Big Ten Quarterbacks: 2023 Preseason Rankings

While a few schools return experienced starters, the majority of Big Ten football programs will be breaking in a new quarterback with limited experience in 2023.

The return of College Football is less than 90 days away, and fans are already starting to look ahead to what the 2023 season might look like. For the Big Ten conference in particular, one of the biggest storylines is the quarterback picture - with only two programs (Michigan and Maryland) set to return their solidified starter from 2022. 

From transfers to first-year starters, here's the preseason ranking of each presumed starting quarterback in the Big Ten conference.  

14. Tayven Jackson, Indiana - 0 career starts

If not for a season ending injury against Purdue in the final game of the 2022 regular season, the starting job would likely belong to redshirt sophomore Dexter Williams II,  As Williams continues to rehab the injury to his right knee, the starting job will likely go to Tennessee transfer Tayven Jackson. 

The redshirt freshman (and brother of IU basketball standout Trayce Jackson-Davis) appeared in three games during his single season at Tennessee, going 3-of-4 for 37 yards through the air.  

13. Noah Kim, Michigan State - 0 career starts

After finishing with a record of 5-7 and missing the bowl season in 2022, one of the bright spots for the Spartans heading into 2023 was the fact that they were returning a veteran quarterback in Payton Thorne. That is no longer the case. Earlier this month, Thorne announced that he had entered the transfer portal and has since committed to Auburn.

The quarterback battle in East Lansing is now between redshirt junior Noah Kim and redshirt freshman Katin Houser. Kim appears to be the leader at this point for the starting job, if for no other reason than experience. Although he's never made a career start, Kim did make an appearance in four games during the 2022 season - going 14-of-19 for 174 yards and three touchdowns through the air.

12. Luke Altmyer, Illinois - 1 career start

Illinois got the most out of Tommy Devito when he committed to the Fighting Illini after transferring from Syracuse. The veteran QB started all 13 games for Illinois in 2022, and finished the last year of his collegiate career completing 279-of-369 attempts, with 2,650 yards and 15 touchdowns. He led the Big Ten in completion percentage (69.6), setting an Illinois single-season record.

Head coach Brett Bielema will now look to replicate that success with Ole Miss transfer quarterback, Luke Altmyer. As a sophomore in 2022, Altmyer appeared in four games and made one start for the Rebels - completing 8-of-17 passes for 125 yards and two touchdowns.

11. Gavin Wimsatt, Rutgers - 6 career starts

Rutgers is returning two quarterbacks who took starting reps in 2022. The presumed starter at this point is Gavin Wimsatt. The junior signal caller played in eight games with six starts during the 2022 season, completing 65 passes for 757 yards and five touchdowns.

He'll compete for the starting job with fellow junior QB Evan Simon, who played in nine games with two starts. Simon led the Scarlet Knights in 2022 with 777 yards, a 57.7 percent completion rate and four touchdowns through the air. 

10. Athan Kaliakmanis, Minnesota - 5 career starts

After 41 career starts and a program record 33 career wins as a starter, veteran quarterback Tanner Morgan recently signed as a UDFA with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Taking his place will be redshirt sophomore Athan Kaliakmanis, who gain valuable experience in 2022 after replacing an injured Morgan in week seven.

In 2022, Kaliakmanis started five of the eleven games he competed in and finished the season completing 60-of-111 attempts for 946 yards and three touchdowns. 

9. Hudson Card, Purdue - 3 career starts

Much like Penn State, Purdue is also replacing a six-year veteran in Aidan O'Connell. After beginning his colligate career as a walk-on back in 2017, O'Connell would eventually become Purdue's all-time leader in completion percentage (66.7%), passing efficiency (141.8) and 500-yard passing games (2). He appeared in 33 games with 26 starts during his time at Purdue.

In his place, it looks like it will be Texas transfer Hudson Card. As a redshirt sophomore at Texas in 2022, Card appeared in 12 games and made three starts due to an injury to starting QB Quinn Ewers. 

8. Kyle McCord, Ohio State - 1 career start

Ohio State will need to replace a two-time Heisman finalist in CJ Stroud, who was taken as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. For now, it appears that Stroud's successor will be junior Kyle McCord. During his first two seasons in Columbus, McCord played in 12 total games and made one start. 

