The ACC is calling itself the conference of quarterbacks this season and it is true that a lot of high-caliber starters are coming back this season. Whether it's Virginia Tech's Kyron Drones, Georgia Tech's Haynes King, or Miami's Cam Ward, picking a top quarterback in this conference is difficult.
Let's start here and look at where these ACC quarterbacks rank based on starting and overall production from last season to projections for this season.
17) Fernando Mendoza - Cal Bears
Based on how things went last season for Cal and Fernando as well as the uncertainty with his future at quarterback and now with a transfer quarterback from North Texas, Chandler Rogers. Fernando struggled with deep passes down the field averaging 7 yards per throw and ending the season with a 4-5 record with 14 touchdowns to 10 interceptions, the depth chart still has him as a starter after training camp so Fernando's progress will be interesting to watch.
16) Nate Yarnell - Pitt
With Nate Yarnell only starting in two games and going 1-1 as a starter and only playing in 2 other blowout games. The jury is still out on the type of player he will be, Nate finished the season with 4 touchdowns to 1 interception with 595 yards. Nate Yarnell still has a lot of the tangibles for a quarterback standing at 6'6 and weighing 215 pounds which has been a college football staple for great NCAA quarterbacks who are on the bigger side of things such as Cam Newton, Sam Bradford, and Peyton Manning to name a few.
15) Hank Bachmeier - Wake Forest
Hank Bachmeier is going into his sixth season as a college quarterback and is now at his third college with Wake Forest. Previously playing at Louisiana Tech and Boise State he's had an inconsistent kind of collegiate career with his best year coming in 2021 with 20 touchdowns and just 8 interceptions along with 3,079 yards. Hank now playing alongside head coach Dave Clawson who won coach of the year in 2021 for the ACC he has shown some promise in the spring game, throwing for 310 yards is now showing some promise with his new program.
14) Ashton Daniels - Standford
Ashton Daniels proved he could be a playmaker throwing the football last year with some of his best games coming against Colorado and Washington where he threw for 396 yards and 4 touchdowns against Colorado. Against Washington Daniels threw for 367 yards and scored 3 touchdowns with 2 rushing and 1 passing, with him coming into another year under head coach Troy Taylor we should expect the team along with the quarterback to improve. Ashton finished the season with 2,247 yards and 11 touchdowns and 8 interceptions.
13) Tony Muskett/Anthony Colandrea - Virginia
Based on how last season went for Muskett, there is still a lot to be desired as he was injured during the season opener at Tennessee and only played in six games last season. In those six games, Muskett finished with 1,031 yards and six touchdowns to five interceptions but we must remember that sophom*ore quarterback Anthony Colandrea will be battling for the starting spot as well. Anthony Colandrea showed some promise last season, finishing with 1,958 yards and 13 touchdowns to 9 interceptions, and the Cavaliers bolstered the receiver room this offseason by adding three talented receivers in Chris Tyree, Andre Green, and Trell Harris. So it should be interesting what direction head coach Tony Elliot decides to go.
12) Maalik Murphy - Duke
While there is minimal tape and experience for many predictions on how Murphy will do, only appearing in seven games and playing a majority of two, there is still some upside to Murphy's game. In his two starts against BYU and Kansas, he finished with 170 yards and 2 touchdowns completing 64% of his passes against BYU. Against Kansas, he finished the game with 248 yards and a touchdown, Maalik finished the season with 473 yards 3 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions. He stands at 6'5 and 238 pounds as a sophom*ore which is a good start to the future for head coach Manny Diaz.
11) Tyler Shough - Louisville Cardinals
Shough is coming off some injury-plagued seasons with him now being a seventh-year senior for Louisville. At Texas Tech, he had a broken collar bone and a broken leg but with that comes a lot of experience which is needed at the quarterback position. For his collegiate career at Oregon and Texas Tech, he has thrown for 4,625 yards, 36 touchdowns, and 714 rushing yards. If Shough can stay healthy, Louisville could have something good going alongside Jeff Brohm who went 10-4 last season and got the team to the 2023 Holiday Bowl.
10) Max Johnson - North Carolina
Based on how things have been this off-season for North Carolina, now with three different quarterbacks looking to start, Max Johnson, Conner Harrell, and Jacolby Criswell. There are still some questions to be answered. Still, as of right now, Johnson is the starter and is coming off a season where threw for 1,452 yards, 9 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions in 8 games at Texas A&M. Max got the starting nod after Conner Weigman got hurt last year but has shown at his previous schools that he is a fairly good player overall, his stats at LSU and Texas A&M combined for 5,852 yards and 47 touchdowns to just 12 interceptions.
