RADIO
Mike's early ACC quarterback rankings for 2026. His top 17 quarterbacks ranked from worst to first, including Darian Mensah, Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, Kevin Jennings, and more.
Now that the spring games are over, we have a little better idea of who is going to show up under center for the first snap of the season for most teams. Only five starters from the 17 ACC teams retain their starters from last year.
Three more ACC quarterbacks switched teams within the conference. Just one ascends to the starting role after playing backup for the last couple of seasons. Four more will start for an ACC team after starting for a different team last year. Four others will start for the first time this year after transferring in.
Below, find out where key ACC signal-callers like Darian Mensah, Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, Alberto Mendoza, Steve Angeli, Beau Pribula, and Kevin Jennings stand, among all others.
17. Ashton Daniels, Florida State
2025 stats (Auburn): 57.1% completion, 797 passing yards, three passing touchdowns, two interceptions, 280 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns
We've seen enough from Daniels first at Stanford, then at Auburn, to know that this likely won't turn out well. Daniels is a solid runner, but he turns the ball over too much. That was a huge problem for the Seminoles last season as well.
Daniels is a relatively low-risk proposition. He beat out Kevin Sperry for the job, but the leash on Daniels could be short. He wasn't any worse than Jackson Arnold last year after he took over at Auburn, but he was eventually replaced by prospect Deuce Knight.
● QB Spotlight ●
Ashton Daniels
Auburn ➡️ Florida State
• I'll be 100% honest here, I feel like Florida State could've done better in the Portal at QB. The reason I say that is simple, Daniels has 24 Passing TDs in his Career but also has 22 INTs. It's possible that he will… pic.twitter.com/RBAUw45R0S
— NCAAF Nation (@NCAAFNation247) April 8, 2026
The same could happen to Daniels this year. Sperry, a four-star recruit from Denton, Texas, was the 12th-rated QB in the 2025 class before redshirting last year. He is still the future for Florida State. Once again, Daniels is a stopgap.
I guess Florida State saw how Daniels handled the same job at Auburn last year and was satisfied with the results. If he does lose the job, Daniels will handle it with professionalism.
If not, the Seminoles have enough talent to get to a bowl game. They added RB Quintrevion Wisner from Texas and return star receivers Duce Robinson, Micahi Danzy, and Jayvan Boggs.
16. Mason McKenzie, Boston College
2025 stats (Saginaw Valley State): 59.8% completion, 2,086 passing yards, 17 passing touchdowns, 11 interceptions, 942 rushing yards, 10 rushing touchdowns
I see where Boston College is coming from. It is coming off its first 10-loss season since 2012. How can it really get any worse? Why not take a chance on a Division II product? It doesn't hurt that McKenzie played in the same conference as Trinidad Chambliss.
The success of Chambliss at Ole Miss has opened the door for more portal signings like this. Obviously, this is different since McKenzie is projected to start from Day 1 at Chestnut Hill.
HE LEAPS! HE SCORES! ⭐️
Mason McKenzie takes it all the way to the house!
📺: https://t.co/7zk66zANbH#GLIACfb | @GLIACsports | @svsu_football pic.twitter.com/xo552FEIv1
— FloCollege | Football (@FloCollegeFB) November 8, 2025
In many ways, the success of McKenzie will have a bearing on whether other schools attempt this as well. It's not fair to place it all on him. Boston College doesn't have a lot around him. The additions of Javarius Green (North Carolina) and Evan Dickens (Liberty) will help, but most of last year's two-win team is still there.
McKenzie threw for 4,301 yards and ran for 1,673 yards in two years as a starter for the Cardinals. He accounted for 49 total touchdowns, but the 17 interceptions could be a problem ... and are also what land him in 16th place.
15. Davis Warren, Stanford
2025 stats (Michigan): 64.1% completion, 1,199 passing yards, seven passing touchdowns, nine interceptions, -22 rushing yards, zero rushing touchdowns
Warren suffered a torn ACL in the ReliaQuest Bowl win over Alabama in 2024 and missed all of the 2025 season. He is taking his medical hardship year and heading home. Warren is from Southern California.
That torn ACL wasn't even the worst thing to happen to Warren in his career. He survived leukemia in 2019. A football career was the furthest thing from his mind for much of his high school years.
