Best Washington State Quarterbacks of All Time

Sam Taylor | Jul 20, 2024

Sep 20, 1997; Champaign, IL, USA; FILE PHOTO; Washington State Cougars quarterback Ryan Leaf (16) in action against the Illinois Illini at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: USA TODAY Sports / RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports

Many individuals have called Pullman home for anywhere from one year to a lifetime and delivered countless memories for the Cougar faithful.

Here is an attempt at assembling the best all-time Washington State football team. If you feel that someone was excluded or otherwise disagrees with this list, we would love to hear it in the comment section. Who is your all-time WSU Cougar football team?

Because so many iconic quarterbacks have called Pullman home, part one of this series belongs to them.

WSU’s all-time great QBs:

Jack Thompson

Ryan Leaf

Honorable mentions:

Drew Bledsoe

Gardner Minshew

Mark Rypien 

Alex Brink

Luke Falk

Connor Halliday

RELATED: EA Sports College Football 25: Washington State Cougars Overall + Team Ratings

WSU can be considered QB-U with the number of iconic QBs that have slung the ball on the Palouse. As the face of each of their iconic eras, each of these QBs has a claim to Coug fans’ hearts. 

Halliday as the clutch local product who slayed the Huskies in year one of Mike Leach’s tenure. Falk is the all-time Pac-12 passing yards leader, leading Leach’s Air Raid offense to new heights, Brink is the Husky killer, beating UW three times, Rypien as another local product who went on to win Super Bowl MVP, Minshew for an iconic 2018 season which vaulted WSU into the top 10 teams in the nation and Bledsoe as the iconic quarterback who was drafted No. 1 overall in the 1993 NFL draft by the New England Patriots and earned the honor of being Tom Brady’s predecessor.

But the two all-time greats on this list, for their impact on WSU during and decades following their college football careers.

Thompson is one of two Cougar football players to have his number (14) retired following three record-breaking seasons in the 70s. Thompson was the No. 3 overall pick in the 1978 NFL Draft, but since retiring from football has spent tons of time around the Cougs, stepping up to the plate in the NIL era and conference realignment to be the alumni face of Cougar football. He earned his stripes during his playing career.

Ryan Leaf: Leaf partnered with head coach Mike Price to lead Wazzu to the most iconic stretch of success in program history, two seconds away from a shot to win the Rose Bowl. Regardless of what you think about the snap and play that never was as Leaf attempted to spike the ball with two seconds left on the clock only for the referees to call the end of the game, everything that led to that moment ingrained Leaf’s WSU legacy as the Heisman Trophy winner. Leaf was drafted No. 2 overall in the 1998 NFL draft (right behind Peyton Manning), Leaf fizzled out of the NFL and the face of the Earth for a decade before rebuilding his life and becoming an outspoken beacon of hope for not just WSU during a shifting age of college athletics, but for the human condition at large. Cougs love Ryan Leaf as he is a Coug through and through.