College football's best 2024 backup quarterbacks, ranked (2024)

Whether it's Jaylen Henderson or Marcel Reed behind Conner Weigman, Mike Elko has solid options at the position. Henderson came on strong during his debut in November at Texas A&M as a dual-threat playmaker prior to injury during the bowl game. Elko said Henderson looks comfortable within Texas A&M's scheme and Reed's coming on strong. Ultimately, Weigman's success this season — and the options behind him — will heavily depend on Texas A&M's front and the Aggies' weapons around them.

You can't argue with Billy Napier's decision to roll with Graham Mertz again as Florida's top quarterback given his numbers, but there was considerable excitement in Gainesville this spring about DJ Lagway, a five-star and potential program-changer at the position. The first touchdown pass of the spring game came via Lagway on a dart over the middle, a sign of things to come for the Gators in the not-so-distant future.In January, Lagwayearned GatoradeNational Player of the Year, arguably the nation's most prestigious award for high school athletes, and Florida was able to hold onto his commitment over offers from Clemson, Texas A&M and others.

One of two quarterbacks the Rebels took during the 2023 transfer cycle, Walker Howard was set to be LSU's future behind Jayden Daniels and Garrett Nussmeier prior to looking elsewhere. A year under his belt in Lane Kiffin's system, Howard is now No. 2 in Oxford behind returning two-year starter Jaxson Dart and the staff is confident this unit would not miss a beat in 2024 if he's thrust into sizable reps. Howard was one of the top signal callers in his class and will be the guy in 2025 for Ole Miss.

Gunner Stockton reportedly had his best spring at Georgia, capped by a fourth-quarter touchdown pass in Saturday's final scrimmage. That's an obvious sign that he's comfortable within the offense between the hedges in his third season and anxious to show what he's got this fall if anything goes wrong with Carson Beck, potentially the first quarterback off the board in 2025.

"He's gotten better. He's getting a feel for our system. He's a really good athlete," Georgia coach Kirby Smart said last month, via Dawgs247. "He has, every now and then, a mistake you can't have at that position. The good thing is you can ask him after the play, and I always ask him, What did you see? What was the coverage?' He gives the right answer, so he's seeing the right things. But he's got to continue to develop and grow. That's a hard position to play. He's still trying to master that position."

Penn State went super vanilla offensively in its Blue and White game and Beau Pribula's numbers were pedestrian (5-of-10, 25 yards, INT, 11 carries for 16 yards). However, that doesn't discredit the positive reviews about his production and development this spring playing behind Drew Allar. The Nittany Lions are confident Pribula will be difference-maker this season as a run-threat after rushing for six touchdowns and 329 yards last fall. Pribula gives the Nittany Lions a wrinkle in short-yardage situations and can protect Allar when the tough yards are needed.

Ty Simpson took the second-team reps in Alabama's revised spring game and was Alabama's most consistent passer on the day. Simpson battlesDylan Lonergan and Washington transfer Austin Mack for QB2 honors behind Jalen Milroe.There is worry that one of those players could enter the transfer portal given the logjam at the position under first-year coach Kalen DeBoer behind the starter.

"(Ty)does a great job back there. You've got full confidence with a lot of those guys back there," DeBoer said after the A-Day game. "But Ty, he's been consistent and has gotten better throughout the spring. Never really had any drops in each practice. You see what he does out there. He's accurate, he knows when to put touch on it. You saw the one ball, on the deep crosser. He's got good awareness. I thought all the quarterbacks did a better job of pushing the pocket at the right times. That's something we've been emphasizing, rather than just sitting back there and letting the rush and edges get to you. He had a good feel on all those plays, and he has a good command of the offense, for sure.

Lincoln Riley was super-selective in which transfer quarterback he went after to serve as the primary option behind Miller Moss. That pick up was UNLV's Jayden Maiva, who initially committed to Georgia before flipping to the Trojans. Notes Dawg247's Jordan Hill, Maiava shined during his redshirt freshman season as the Rebels’ starting quarterback after completing 63.5% of his attempts for 3,085 yards with 17 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also rushed for 277 yards and 3 touchdowns. Maiva has three years of eligibility remaining.

This five-star transfer who originally signed with Alabama as the crown jewel of the Crimson Tide's 2024 classis the future at the position for the Buckeyes. Julian Sayin was terrific during his first few months on campus and really gave the Ohio State coaching staff something to think about ahead of his first campaign. With Kansas State transfer Will Howard and Devin Brown duking it out for the starting position, Sayin was Mr. Consistent in practice behind them. And if there are any portal casualties in the competition, one would expect Sayin to see snaps as a true freshman.

Dante Moore tossed 11 touchdown passes as a true freshman spot starter at UCLA last fall under Chip Kelly before transferring to Oregon, where he'll be the guydown the road after Oklahoma transfer Dillon Gabriel handles the first team in 2024.Moore previously spent most of the 2022 college football season committed to Ducks before flipping tothe Bruinson National Signing Day. Moore started five gamesat UCLA in 2023 and played in nine total games as afirst-year player with flashes of stellar ability.

According to Texas starter Quinn Ewers, the former No. 1 player in the country Arch Manningmade tremendous strides ahead of his second season with the Longhorns. And this marks the first that he'll be the second-teamer after Maalik Murphy transferred to Duke.Manning completed 2-of-5 passes for 30 yards as a true freshman last fall.

"Year two, you always see a big jump with quarterbacks in this offense," Ewers said this month. "You're just so much more comfortable, and your confidence just goes through the roof."