FBS history, and Georgia's Carson Beck certainly passed most of his tests in his first year as starter -- but 2024 is as much about who's next as who's known.
Here are 10 quarterbacks who, for one reason (spectacular dual-threat capabilities) or another (five-star potential at a school where a star QB should result in a playoff bid), particularly intrigue me heading toward the fall. Some have already posted big numbers but seem to have another level to which they might aspire. Others were outstanding in a smaller sample in 2023. Regardless, here are the 10 most interesting quarterbacks of 2024.
1. Drew Allar, Penn State Nittany Lions
In last August's Most Important Players list, I ranked Allar second, noting that Penn State had gone 0-2 against Ohio State and Michigan but 11-0 against everyone else in 2022. Allar's upside, I wrote, as a "blue-chip, throw-it-over-the-moon quarterback" could be what the Nittany Lions needed to get over the hump.
It was easy to expect either boom or bust from the sophomore, but instead he was ... fine. Not great, not terrible. He was fourth in the Big Ten in Total QBR -- but first among QBs who return in 2024 -- and he flashed both extreme efficiency (72% completion rate and three TDs against WVU, 68% and four against Iowa) and potential explosiveness (16.3 yards per completion in his last two games) over the course of 13 games. He was in no way a bust. But he wasn't a difference-maker either, completing a ghastly 43% at 9.3 yards per completion in the two games that defined PSU's season. They again went 0-2 against Ohio State and Michigan and enjoyed an otherwise perfect regular season before an opt-out-heavy bowl loss to Ole Miss. Same old, same old.
Michigan is off the schedule in 2024, Ohio State has to visit State College, and coach James Franklin brought in celebrated Kansas offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki to jazz things up. If Kotelnicki can figure out how to engineer a few more successful deep shots, that could go a long way toward landing a bid in the newly expanded CFP. Even if Allar can throw the ball over the moon, that didn't translate into downfield connections.
Can the motion and occasional misdirection of Kotelnicki's offense give Allar -- not to mention running backs Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton, who averaged 4.8 yards per carry between them in 2023 -- a few more big-play opportunities? And if so, can Allar make the most of them?
2. Kyron Drones, Virginia Tech Hokies
Expected points added is a nice, almost self-explanatory metric. It assigns an offense an expected point value (based on factors like down, distance and field position) at the beginning of a play, then looks at it at the end of the play and derives a points-added value for every play of a given game. It's a powerful enough metric to serve as one of the primary drivers of ESPN's FPI, and using EPA is pretty good for trendspotting.
Let's see if you can spot a trend in looking at the EPA for Virginia Tech's offense in 2023.
When Virginia Tech's offensive EPA was positive in 2023 -- meaning, when the Hokies were producing more value, play for play, than the expected points model would expect on average -- they went 7-1, losing only a relative track meet to NC State, 35-28, near the end of the season. When the offense was in the negative from an EPA perspective, the team went 0-5. It probably means something that (a) their seven best offensive performances (per EPA) came in the last nine games of the season, when they began leaning more heavily on the legs of both Drones and running back Bhayshul Tuten (and, perhaps most importantly, when the linemen started blocking better for those legs), and (b) the Hokies now rank No. 1 in returning production for 2024.
Drones (19th in Total QBR from Week 5 onward) and Tuten (6.2 yards per carry over the last six games) both return, as do most of last season's top receiving targets -- plus ODU transfer Ali Jennings and tight end Nick Gallo, who missed most or all of 2023 -- and nearly every lineman. This offense cooked down the stretch; let's see if it can pick up where it left off.
3. Jalon Daniels, Kansas Jayhawks
Lance Leipold and Kansas certainly benefited from having one of the best backup quarterbacks in the country over the last couple of years. Jason Bean filled in for the injured Daniels over parts of 2022 and 2023, throwing for 3,410 yards and 32 touchdowns (and engineering KU's first win over Oklahoma in 26 years) in the process. But Bean was the backup for a reason: When healthy, Daniels is outstanding. He generated the highest Total QBR of any returning QB in the sport over the past two seasons.
At his best, Daniels is an elusive passer who can scramble well without the risk of huge sack numbers or decision-making errors on the run. In parts of 12 games in 2022-23, he threw for 2,719 yards, rushed for 499 and produced 30 combined touchdowns with a safe interception rate of 1.6%. He averaged 6.5 yards per non-sack carry while completing two-thirds of his passes in 2022. He's a delight.
The problem, of course, is that Daniels hasn't been able to stay on the field. After leading KU to a 5-0 start in 2022, he missed a month of action and was a bit more hit-and-miss when he returned. In 2023, back problems limited him to just three games (all wins). We'll see what changes new offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes brings to the table with Kotelnicki off to PSU. Grimes should know what to do with top running backs Devin Neal and Daniel Hishaw Jr. But if Daniels can stay healthy for an entire season, this offense has top-five potential.