Warren started seven games for Michigan in 2024, splitting time with Alex Orji down the stretch. He was the dreaded "game manager," but he did show enough to get Stanford to take a chance on him.
My questions with Stanford aren't based solely on Warren, but more on what he doesn't have around him. Much like the 2024 Michigan offense, this Stanford team is going to concentrate on running the ball with Micah Ford and Sedrick Irvin.
Carter Shaw from UCLA and Nico Brown from Yale transferred in to help the receivers, but I have a hard time seeing the Cardinal as a more competitive team in 2025. Warren may have a solid season, but it will likely be for a struggling team.
14. Billy Edwards Jr., North Carolina
2025 stats (Wisconsin): 43.8% completion, 113 passing yards, zero passing touchdowns, zero interceptions, zero rushing yards, zero rushing touchdowns
The Billy Edwards Jr. era was over almost before it started in Madison. He hurt his knee in the first game and threw just three more passes the entire season. Edwards even ended up briefly retiring from football.
Then Bill Belichick came calling. The graduate transfer got a medical hardship year for 2025 and is heading back to the ACC. He committed to Wake Forest out of high school before transferring to Maryland.
Edwards threw for 2,881 yards and 15 touchdowns as a starter for the Terrapins in 2024. His knee has looked good enough so far for Edwards to be named the starting quarterback. Texas A&M transfer Miles O'Neill will be the backup.
That doesn't mean that Edwards will start all season or that his knee will hold up. Edwards is the starter for now, but many have opined that it is only because of experience. Belichick likes guys with experience.
Billy Edwards Jr. with an absolute dime to Trech Kekahuna on the sidelines 🎯
How many TDs will this @BadgerFootball QB-WR duo combine for this season? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/goEv3dOZF9
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) August 12, 2025
The answer to that question ended up being zero, but Kekahuna followed Edwards to Chapel Hill to join Jordan Shipp at receiver. With Demon June in the backfield, this offense already seems more talented than last year.
13. Gio Lopez, Wake Forest
2025 stats (North Carolina): 65.1% completion, 1,747 passing yards, 10 passing touchdowns, five interceptions, 133 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns
Hear me out ... what if Gio Lopez wasn't the problem with the 2025 North Carolina football team? He took a lot of blame, and frankly, I don't think he deserved most of it.
The explosiveness and the arm that he showed as a starter at South Alabama in 2024 were still there. There are plenty of reasons for North Carolina being below average last year, and not the least of those is the apathy of Belichick.
It likely wasn't that way in the locker room, but players pay attention to how coaches act in public as well. This isn't the NFL. There's a reason that many college coaches don't succeed in the NFL and vice versa.
I still think Belichick and Carolina will be fine, but they were never going to be in Year 1. Lopez had expectations placed on him that were the reflection of how fans perceived the coach. It was unfair.
A change of scenery should serve Lopez well, and the slow-mesh offense is a good fit for Lopez's skill set. We should see a different Gio Lopez in 2026.
12. Alberto Mendoza, Georgia Tech
2025 stats (Indiana): 75% completion, 286 passing yards, five passing touchdowns, one interception, 190 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown
The only thing that gives me pause about Fernando's little brother is the fact that Curt Cignetti didn't fight to keep him. That tells me that Cignetti either didn't think the younger Mendoza was ready to lead the team or capable of leading the team.
That's concerning. What's not concerning is Mendoza's landing spot. They took a heralded recruit (Haynes King), let him start for a couple of years, and he became arguably the best QB in school history.
WATCH: All of Alberto Mendoza's best moments from @GeorgiaTechFB's 2026 spring game ⤵️
Finished 12-16 for 148 yards and a TD @ATLNewsFirst pic.twitter.com/43G725sirG
— Connor Hines (@ConnorHinesTV) April 18, 2026
That means Tech can develop a quarterback. Mendoza is a lot like King from what we've seen. He's a bit shorter, and the arm may not be as strong, but this is the perfect system for Mendoza to thrive.
It may not be this year, which is why I have him lower on the list despite the pedigree. It took King a bit to get acclimated to the Tech offense. It may be for Mendoza as well.
11. Lincoln Kienholz, Louisville
2025 stats (Ohio State): 78.6% completion, 139 passing yards, one passing touchdown, zero interceptions, 66 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns
Kienholz played sparingly at Ohio State in 2023 and 2025, so we really can't glean much from that information. He was very good in mop-up duty, for whatever that's worth.
