Best QBs in College Football heading into Week 4: Jayden Maiava, Dante Moore, Ty Simpson headline shocking early performances
Who are the best CFB QBs based on the meaningful metrics?
The 2025 college football regular season is already a quarter of the way through, but it’s still seemingly impossible to tell which teams are the real deal this early. Several power conference teams have yet to be challenged with a serious opponent. Others have already faced off against multiple powerhouse brands (like Notre Dame facing Miami and Texas A&M).
However, once everyone begins playing tougher opponents, the real defining factor for what almost all college teams will become is going to come down to one thing: the quarterback. The player who touches the ball on every snap. The player who can throw five interceptions (looking at you, DJ Lagway) or perhaps 400 yards of perfection. The question is, which teams have the best quarterbacks? And how can we measure that?
Prior to the season we outlined exactly what meaningful metrics can predict future quarterback success (in college and the NFL). It turns out, using the right metrics you can successfully identify who the best quarterbacks are and predict who will become great in the future. Using that 18-pronged predictive QB Efficiency Model, we’re going to take a look at who the best passers in college football are heading into Week 4. A lot will change as these QBs face tougher opponents, but let’s dive in to who the best passers are as of right now.
Best QBs in College Football heading into Week 4 via meaningful metrics
Tier 1 QBs
- Jayden Maiava, USC
- Taylen Green, Arkansas
- Brendan Sorsby, Cincinnati
- Behren Morton, Texas Tech
- Tommy Castellanos, Florida State
Surprise! A Lincoln Riley quarterback is playing good football again.
Jayden Maiava currently ranks first in yards per play, first in QBR, first in total adjusted net yards per attempt (accounts for sack yardage), second in EPA per play, and second in passer rating. He has been playing lights out, unbelievable football (as you can see in the post below). Yes, it’s been against a soft schedule, but USC looks like they’re in good hands.
Outside of Jayden Maiava, three dual threat quarterbacks and one old school pocket passer have been thriving so far, separating themselves from the rest of the pack in college football. This crew’s current QB Efficiency Model scores are on par with first round NFL Draft picks (again, this may change as the season progresses).
Taylen Green (Arkansas), Brendan Sorsby (Cincinnati), and Tommy Castellanos (Florida State) have all proven to be hyper-efficient passers ranking top five in many meaningful categories. All three have also accounted for at least 14% of their team’s rushing production as well, proving to be headaches for defenses in the ground game too.
Behren Morton (Texas Tech) hasn’t been a runner at all, but one out of every seven passes is going for a touchdown. He’s leading the nation in touchdown passes per game. He’s seeing the field well, and ranks top three in passer rating, yards per play, and pass EPA per play.
Tier 2 QBs
- Josh Hoover, TCU
- Dante Moore, Oregon
- Ty Simpson, Alabama
- Fernando Mendoza, Indiana
Josh Hoover (TCU) was a top ten returning quarterback by the meaningful metrics coming into the season already, so it’s no surprise to see him up here. Fernando Mendoza was already considered a potential top NFL Draft pick next spring by many with sky high expectations after transferring to Indiana.
The real pleasant surprises among “tier two” passers in college football who look like potential early-mid round NFL Draft picks have been Dante Moore of Oregon and Ty Simpson of Alabama.
Simpson struggled against Florida State in his opening week, but still fought through and is now top ten in most every meaningful metric out there. He took some sacks early on and held the ball too long, but now that he’s sped up his process is destroying defenses. Nine touchdown passes. Zero interceptions. Surprising mobility with 12% rushing yard market share. He might be legit.
Dante Moore has even better physical tools than Simpson and might just be a future first overall pick in the NFL Draft. He’s been sacked zero times, demonstrating elite pocket awareness and decision-making. He’s nearly leading all quarterbacks in completion percentage (above 78%). Moore is top five in QBR, yards per play, and what sets him apart even more is that he’s a first year starter for Oregon in just his third year removed from high school–the most effective third year college QB by far this season.
Tier 3 QBs
- Carson Beck, Miami (FL)
- Marcel Reed, Texas A&M
- Joey Aguilar, Tennessee
- Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt
- Jalon Daniels, Kansas
- Julian Sayin, Ohio State
- Demond Williams Jr., Washington
- Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss
- John Mateer, Oklahoma
- Athan Kaliakmanis, Rutgers
- Dylan Raiola, Nebraska
This group is extremely tightly packed in terms of their meaningful metric profiles. All 10 of them have a score between 70 and 80 in our A to Z Sports QB Efficiency Model which usually translates to eventual NFL Draft capital (usually as a mid-late round range projection). In short, it would only take one good or bad game to completely shuffle these rankings around.
Carson Beck is looking healthy and perhaps better than ever for Miami. He’s averaging nearly one first down for every two drop backs. His QBR and completion rate are top five. However, he’s still struggling a bit with pass rush pressure.
Marcel Reed has completely silenced the doubters at Texas A&M when it comes to his passing chops and his athleticism was always there. He just needs to continue improving his deep passing game.
Joey Aguilar stepped in and was immediately an upgrade over Nico Iamaleava for the Tennessee Volunteers. Had he beaten Georgia in Week 3 the hype for him would be flying off the rails.
The rest of this tier is jam-packed with potential top tier talents in the sport (except for maybe Athan Kaliakmanis, sorry Rutgers fans).
Only time will tell if all these passers continue to grow and find ways to win against tougher this year, but these are the best 20 college football quarterbacks in the game as of this writing ahead of Week 4.
If you have any questions or comments make sure to reach out to me personally. I’ll be back with more College Football and NFL coverage here at A to Z Sports soon! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!