4. Avery Johnson, Kansas State Wildcats
Johnson -- the No. 78 prospect in the 2023 ESPN 300 and a delightful dual-threat from tiny Maize, Kansas -- got to serve as an understudy for Will Howard during his true freshman season. He got chances to prove himself as a change-of-pace guy and showed promise: 5 carries for 32 yards against Missouri, 90 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns (plus, 8-of-9 passing) against Texas Tech, 86 rushing yards and a 43-yard completion against TCU. And in his first career start after Howard announced his transfer, in the Pop-Tarts Bowl against an NC State team that had won five games in a row, Johnson rushed for 71 yards and a score. And while he was only 14-of-31, three of those completions gained over 20 yards and nine went for first downs. He didn't take a sack or throw an interception in the 28-19 Wildcats win.
Johnson finished the season with only 71 dropbacks and 51 carries (an inconclusive sample) but he most certainly looked the part of a big-time prospect. Look at the company he kept:
Now he has the reins for 2024. Granted, things will get harder now. A great offensive line got hit hard by graduation, and offensive coordinator Collin Klein is now coaching another young QB from the chart above. (Texas A&M's Conner Weigman, who could have easily made this list.) But Johnson will have veterans blocking for him, and he'll have big running back DJ Giddens next to him in the backfield. He could make some magic.
5. Nico Iamaleava, Tennessee Volunteers
Allar was No. 2 on last year's Most Important Players list. Tennessee's Joe Milton III was No. 1. And like Allar, he was neither great nor terrible. And considering the offense he led (and the strength of his hand cannon), Milton was strangely lacking in explosiveness. He finished sixth in the SEC in Total QBR (34th overall). After winning 11 games in 2022, the Volunteers slipped to 9-4. They had plenty of bright moments, but they also lost to Georgia, Alabama and Missouri -- the three best teams in the league, per SP+ -- by a combined 108-37.
Like Allar, Milton left something to be desired from a pure quarterbacking standpoint. The bar for Iamaleava isn't as high as it could have been.
The lanky Iamaleava (6-foot-6, 206 pounds), a top-25 recruit in 2023 -- and one that Tennessee was willing to risk it all to land -- threw 45 passes last season, including 31 in the last two games against Vanderbilt and Iowa.
Freshman QB Nico Iamaleava runs for three TDs and throws for one in his first career start as the No. 21 Vols shut out the No. 17 Hawkeyes, 35-0, in the Citrus Bowl.
He was safe with the ball, and his legs were both great and terrible in the Citrus Bowl blowout of Iowa (three rushing touchdowns, six sacks). In other words, he was a work in progress, but if he's nothing more than a more-mobile version of Milton in 2024, Tennessee's ceiling gets a little higher. If he's even more than that, then it's "hello, College Football Playoff."
6. KJ Jefferson, UCF Knights
Things went to hell for Jefferson and 4-8 Arkansas last fall after an offensive coordinator change. For the past three years, however, the 6-foot-3, 247-pound Jefferson has averaged nearly 2,500 passing yards and 800 non-sack rushing yards. His best games -- 287 passing yards, 130 non-sack rushing yards and four combined scores against Kansas (and Daniels) in 2022; 326, 85 and six against Ole Miss in 2021; 255, 92 and three against Florida in 2023 -- have been spectacular, and with his size he's quite a specimen to try to tackle in the open field. His skill set screams "GUS MALZAHN QUARTERBACK," and now he gets to be a Gus Malzahn quarterback for a year. He'll run a pretty new UCF attack that features lots of new pieces, but he's a great starting point.
He had better be, anyway. Jefferson needed a change of scenery to finish his career, but Malzahn needs Jefferson, too. In three seasons, Malzahn's Knights have averaged an offensive SP+ ranking of just 42.0, and they just went 6-7 in their first Big 12 campaign. Going 1-3 in one-score Big 12 finishes suggests they were close to something better, and they were the best of the four Big 12 newcomers, but Malzahn's Knights need to create a better trajectory despite pretty heavy offensive turnover. We'll see if Jefferson is the key to starting that trajectory.
7. Josh Hoover, TCU Horned Frogs
Since this is at least partially an "intriguing small samples" list, here's another one: When TCU starter Chandler Morris went down with a knee injury midway through the Horned Frogs' disappointing 5-7 campaign, Hoover, then a redshirt freshman, took over. While he couldn't turn the season around -- TCU fell to 54th in defensive SP+ and allowed 38 points per game down the stretch -- his best moments were tantalizing. He threw for 439 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions in a blowout of BYU, then 353 yards over his final four games. And while he was also throwing a ton of passes to get those yards, he certainly got Total QBR's attention as well.