That may not be worth much, so we need to look around. We need to look at how he looked when he got in games. Kienholz won the "Iron Buckeye" award last year, which goes to the player who improved the most in the weight room.
Lincoln Kienholz is an elite player.
I hope he’s here next year, but common sense says he’s going to transfer.
I don’t care where he goes, I’ll be one of his biggest fans. pic.twitter.com/Zv4m4kd2br
— Mr. Ohio (@MrOH1O) November 18, 2025
He appears to be a tough runner, and that improvement in the weight room is apparent on that play. Kienholz was the 13th-ranked quarterback in the 2023 class. The only reason I have reservations is that the last QB out of South Dakota to have success in FBS was Josh Heupel 26 years ago.
That's not enough of a reason. From the tape that we have on Kienholz and the way coaches and teammates talk about him, it's not a stretch to say that he'll be the best QB Jeff Brohm has had at Louisville.
10. Ethan Grunkemeyer, Virginia Tech
2025 stats (Penn State): 69.1% completion, 1,339 passing yards, eight passing touchdowns, four interceptions, -46 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown
We got an extended look at Grunkemeyer last season when Drew Allar went down. Considering the state of the team when he took it over, he looked pretty good. Grunkemeyer didn't throw an interception in his last four games.
When you look at the shape of the Penn State program after Allar went down, the team really had no business making a bowl game. Grunkemeyer got it to one anyway.
He follows the coach who recruited him to Virginia Tech, so the continuity principle applies here as well. Grunkemeyer is familiar with the system and the plays and is in an objectively easier conference.
The ACC is better at the bottom than the Big Ten, but it doesn't have three behemoths at the top. That and a quarterback who, if familiar with the system, should lead to success for the Hokies this year.
9. Chris Vizzina, Clemson
2025 stats: 63.4% completion, 406 passing yards, four passing touchdowns, one interception, 41 rushing yards, zero rushing touchdowns
Clemson has an interesting QB competition following the departure of Cade Klubnik.
Stats from today’s spring game 📊
Christopher Vizzina: 10/18, 109 total yds, TD
Tait Reynolds: 7/10, 74 yds, rush TD
Trent Pearman: 4/7, 34 yds, TD
Chris Denson: minimal playing time pic.twitter.com/TESlYpuZ5D— CFB Kings (@CFBKings) March 28, 2026
Vizzina could have packed up and gone elsewhere when Cade Klubnik decided that he was returning to school in 2025. Instead, Vizzina decided to back him up for one more season. The experience he has in this system is why Vizzina is the highest-ranked of the unproven quarterbacks in this conference.
His only career start came last year against SMU with Klubnik sidelined. Clemson lost, but you can't really blame that on Vizzina. He threw for 317 yards and three touchdowns without an interception.
Clemson returns Gideon Davidson at RB and WRs T.J. Moore and Bryant Wesco Jr. As far as being a first-time starter goes, Vizzina is stepping into a good situation in which he is very familiar with the offense and staff. He may be too low on this list.
From what we have seen with Dabo Swinney and quarterbacks, Vizzina should have a pretty long leash over true freshman Tait Reynolds. Chris Denson, a redshirt freshman, is the wild card.
8. Beau Pribula, Virginia
2025 stats (Missouri): 67.4% completion, 1,941 passing yards, 11 passing touchdowns, nine interceptions, 297 rushing yards, six rushing touchdowns
Pribula waited behind Drew Allar at Penn State in 2023 and 2024 before heading to Missouri to take over the starting job there from legacy Brady Cook. He dislocated his ankle against Vanderbilt in mid-October and missed nearly a month.
Pribula wasn't at 100% when he came back, as he struggled against Oklahoma and only threw seven passes in the win over Arkansas. He skipped the bowl game to head into the portal.
This offense will fit Pribula, perhaps better than last year's starter, Chandler Morris. Pribula is a lot like Anthony Colandrea, who thrived in this Virginia offense. All that he has to do is cut down on the turnovers.
Peyton Lewis from Tennessee and Jekail Middlebrook from Middle Tennessee State will join Pribula in the Virginia backfield. Grad transfers Rico Flores from UCLA and Jacquon Gibson from UMass add veteran leadership to the receiving corps.
