NCAAF · 8 hours ago

Joel Klatt’s Top 10 College Football Quarterbacks for 2026: FOX Sports Rankings

Joe Cervenka

Host · Writer

It's Your Turn! Who is 2026's Top College Football Quarterback?
Fire Up the Best CFB Quarterback Debate

Joel Klatt has laid down his definitive quarterback blueprint for the 2026 season, but as any seasoned fan knows, a couple of weeks in August camp can tear offseason projections to shreds. Now it's your turn to step into the film room and make the tough calls.
- The Alpha in Eugene: Is Dante Moore truly the undisputed No. 1 quarterback in the country despite his high-profile CFP mistake, or is his floor being heavily insulated by Oregon's luxury-tier roster infrastructure?
- The Texas-Ohio State Proxy War: Arch Manning or Julian Sayin? Klatt has Arch sitting at No. 2 and Sayin at No. 3, but which blue-blood savior actually possesses the higher operational ceiling to hoist a national title this winter?
- The Dark-Horse Systems: Are we completely buying Josh Hoover sanitizing his turnover bugs under Curt Cignetti at Indiana, or is Sam Leavitt under Lane Kiffin at LSU the ultimate high-leverage heist of the offseason?
Sound off in the comments: Which quarterback is this list completely disrespecting, and who is your absolute lock to secure a trip to New York for the Heisman ceremony this fall? Is there someone Klatt missed?
NCAA Football: Oklahoma at Texas
Signal-Callers of 2026: Joel Klatt Ranks College Football’s Elite Quarterbacks

The summer heat is officially cranking up, camp invites are landing in mailboxes, and FOX Sports’ main man, Joel Klatt, just dropped an absolute nuclear bomb on the college football landscape. If you held the No. 1 overall pick in a hypothetical college football fantasy draft right now, who would you turn the card in for? Roster building in the modern NIL and transfer portal era has turned into a high-stakes corporate arms race, and having a definitive alpha under center is the only true insurance policy against a collapsed season lifecycle.

Klatt sat down on The Joel Klatt Show to weigh pure raw traits, high-leverage game experience, and the premium infrastructure surrounding these signal-callers to build his definitive top 10 gunslingers for the 2026 season.
10. Sam Leavitt
LSU

The offseason premium capital allocation market went wild when this move went down, and now Baton Rouge gets to play host to one of the most intriguing reclamation projects in the country. Lane Kiffin took over the Tigers and immediately went hunting for a dual-threat asset who can completely break a defensive matrix when his vertical lanes open up. If he can stay healthy inside this ridiculously expensive ecosystem, Leavitt has all the tools to turn the SEC West into his personal playground.

"I think Leavitt is going to have a great season. He was banged up last year at Arizona State, which is why some people might not remember what a good player he is. He went 16-4 at ASU and made the CFP two years ago. He can throw it and run it."

2025 Stats: 1,628 passing yards, 10 passing TDs, 306 rushing yards, 5 rushing TDs
9. Josh Hoover
Indiana

Talk about a perfect marriage between a high-volume gunslinger and a coaching staff that loves to dial up the aerial geometry. Curt Cignetti landed a massive fish in the portal here, inheriting a veteran thrower who spent his tenure at TCU treating opposing secondary units like absolute clockwork. If the new staff can successfully patch up his structural turnover bugs, Hoover is going to put up some absolutely obscene statistical volume in Bloomington.

"I think that Hoover at Indiana is a tremendous fit. He has a ton of experience, and he threw it all over the field at TCU. Hoover averaged over 300 yards per game throwing the football in his 31 starts for Sonny Dykes. The guy is certainly willing to go out there and produce at a high level."

2025 Stats: 3,472 passing yards, 32 Total TDs, 13 INTs, 73.6 QBR
8. Darian Mensah
Miami

Mensah is treating the college football landscape like a multi-city vacation tour, but his latest landing spot in South Florida with the Miami Hurricanes might just be the one that launches him into the national award penthouse. He completely lacks a panic button, showing an absolute willingness to challenge deep safeties and hunt for premium chunk plays down the boundary. With an elite protection unit anchoring the trenches ahead of him, the Hurricanes possess an incredibly high-variance offensive ceiling.