7. Drew Allar, Penn State - 0 career starts

It's the end of an era in Happy Valley, as veteran quarterback Sean Clifford is off to the NFL after six years at Penn State. Clifford finishes his colligate career as Penn State's all-time leader in career wins as a starting quarterback (32), completion percentage (.614), completions (833), passing yards (10,661), total yards (11,734), passing touchdowns (86) and pass attempts (1,356).

Next up, it's sophomore Drew Allar - a 6-5, 240-pound quarterback who was a five-star prospect coming out of high school. While the Nittany Lions will certainly miss the veteran leadership from Clifford, most believe that the ceiling for Allar is much, much higher. As a freshman, he appeared in 10 games - completing 35-of-60 passes for 344 yards and four touchdowns.

6. Ben Bryant, Northwestern - 24 career starts

After an awful 1-11 season in 2022, head coach Pat Fitzgerald looked to the transfer portal to try and cure his quarterback issues. For now, it looks like it will be Cincinnati transfer Ben Bryant who will take over the starting job at Northwestern for his final year of eligibility.

The 6-3, 215-pound veteran QB began his colligate career at Cincinnati, where he served as a back up for his first three seasons. Looking for more playing time, Bryant transferred to Eastern Michigan in 2021 where he started all 13 games - passing for 3,121 yards, 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Bryant then transferred back to Cincinnati for the 2022 season, where he started all 11 games before suffering a season-ending injury - passing for 2,732 yards with 21 touchdowns, seven interceptions.

5. Jeff Sims, Nebraska - 23 career starts

It looked like the Cornhuskers would be returning their starter from 2022, until Casey Thompson announced he was entering the transfer portal back in April. Thompson started 10-of-12 games for Nebraska in 2022, finishing the year tied for 11th in the nation in passing yards per attempt (8.8). His 2,407 yards passing ranks seventh in Nebraska history for a single season.

The starting job now appears to belong to Jeff Sims, a junior quarterback transfer from Georgia Tech. During his three seasons with the Yellow Jackets, the dual-threat QB started 23 games and accounted for over 5,500 yards of total offense. 

4. Tanner Mordecai, Wisconsin - 24 career starts

After four seasons with Wisconsin, Graham Mertz entered the transfer portal and committed to Florida with two years of eligibility remaining.

The Badgers now turn to Tanner Mordecai, a veteran QB who transferred in from SMU. Mordecai started 24 games during his two seasons at SMU and was a Davey O’Brien Award Semifinalist in 2022. He finished his two-year SMU career completing 596-of-897 attempts for 7,152 yards and 72 touchdowns. 5. Jeff Sims, Nebraska

3. Cade McNamara, Iowa - 16 career starts

Iowa is replacing its starting quarterback from 2022, but most people believe the Hawkeyes are making a significant upgrade with Michigan transfer Cade McNamara. The former Wolverine appeared in 21 games with 16 starts during his time at Michigan, finishing his U-M career with a 13-3 record as a starter. 

2. Taulia Tagovailoa, Maryland - 29 career starts

Taulia Tagovailoa returns for his fifth season at Maryland, and is the most experienced returning starting quarterback in the Big Ten conference. The talented redshirt senior essentially owns the record books at Maryland when it comes to the quarterback position, ranking first all-time in 11 different categories.

Although the Terrapins have yet to experience a significant breakthrough season since joining the Big Ten conference back in 2014, Tagovailoa is responsible for leading Maryland to eight wins in 2022 - the most single-season wins for the Terps since 2010.

1. JJ McCarthy, Michigan - 13 career starts

The Michigan Wolverines return one of the top quarterbacks in all of college football with JJ McCarthy. The junior signal caller is coming off of an incredible season, leading the Wolverines to a 13-1 overall record - including a second-consecutive win over Ohio State, Big Ten Championship, and appearance in the College Football Playoff.

McCarthy finished his sophomore campaign completing 208 of 322 attempts (64.6 percent) for 2,719 yards and 22 touchdowns through the air. The dual-threat quarterback also added 306 yards rushing and 5 touchdowns on the ground.