7. Walker Eget, Duke
2025 stats (San Jose State): 59% completion, 3,051 passing yards, 17 passing touchdowns, nine interceptions, 96 rushing yards
EGET ➡️ SCUDERO FOR THE SECOND TIME TODAY 💣 💥
📺 @CBSSports Network#AllSpartans pic.twitter.com/4Alyq3tHii
— San José State Football (@SanJoseStateFB) November 2, 2025
Eget threw for 5,555 yards and 30 touchdowns in two years as a starter at San Jose State. Much of that was to Danny Scudero. Eget was leading FBS in passing before he went down near the end of the Utah State game.
He limped to the end of the season after his return, not throwing a single touchdown over the last three games and tossing six of his nine interceptions. Who is the real Walker Eget? Is it the one who toasted Stanford for 473 passing yards, or the one who struggled at the end of the season?
Duke is betting that it's the former. The track record is there to prove it. Eget was only picked off three times in the first nine games last year. All of those came in the first two games against Central Michigan and Texas.
Duke brought in fellow grad transfers Jared Richardson from Penn and Javen Nicholas from Charlotte to ease the loss of Cooper Barkate, who followed Darian Mensah to Miami.
The Blue Devils are relying on an experienced passing game and the return of Nate Sheppard at RB to give them another crack at a conference title. It just might do the trick.
6. Steve Angeli, Syracuse
2025 stats: 62.8% completion, 1,317 passing yards, 10 passing touchdowns, two interceptions, -33 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown
Oh, what could have been. We didn't know what to expect from Angeli when he came to the Orange last year after serving as a backup to Sam Hartman and Riley Leonard at Notre Dame in his first two seasons.
What we got was four games of precision gunslinging before Angeli got hurt late in the win over Clemson. That derailed the Syracuse season. The Orange, who were 3-1 when Angeli went down, didn't win another game. The one loss before Angeli went down was to Tennessee.
6. Steve Angeli
Week 4 Opponent: Clemson (W 34-21)
Team Record: 3-1Season Stats:
98/156 (63%), 1316 Pass Yds, 10 Pass TDs & 2 INTs
1 Rush TD
(4 Games Played) pic.twitter.com/t25nTUyhgH— KingSZN (@King_Szn10) September 24, 2025
Even though Angeli only played four games, he still led the Orange in passing yards and touchdowns last season. Unfortunately for Angeli, his big playmakers from the early games (Johntay Cook and Justus Ross-Simmons) are gone.
Jackson State transfer Ahmad Miller and LSU transfer Ju'Juan Johnson will take over the backfield duties. Zamondre Merriweather, a JuCo transfer who began at Boise State, will be one receiver. The other will be true freshman Calvin Russell III.
Russell, from Opa Locka, Fla., is the third-highest-rated recruit in Syracuse history. If Angeli puts his torn Achilles behind him and Russell is as good as advertised, Syracuse could make some noise this year.
The only reason that I have Angeli this low is that Achilles injuries can be tricky. I wouldn't be shocked if he's the second- or third-best QB in the conference in 2026.
5. Mason Heintschel, Pittsburgh
2025 stats: 63.6% completion, 2,354 passing yards, 16 passing touchdowns, eight interceptions, 88 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns
Heintschel got the first start of his true freshman season on October 4 against Boston College. It was a soft landing (323 yards, four TD), and put the rest of the ACC on blast. Pitt wasn't going to let Eli Holstein's struggles tank the season.
Heintschel led Pitt to five straight wins before stumbling to a 1-2 finish and a loss to East Carolina in the Military Bowl. It looks like teams figured out Heintschel at the end of the season, but that may not be the case.
Pitt's schedule was heavily backloaded. The final three regular-season games were against No. 9 Notre Dame, No. 16 Georgia Tech in Atlanta, and No. 12 Miami. Heintschel led Pitt to the win against Tech, but struggled in the other two games.
Heintschel will need to improve to help absorb the loss of all-world RB Desmond Reid. Western Carolina's Malik Knight was added to the WR room, but Pitt did little in the portal to help out Heintschel.
4. Kevin Jennings, SMU
2025 stats: 66.1% completion, 3,641 passing yards, 26 passing touchdowns, 13 interceptions, 54 rushing yards, four rushing touchdowns
Jennings, a Dallas native and star at South Oak Cliff High School, returns for his third year as a starter for Dallas' college team. Jennings has 6,886 passing yards in two full seasons as a starter, while putting up 618 more playing as a freshman with Preston Stone injured.
