Veteran quarterbacks ruled the day in college football during the 2023 season.
LSU’s Jayden Daniels, a fifth-year senior who transferred in from Arizona State, took home the Heisman, beating out two other veterans with similar transfer histories: Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. and Oregon’s Bo Nix.
Whether the 2024 season features that much experienced star power at the quarterback position remains to be seen, but there will be a number of notable signal-callers returning to school rather than entering the NFL draft.
As we wait on a few final dominoes to fall, including Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy, who has yet to make an NFL draft decision, seven veteran QBs have confirmed that they will return next season and could come to define it.
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Carson Beck, Georgia
A first-year starter as a junior in 2023, Beck stepped in admirably for program legend Stetson Bennett, throwing for 3,941 yards with 24 touchdown passes and just six interceptions for the Bulldogs.
Beck rattled off five games with at least 300 passing yards, and he likely would’ve topped the 4,000-yard mark if not for Georgia’s dominance for most of the season. He completed 13 of 18 passs for 203 yards and two touchdowns before being pulled early in the team’s dismantling of Florida State at the Orange Bowl.
Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss
Playing in Lane Kiffin’s explosive Rebels offense, Dart steadily has improved each year in college, since beginning his career at USC as a freshman in ’21. He broke out as one of the SEC’s best passers in ’23, throwing for 3,364 yards, 23 touchdowns and just five interceptions on the season, and he added eight more touchdowns on the ground.
Dart did struggle in Ole Miss’s two losses, to Alabama and Georgia, but he stepped up in other huge spots. In shootout wins over LSU (55–49), Texas A&M (38–35) and Penn State at the Peach Bowl (38–25), Dart averaged 385 yards and had at least three touchdowns in each game with no interceptions.
Quinn Ewers, Texas
The Longhorns quarterback who generated the most media attention through most of ’23 was probably Arch Manning, a third-stringer for most of the season. Meanwhile, Ewers—a former elite recruit in his own right—took a major step forward as a sophomore, throwing for 3,479 yards with 22 touchdown passes and six interceptions.
Ewers made his mark on the season in Week 2, throwing for 349 yards and three touchdowns in a statement win over Alabama. Against Oklahoma State in the Big 12 championship, he sealed Texas’s spot in the College Football Playoff with a 452-yard, four-touchdown performance.
Manning is expected back at Texas as well, but in all likelihood he will be looking up at Ewers on the depth chart, as the Southlake native looks to bring the Longhorns back to the Playoff and improve his draft positioning for ’25.
Dillon Gabriel, Oregon
Even a casual college football fan should be pretty familiar with Gabriel, who is getting ready to play his sixth season at a third different school (in three different time zones, no less). The former UCF and Oklahoma star is the heir apparent to the quarterback spot left vacant by Nix with the Ducks.
Gabriel posted numerous career highs, including completion percentage (69.3%), passing yards (3,660), yards per attempt (9.5) and rushing touchdowns (12) with the Sooners in ’23. He added 30 touchdown passes and just six interceptions, leading the team to a 10–2 record. (He didn’t play in the Sooners’ loss to Arizona in the Alamo Bowl.) Gabriel eclipsed 400 yards three times on the year, in blowout wins over Tulsa, West Virginia and TCU.
Entering the Big Ten, Oregon is expected to contend for a conference title and a College Football Playoff berth in the fall.
Grayson McCall, NC State
After cementing himself as a Group of 5 legend over the past five years at Coastal Carolina, McCall will finish his college career with a sixth year at NC State.
Before injuries derailed his ’23 season, McCall had three straight years with at least 2,400 passing yards and 24 touchdowns while throwing three or fewer interceptions for the Chanticleers. He adds a threat on the ground as well, having recorded a career-best 569 rushing yards and seven scores during the ’20 season.
McCall already has appeared on a NASCAR vehicle during his time at Coastal. If he can replicate his success in the ACC, that may just be the start for the 23-year-old gunslinger.
Jalen Milroe, Alabama
Milroe’s story was one of college football’s best in 2023. The third-year sophomore rebounded from a midseason benching following Alabama’s loss to Texas to regain control of the Crimson Tide’s QB1 job, and he was dominant down the stretch. He would go on to beat Georgia in the SEC championship, finish sixth in Heisman Trophy voting and lead his team to the College Football Playoff.
Milroe struggled against eventual national champion Michigan’s elite defense, but he proved himself throughout the heart of the ’23 season, finishing with 2,834 yards (10 per attempt), 23 touchdown passes and just six interceptions. He is also a very dangerous runner, having registered 531 yards and 12 touchdowns this season.
There are plenty of questions in front of Milroe for ’24 after Nick Saban’s sudden retirement on Wednesday, but whichever coach fills those giant shoes will inherit an incredibly talented quarterback with a roller coaster of a season under his belt.
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Shedeur Sanders, Colorado
Back in September, before injuries and a lack of depth derailed Colorado’s season, quarterback Shedeur Sanders was at the center of the college football universe.
Deion Sanders’s son acquitted himself incredibly well during his first season in FBS, throwing for a school-record 3,230 yards with 27 touchdown passes and just three interceptions on the year, despite playing behind a porous offensive line and dealing with injuries to key playmakers such as Travis Hunter.
His father already has gotten to work on rebuilding that offensive line, which should help the rising senior quarterback put up gaudy numbers once again. Through three seasons (including two at FCS Jackson State), Shedeur boasts over 10,000 passing yards and 97 touchdowns through the air.