"Mensah is at his third school in three years, starting at Tulane, then Duke, and now in Coral Gables. He led Duke to the ACC title a year ago. He's not afraid to rip it. When you couple a guy that is willing to chuck it down the field like Mensah with a team that likes to run to football, now you get some play-action passes."

2025 Stats: 3,973 passing yards, 35 Total TDs, 6 INTs, 76.6 QBR
7. Jayden Maiava
USC

Lincoln Riley has his next absolute prototype under center, and the rest of the Big Ten is officially on notice. Maiava is built like a premium edge rusher but operates with the delicate touch of a high-end pocket surgeon, dropping absolute dimes into tight intermediate windows with ease. USC brings back its entire baseline protection unit and a loaded backfield, meaning this offense is perfectly engineered to explode downfield from week one.

"Maiava is a huge player at 6-foot-4, 230 pounds. He can run around when he needs to, although he doesn't have to, because he has such great anticipation and touch in the middle parts of the field. He's going to have to replace two really good players in Ja'Kobi Lane, as well as their slot receiver, Makai Lemon, who was absolutely phenomenal."

2025 Stats: 3,711 passing yards, 30 Total TDs, 10 INTs, 89.9 QBR
6. John Mateer
Oklahoma

Before the injury gods completely derailed his operational runway last season, Mateer was putting together a stellar masterclass in vertical creation. He represents the absolute epicenter of everything the Sooners want to achieve offensively, stretching boundary metrics with his arm while functioning as a primary high-leverage running threat. If Oklahoma can find some functional efficiency in the standard ground game to lighten its macro-level load, it's a legitimate dark-horse invitation to New York.

"I was really high on Mateer last year and everything was all-systems-go before the hand injury. That obviously derailed his season and Oklahoma's offense. I don’t love the fact that Mateer had to be everything for that offense last year. As dynamic as he was, that was unsustainable."

2025 Stats: 2,885 passing yards, 14 passing TDs, 431 rushing yards, 8 rushing TDs (12 games)
5. CJ Carr
Notre Dame

The legacy hype is completely real in South Bend, and Carr has the raw mechanical portfolio to back up every ounce of local fan sentimentality. With the Fighting Irish re-engineering their offensive blueprint to favor a much more pass-heavy operational structure, Carr is stepping into a luxury-tier sandbox. He has a pristine collection of elite boundary weapons to target, making him an incredibly safe bet to rack up heavy statistical volume.

"Carr is a really talented player. The biggest question surrounding Notre Dame is its ability to replace the offensive production it got from the run game. When you have two guys drafted in the first round — Jadarian Price and Jeremiyah Love — that’s going to hurt you."

2025 Stats: 2,741 passing yards, 27 Total TDs, 6 INTs, 83.4 QBR
4. Trinidad Chambliss
Ole Miss

Chambliss put on an absolute clinic during his high-stakes postseason run last winter, asserting himself as one of the most electric, unplayable playmakers in the entire sport. He plays the position with a distinct, high-intensity swagger, equally capable of shaking a defensive tackle in the pocket or ripping a tight seam-route 40 yards downfield. Even with heavy coaching staff turnover around him, his individual gravity keeps the Rebels' baseline floor incredibly high.

"How good was Chambliss in that run to the CFP semifinals last year? I get it, he’s going to be missing his offensive staff and some of those players that he had. However, he's electric. I love watching Chambliss play this position. He’s got great leadership qualities, and he's obviously great as a player."

2025 Stats: 3,937 passing yards, 22 passing TDs, 527 rushing yards, 8 rushing TDs, 86.5 QBR
3. Julian Sayin
Ohio State

Sayin commands the absolute gold standard of passing efficiency in the collegiate ranks, but the next evolution of his game requires turning off the safety valve. Ryan Day has assembled a terrifying, luxury-tier collection of skill assets in Columbus, meaning the ecosystem is perfectly insulated for Sayin to hunt down field. If he can take a massive physical step forward in short-yardage situational execution, this offense will be completely unstoppable.