As good a season as Jennings had in 2025, his 2024 season was arguably better. The only thing better about last year was the completion percentage (1.1% higher) and yardage (396 more in 74 more attempts).
KEVIN JENNINGS ARE YOU SERIOUS?! 😱 @SMUFB pic.twitter.com/tRtc4u0hGe
— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) September 6, 2025
He threw more interceptions last year and ran for 300 fewer yards. That's not to say that Jennings disappointed in 2025, but it wasn't up to the quality of the 2024 season when Jennings led SMU to the CFP.
Jennings will attempt to lead the Ponies back to the promised land with Cal transfer Kendrick Raphael, who ran for 943 yards last year, replacing TJ Harden in the backfield.
SMU also lost RJ Maryland, Jordan Hudson, and Romello Brinson from last year. The only receiver the Ponies landed in the portal was Yannick Smith from East Carolina.
Smith had 583 receiving yards for ECU last year, but that is a far cry from what Hudson and Brinson did for SMU last year. Jennings will need to slash the interceptions and get back to his 2024 form for SMU to make another run.
3. CJ Bailey, North Carolina State
2025 stats: 68.8% completion, 3,105 passing yards, 25 passing touchdowns, nine interceptions, 215 rushing yards, six rushing touchdowns
There is an alternate reality where Bailey, a Miami native and a star at Chaminade-Madonna High School, returns home and beats the Hurricanes. He is then thrown absurd amounts of money to return home. Miami gets the hometown kid. Darian Mensah is still at Duke.
Everyone is happy in that reality. Instead, Bailey had one of the worst games of his collegiate career at Hard Rock Stadium last November. The Pack get blown out. Miami goes after Mensah instead.
This is still a win for NC State. Bailey has 5,518 passing yards, 494 rushing yards, and 53 total touchdowns in two years starting in Raleigh. He cut down on the interceptions a bit last year, but he will need to be better to get NC State to the top of the conference.
2. Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, California
2025 stats: 64.2% completion, 3,454 passing yards, 18 passing touchdowns, nine interceptions, -120 rushing yards, four rushing touchdowns
Lost in a lot of this is that Sagapolutele did this as a true freshman on a team that lost a lot of its talent to the portal. Sagapolutele led the Bears to a 7-5 record and didn't commit a turnover in the last four games. He's heading in the right direction.
Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele has some of the greatest raw arm talent I’ve seen
Very happy he’s sticking with Cal pic.twitter.com/lwdtk7KOhY
— NFL Draft Files (@NFL_DF) December 10, 2025
Cal has held up its end of the bargain. It used the portal to completely rebuild the offense. Joining JKS in the backfield will be Adam Mohammed from Washington. He topped 100 rushing yards in two starts last year, filling in for Jonah Coleman.
JKS also gets brand new receivers, highlighted by Ian Strong from Rutgers. Chase Hendricks from Ohio and Cooper Perry from Oregon make up a solid receiver corps to go with the talented quarterback.
1. Darian Mensah, Miami (FL)
2025 stats (Duke): 66.8% completion, 3,973 passing yards, 34 passing touchdowns, six interceptions, -32 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown
Miami got its man the old-fashioned way: it threw a pile of cash at him. In fairness, it knew it would work. Duke did the same thing to Mensah when he burst on the scene at Tulane in 2024.
If ever there were a provable case of tampering, this would be it. However, there is still no pursuit of it. Miami gets its man, while Duke is left to pick up the pieces. It did fine with Eget, but Mensah is still a better playmaker. That's why Miami chased him in the first place.
Mensah led Tulane to a berth in the AAC Championship in 2024 with 22 touchdowns to just six interceptions. He was even better at Duke last year, winning the ACC Championship Game.
That angered a bunch of elitists since two Group of Six teams got into the CFP, but we, real fans, will always thank Mensah for that upset of Virginia. The ACC got what it wanted: Miami in the CFP.
Mensah finished second in FBS in passing yards last season to Drew Mestemaker. His 34 passing touchdowns were good for a tie for second with Mestemaker. Fernando Mendoza, the Heisman Trophy winner, led the FBS with 41 passing touchdowns.
Mensah has a chance to put Miami into the CFP for the second consecutive year. Only this year, he'll be trying to do it as a starter for the Hurricanes.