9) Thomas Castellanos - Boston College
Boston College hired head coach Bill O'Brien who has shown he can be a winner in both the NFL and College coaching with some of the greatest talents and minds we've seen ever. With this new addition, Thomas Castellanos showed promise last season both running and throwing the football with stats of 2,248 passing, 1,113 yards rushing, and 15 touchdowns to 14 interceptions. Castellanos got the offense to finish top 5 in the ACC last year and should cut down some on the turnovers under new head coaching.
8) Kyle McCord - Syracuse
Adding new head coach Fran Brown and transfer from Ohio State Kyle McCord makes a difference in terms of experience from both the Big Ten and the SEC conferences. Kyle McCord had a good season last year, putting up stats of 3,170 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions while completing 65% of his passes at Ohio State. Kyle even led the Big Ten with averages of 9 yards per attempted throw last year and had over 25 throws go for 30-plus yards or more last season with a record of 11-1 as a starter for the Buckeyes.
7) Cade Klubnik - Clemson
Cade Klubnik showed promise last year while putting up numbers of 2,844 yards and 19 touchdowns with 4 of those touchdowns coming rushing, he was underwhelming with attempted yards only averaging 6 which was the lowest in the ACC and ranked top 10 in QBR. With his now 2nd year as a starter at Clemson, it should be interesting how he does with new freshman wide receivers and head coach Dabo Swinney.
6) Preston Stone - SMU
Preston Stone is coming off a season where he threw for 3,197 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions for SMU and won 11 games as well as a conference title in the American Athletic Conference. Stone ranked in the top 10 in yards per attempt at 9 a game and led the AAC in most 40-plus yard completions at 16 but with the transition to the ACC it should be interesting to see how these numbers transfer over.
5) Grayson McCall - North Carolina State
Grayson McCall finished last season with 1,919 pass yards, 11 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions in his previous three seasons he averaged 26 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. Last season was a down year for McCall as he saw the talent around him leave and had a concussion which contributed to the down, he's still shown enough flashes to have belief in a big year this season. McCall passed for over 10,000 yards and completed 69% of his passes, scoring 88 times while at Coastal Carolina which makes for an inspiring outlook for his upcoming season.
4) Kyron Drones - Virginia Tech
Kyron Drones had an interesting season last season after taking over for Grant Wells who injured his ankle early in the season, the team went on a run. After starting the season 1-3 Kyron took over and the team never really looked back winning 6 of their last 9 games, the offense went from not being able to move the ball at all to being one of the best offenses in the conference. Drones also finished the last season passing for 2,084 yards, 17 touchdowns, 3 interceptions, and 818 rushing yards. Drones has also been listed as a dark horse candidate for the Heisman trophy and tied for 2nd for most completions of 50-plus yards last season. Drones also led the team to the Military Bowl where they won 41-20 against Tulane.
3) Haynes King - Georgia Tech
Haynes Kings had a breakout season last year for Georgia Tech, and Georgia Tech has been talked about by many as a dark horse ACC title contender this season. King finished the season last year passing for 2,842 yards, 27 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions, and averaged 275 yards a game which ranked 2nd in the ACC for total offense last season. King ranked amongst the top quarterbacks in the ACC in terms of completion on 40-plus yard passes at 14, although he must cut back on the 16 turnovers though if the Yellow Jackets have any plans of making the jump forward this season.
2) DJ Uiagalelei - Florida State
Uiagalelei has had a solid 4 years in college football and has been a model of consistency even back when he was at Clemson. For the last 3 years, Uiagalelei has thrown for over 2,000 yards and over 20 touchdowns in the last two seasons at both Clemson and Oregon State. Last year he finished with 6 rushing touchdowns similar to Tua when at Alabama, when the pieces are put around him that fit his strengths the team's success is high. Head coach Mike Norvell has done a solid job of making the team solid by throwing the football with some good receivers alongside him.
1) Cam Ward - Miami
Cam Ward could get this Miami team to this ACC title game and even the playoffs based on his arm ability to throw down the field, add in his athletic receiving core and this team is scary. Ward finished last season passing for 3,735 yards, 25 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions with him having 7 games in which he threw for over 300 yards. Ward also finished last season 4th in the nation in passing yards per game at 311 yards with Washington State and has been talked about as one of the most important portal transfers this off-season.