"Sayin was a Heisman finalist a year ago. He was the most efficient passer in the country. There are two things that I think held Sayin back a year ago: The first one was that he was, at times, a little hesitant to let it rip down the field."

2025 Stats: 3,610 passing yards, 32 TDs, 8 INTs, 88.4 QBR
2. Arch Manning
Texas

After navigating some heavy localized turbulence during the opening phase of last season, Manning completely unlocked his dynamic ceiling down the stretch. Steve Sarkisian has systematically rebuilt the offensive infrastructure around him, adding explosive vertical threats to keep the passing charts wide open. If the newly calibrated ground game can provide even a modicum of balance, Manning is primed for a monster statistical coronation.

"I love what I saw from Manning in the second half of the year. The early part of the season was a struggle for him and the entire Texas offense. They did not run the football well enough. Their offensive line wasn’t good enough. Their backs weren't good enough. And because of that, I thought the pressure was on Manning."

2025 Stats: 3,163 passing yards, 26 passing TDs, 399 rushing yards, 10 rushing TDs, 78.0 QBR
1. Dante Moore
Oregon

Moore holds the keys to the single most lethal championship engine in the country, boasting a rare, unteachable toolkit that makes scouts drool. Despite a highly publicized postseason hiccup, his macro-level tracking data reveals an incredibly disciplined, hyper-efficient processor who completed a staggering 72% of his looks last year. Surrounded by a veteran core and a defense that locks down opponents out of possession, Moore is the defining alpha under center for 2026.

"I know he made that massive mistake in the CFP last year, throwing that pick-six to D'Angelo Ponds. But this guy has experience, and he has gifts that you just can not teach. He has mobility and the ability to rip it down the field. He can make every single throw out there."

2025 Stats: 3,565 passing yards, 32 Total TDs, 10 INTs, 78.5 QBR
It's Your Turn! Who is 2026's Top College Football Quarterback?
Fire Up the Best CFB Quarterback Debate

Joel Klatt has laid down his definitive quarterback blueprint for the 2026 season, but as any seasoned fan knows, a couple of weeks in August camp can tear offseason projections to shreds. Now it's your turn to step into the film room and make the tough calls.
- The Alpha in Eugene: Is Dante Moore truly the undisputed No. 1 quarterback in the country despite his high-profile CFP mistake, or is his floor being heavily insulated by Oregon's luxury-tier roster infrastructure?
- The Texas-Ohio State Proxy War: Arch Manning or Julian Sayin? Klatt has Arch sitting at No. 2 and Sayin at No. 3, but which blue-blood savior actually possesses the higher operational ceiling to hoist a national title this winter?
- The Dark-Horse Systems: Are we completely buying Josh Hoover sanitizing his turnover bugs under Curt Cignetti at Indiana, or is Sam Leavitt under Lane Kiffin at LSU the ultimate high-leverage heist of the offseason?
Sound off in the comments: Which quarterback is this list completely disrespecting, and who is your absolute lock to secure a trip to New York for the Heisman ceremony this fall? Is there someone Klatt missed?
NCAA Football: Oklahoma at Texas
Signal-Callers of 2026: Joel Klatt Ranks College Football’s Elite Quarterbacks

The summer heat is officially cranking up, camp invites are landing in mailboxes, and FOX Sports’ main man, Joel Klatt, just dropped an absolute nuclear bomb on the college football landscape. If you held the No. 1 overall pick in a hypothetical college football fantasy draft right now, who would you turn the card in for? Roster building in the modern NIL and transfer portal era has turned into a high-stakes corporate arms race, and having a definitive alpha under center is the only true insurance policy against a collapsed season lifecycle.

Klatt sat down on The Joel Klatt Show to weigh pure raw traits, high-leverage game experience, and the premium infrastructure surrounding these signal-callers to build his definitive top 10 gunslingers for the 2026 season.