Starting with the Week 7 BYU win, Hoover ranked 12th in Total QBR, seventh among returning QBs, and the Horned Frogs rallied to finish 25th in offensive SP+. Now Hoover returns four of last season's top six receivers -- including his favorite target, Savion Williams -- and adds Boise State star receiver Eric McAlister (873 yards in nine games), Baylor tight end Drake Dabney (552 yards and five TDs) and Notre Dame blue-chip receiver prospect Braylon James.
In theory, the offense might get some extra help from new coordinator Andy Avalos' defense, too. Coach Sonny Dykes is well versed in the vagaries of life in the Big 12, where your performance in close games is everything. TCU went 6-1 in one-score finishes on the way to the national title game in 2022, then collapsed to 0-4 in such games in 2023 to turn regression (from ninth to 35th in SP+) into a massive collapse in the win column. The combination of an experienced Hoover and a handful of extra stops could make the Frogs a lot more close-game friendly in 2024.
8. Miller Moss, USC Trojans
Seven quarterbacks generated a single-game Total QBR of 98 or higher with at least 30 dropbacks last season. (Remember: Total QBR is on a 100-point scale.) Heisman winner Jayden Daniels of LSU did it in back-to-back weeks against Florida and Georgia State. Oregon's Bo Nix and Arizona's Noah Fifita both did it against Arizona State (ouch, Sun Devils), Oklahoma's Dillon Gabriel did it against Tulsa, Josh Hoover did it against Baylor, and Miller Moss did it against Louisville in the Holiday Bowl -- his only start of the season.
It's easy to paint a pretty dour picture of USC's 2023 season. Defending Heisman winner Caleb Williams' production trailed off considerably down the stretch of his final season, the offense seemed to disengage once it realized the defense once again wasn't going to carry its weight, and after starting 11-1 under Lincoln Riley in 2022, the Trojans went .500 over their next 14 games. Not great. But even with the loss of both Williams and star QB recruit Malachi Nelson, Moss -- a top-40 recruit himself in 2021 -- might have offered a bridge into 2024. We're talking about a very small sample here, but the junior-to-be was 23-for-33 for 372 yards and six touchdowns against a Louisville defense that finished a decent 36th in defensive SP+.
Moss completed five passes of 35-plus yards in the game, and all five were to freshmen, including five-star Ja'Kobi Lane, who could be counted on in 2024. A minor bowl game can only prove so much, but if that is what we can expect from Moss and the USC attack this fall, the Trojans could do some damage in their first Big Ten campaign. (How much damage, of course, will depend on defensive competence.)
9. Matthew Sluka and/or Hajj-Malik Williams, UNLV Rebels
At the FCS level in 2023, six quarterbacks (a) threw for at least 1,700 yards with a passer rating of at least 150 and (b) rushed for at least 250 net yards. Two of those six will don UNLV jerseys in 2024. Coach Barry Odom couldn't hold onto quarterback Jayden Maiava after his 2023 breakout season, as the sophomore-to-be transferred to USC. But Odom turned the loss into an opportunity, bringing offensive coordinator Brennan Marion two of the most exciting and versatile QBs from the next level down.
Over the past two seasons at Holy Cross, Sluka threw for a combined 4,217 yards and 46 touchdowns while rushing for 2,481 yards and 20 more scores. He led the non-scholarship Crusaders to their first two FCS playoff wins ever, not to mention two wins over FBS teams (UConn and Buffalo) and a near-upset of Boston College last season. Williams, meanwhile, comes to Vegas from Campbell, where he completed 71%, threw for at least 300 yards three times and rushed for at least 40 yards three times.
It's hard to accurately project which FCS-to-FBS transfers will translate properly at the next level. Some don't. But the hits -- quarterback Bailey Zappe (Houston Christian to Western Kentucky), defensive end Jared Verse (Albany to Florida State), quarterback Vernon Adams (EWU to Oregon), etc. -- have been pretty spectacular. And grabbing two FCS transfers obviously increases the odds of landing one gem.
10. Preston Stone, SMU Mustangs
If this is a list of interesting quarterbacks, few things in college football are more interesting than a quarterback using a grip-it-and-rip-it approach that actually works. Stone is one of the most aggressive downfield passers in the sport. He also went 10-2 as a starter in 2023.
Stone threw 87 passes for 20 or more yards last fall, completing a shockingly good 44% of them in the process (and to 11 different receivers, no less). Even his interception rate on those passes (1.1%) was close to half that of all his other passes (1.9%). He missed the AAC Championship and a drizzly Fenway Bowl with a broken leg. But the combination of big offensive plays and a resurgent defense -- SMU ranked 115th in defensive SP+ in 2022 and 39th last fall, then somehow held onto coordinator Scott Symons despite interest from other schools -- led to a breakthrough season for coach Rhett Lashlee.
Stone and most of his receivers return as SMU embarks on its first ACC campaign. We'll see if the Mustangs have the depth to make sustained noise in their new conference, but their first string should be more talented than most. They've got the most aggressive quarterback in the ACC running the show. Sounds pretty interesting to me.