Big Ten QBs: Big Ten QB rankings 2023: Top quarterbacks to watch out for this season

The 2023 Big Ten college football season is almost upon us, with Nebraska playing Minnesota on Aug. 31. But how does the conference's quarterback power ranking look?

Much has been said about the lack of proficient QB play in the Big Ten, even though some signal callers like J.J. McCarthy are among the favorites for the Heisman.

Nonetheless, many schools are starting their season with new signal callers with little to no experience. A significant number of transferees are also expected to take the starting job.

Here's a look at the power rankings for the Big Ten quarterbacks.

#14. Noah Kim - Michigan State

Noah Kim is stepping into Payton Thorne's shoes this year

With Payton Thorne gone to the Auburn Tigers, the Michigan State Spartans are looking at a season with a brand new quarterback in the starting role. The frontrunner to take the position is redshirt junior QB Noah Kim. With zero career starts to his name, there isn't much to go by.

Also in the battle for the role is redshirt freshman Katin Houser. Either way, this goes, it seems to be a transition season in East Lansing. Noah Kim threw for 174 yards, with three touchdowns and a total quarterback rating (QBR) of 94.9 in his freshman season.

#13. Tayven Jackson - Indiana

With Dexter Williams II out after a season-ending injury in the final game of last season, the Hoosiers were left searching for a new signal caller.

What they've got is a Tennessee transfer, Tayven Jackson. He got zero starts and threw for only 37 yards in three games with the Volunteers last year.

#12. Luke Altmyer - Illinois

Illinois is another school in the Big Ten having to replace a veteran quarterback, with coach Bret Bielema having to look for a replacement for Tommy Devito. What he got is a junior transfer from the University of Mississippi, Luke Altmyer.

Altmyer came into the Big Ten after transferring from Ole Miss to Illinois. As a sophomore with the Rebels in 2022, he threw for 125 yards with two touchdowns in four games, including one career start.

#11. Gavin Wimsatt - Rutgers

With Rutgers signal caller Gavin Wimsatt, we start to have a bit of a bigger pool sample considering he already has six career starts. Rutgers has two returning QBs, that split last season's starts among them.

Gavin is the expected starter. Last year he threw for 757 yards and got five TDs. The competition is QB Evan Simmons, who actually led Rutgers the previous year in passing yards with 777.

#10. Kyle McCord - Ohio State

The Buckeyes are replacing two-time Heisman finalist CJ Stroud, who was drafted No.2 in the NFL 2023 draft. In his place will step Columbus transferee Kyle McCord. A junior, he made one start and played twelve games while at Columbus.

Ohio State coach is yet to decide on a starter, with sophomore Devin Brown also vying for the role.

#9. Athan Kaliakmanis - Minnesota

With veteran Tanner Morgan leaving the Big Ten for the NFL after signing as UDFA with the Pittsburgh Steelers, redshirt sophomore Athan Kaliakmanis is expected to replace him.

Last year Kaliakmanis got five valuable starts after replacing Morgan, who went down injured in Week 7. In eleven games, with five starts, Kaliakmanis threw 946 passing yards for three touchdowns.

#8. Hudson Card - Purdue

Another transferee for the Big Ten, this time from the University of Texas. Purdue is another school replacing a senior veteran in Aidan O'Connell.

Hudson Card is a redshirt sophomore who played twelve games and made three starts last year with the Texas Longhorns.

#7. Drew Allar - Penn State

Drew Allar, the future of the Nittany Lions

Penn State is yet another Big Ten school replacing a QB that left for the NFL. While the Nittany Lions are losing their all-time leader in career wins, total yards and passing touchdowns, Sean Clifford, they can find comfort in that many pundits believe sophomore Drew Allar's ceiling is even higher.

As a freshman, Allard was featured in ten games and threw for 344 yards and four TDs. He is yet to make his first career start.

#6. Ben Bryant - Northwestern

After a 1-11 season, Northwestern decided to cure its QB issues through the transfer portal. What the Wildcats got is a true college football journeyman (How does he keep up with his classes?) in Ben Bryant.

He started his college days in Cincinnati as a backup, then transferred to Eastern Michigan, where he started all thirteen games in 2021. He threw for 3121 yards with fourteen touchdowns and seven interceptions.

In 2022 he went back to Cincinnati, where he started eleven games all the way to a season-ending injury towards the end of the season. Before that, he threw 2732 yards with twenty TDs and seven INTs.

#5. Jeff Simmons - Nebraska

After Casey Thompson left in the transfer portal, the Cornhuskers were left looking for a new starter. They found in junior Georgia Tech QB Jeff Simmons.

A dual-threat QB, Simmons got 5,500 combined yards of offense over the last three seasons.

#4. Tanner Mordecai - Wisconsin

Tanner Mordecai is a veteran senior that transferred from SMU. He started 24 games over two years with the Mustangs, throwing for 7152 yards, with seventy-two TDs.

Mordecai was also a semifinalist for the Davey O'Brien Award in 2022. He is now looking to lead Wisconsin in the Big Ten.

#3. Taulia Tagovailoa - Maryland

The most experienced quarterback in the Big Ten, Taulia Tagovailoa, is Maryland's owner of almost all the QB-related records.

Nonetheless, the Terrapins are yet to achieve a significant breakthrough since arriving in the Big Ten.

#2. Cade McNamara - Iowa

Another transfer, Cade McNamara, is a significant upgrade for Iowa. McNamara was the starting QB for the Michigan Wolverines in the 2021 season, where he started all 14 games and led them to a Big Ten championship and Michigan's first victory over the Buckeyes since 2011.

Michigan that year earned a spot in the college football playoff semifinal vs. Georgia, a game they lost and in which Cade lost the starting job mid-game to J.J. McCarthy. His starting record is 13-3.

#1. J.J. McCarthy - Michigan

Shortlisted as one of the favorites to win the Heisman, Jonathan James McCarthy returns to lead the Wolverines after a season with a 13-1 record that included a win over Ohio State, a Big Ten championship and a second consecutive appearance in the College Football Playoff.

Last year he threw for 2719 yards and twenty-two touchdowns.

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Edited by R. Elahi