Ranking Big Ten Conference's Best Quarterbacks: Oregon Ducks or Ohio State Buckeyes?

Which Big Ten Conference team has the best quarterback situation for the 2024 college football season?

Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard, Oregon Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel /

The quarterback is almost universally regarded as the most important individual person on the football field at a given time. As the Oregon Ducks transition to the Big Ten Conference, head coach Dan Lanning has assembled an impressive quarterback room that should be among the best in the league.

Today we’ll look at the top five quarterbacks in the Big Ten and see where the chips fall.

Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel congratulates Luke Moga after a touchdown by Moga during the Oregon football Spring Game. / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA

1) Dillon Gabriel - Oregon

Oklahoma Sooners transfer quarterback Dillon Gabriel made his way to Eugene this spring and brings a wealth of starting experience to the Ducks as well as pinpoint accuracy, elite football IQ, and tantalizing rushing ability.

Gabriel contributed 3,660 passing yards to the Sooners in 2023 with a 69 percent completion rate to boot. Joining one of the best offensive staffs and talent cores in the nation should push these numbers even higher for 2024.

April 13, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard (18) waves to fans / Barbara J. Perenic/Columbus Dispatch /

2) Will Howard - Ohio State

Another big-ticket transfer headlines Ohio State’s quarterback room after a solid season at Kansas State. Howard possesses elite size and arm talent, key components of high-level quarterback play. After accumulating 2,643 passing yards with the Wildcats in 12 regular season games last year, he’ll look to lead one of the conference’s best teams to a title this season.

Mississippi State QB Will Rogers (2) passes against Ole Miss during the second half of the Egg Bowl / Barbara Gauntt/Clarion Ledger / USA

3) Will Rogers - Washington

Another Will makes his way into the top five Big Ten quarterbacks off an injury-riddled 2023 campaign with Mississippi State. Rogers will join a new-look Washington team that lost its head coach, offensive coordinator, and three elite receivers to new roles after a sensational season in Seattle. In his most recent healthy season, Rogers put up 3,974 passing yards with 35 touchdowns and just eight interceptions under the late Mike Leach.

Apr 13, 2024; University Park, PA, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback Drew Allar (15) throws / Matthew O'Haren-USA TODAY Sports

4) Drew Allar - Penn State

Allar enters 2024 off a highly efficient junior season in which he amassed 2,631 passing yards with 25 touchdowns and a mere two interceptions. Quarterbacking for a run-heavy team like the Nittany Lions tends to produce more efficiency than dominance but Allar has certainly done his job to a T thus far.

Going into his final year in college, Allar figures to be even better than last season with another year in head coach James Franklin’s offense and a quality supporting cast around him.

Wisconsin quarterback Tyler Van Dyke throws a pass as coach Luke Fickell watches during spring practice / Mark Stewart / Milwaukee Journal

5) Tyler Van Dyke - Wisconsin

Van Dyke doesn’t have the gaudy statistics of other quarterbacks on this list, but his situation last year may have played a hand in that. As the quarterback for run-centric Miami in 2023, Van Dyke accumulated 2,703 passing yards with 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

Oregon fans certainly have their own thoughts on Miami head coach Mario Cristobal who coached the Ducks from 2018 through the 2021 season. In this time, many felt quarterback Justin Herbert’s talents were not maximized and similar thoughts came out of Miami in 2023.

Van Dyke has a track record of quality play and now joins Luke Fickell’s Wisconsin team which looks to bring more passing ingenuity than Van Dyke has enjoyed thus far.

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Many see this as something of a down year for the Big Ten as far as quarterback play is concerned, but rest assured the conference has no lack of quality passers. With a new cast of teams joining the conference for 2024, it will be exciting to see how Big Ten passers make their mark.