Ranking the top 10 college football quarterbacks after Week 6 of the 2023 season.
What a wild week of college football it was. Oklahoma knocked off Texas and Notre Dame was knocked out of the playoff race.
In terms of our rankings of college football quarterbacks, those results certainly had an impact as Sam Hartman dropped out of our top 10 following a few lackluster showings.
Drake Maye also makes his way back into the Week 6 top 10 ranking of college football quarterbacks after a stellar showing against Syracuse.
Dillon Gabriel’s game-winning drive against Texas also made shockwaves in our rankings this week and here’s the new top 10.
10. Drake Maye, North Carolina
Drake Maye hasn’t put up the eye-popping numbers that he did last season but started back in that direction on Saturday with 442 yards passing, three touchdown passes, and 52 rushing yards giving him 494 total yards in a rout of Syracuse.
Accounting for nearly 500 yards and four total touchdowns is a solid week. North Carolina is also 5-0 on the season. Maye is ranked ninth in QBR and another test awaits against Miami this week.
9. Quinn Ewers, Texas
QB wins aren’t really a stat, but quarterbacks are judged by wins and losses more than any other position. Quinn Ewers did throw two interceptions, but he also completed 83 percent of his passes and drove Texas in range for a game-winning field goal.
He also threw for 346 yards. Ewers is also ranked among the top 15 in QBR among college football quarterbacks, as well as ranking in the top 15 in passing yards.
Against Alabama and Oklahoma, Ewers put up big numbers, and outside of a clutch drive by Gabriel, he would likely be ranked higher.
8. Bo Nix, Oregon
Bo Nix drops a few spots this week, not because of anything he did during the bye week, there is just so much movement among the best college quarterbacks in college football.
Nix has accounted for 15 total touchdowns and just one interception. He also hasn’t played a great defense yet this season. The Washington game will be a chance for him to shine and he’s certainly in the Heisman Trophy mix.
7. Shedeur Sanders, Colorado
Sanders is a fascinating player. He’s proven to be clutch in wins over Arizona State, TCU, and Colorado State. The son of Deion Sanders also leads college football in passing yards. He’s the only player with over 2,000 yards passing (2,020) and he’s tied for third in the FBS with 16 touchdown passes, as well as three rushing scores.
However, when you look at his QBR, it ranks just 35th in college football. He had just 239 yards last week and one touchdown, as well as a rushing touchdown. He’s one of the best college football quarterbacks this season, but the stats don’t mean everything either.
6. Jordan Travis
The bottom line is that there are so many good college football quarterbacks right now, that it can be hard to rank them. Travis has been exceptional. He’s got 12 total touchdowns and just one interception. He also ranks 11th in QBR.
Travis looks in complete control for Florida State this season that’s why he’s ranked in the top 10 among college football quarterbacks even though he ranks 60th in passing yards. His clutch showings against Clemson and LSU certainly carry some weight too.
5. Jayden Daniels, LSU
I’m starting to come around on Jayden Daniels and it makes you wonder where this LSU team might be if he wasn’t around. Maybe it might not make sense to have him above Jordan Travis, who did play better in the meeting in the first game of the season.
However, the Florida State defense is much better than LSU’s. Daniels has also been spectacular. He’s third in passing yards (1,969), second in touchdown passes (19), as well as fourth in QBR.
Daniels’ development as a passer has been incredible to watch. He’s also run for over 400 yards last week and his comeback against Missouri last week jumped him up to our list.
The Tigers trailed by 15 at one point before Daniels, despite an injury, but he threw for 259 yards, as well as rushing for 130 yards. It was spectacular and it’s hard to say any college football quarterback is playing better than Daniels right now.
4. J.J. McCarthy, Michigan
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh might be onto something when he said that J.J. McCarthy was as good as any quarterack in college football.
Jim did say that Caleb Williams was “really good” too and that’s obvious. Williams has the numbers that McCarthy will never have. Part of that is the scheme. Michigan also has been so dominant that McCarthy hasn’t played in the fourth quarter the past two weeks.
Jim Harbaugh said Saturday that JJ McCarthy was the best QB in the country - that he had watched.
— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) October 9, 2023
He watched Caleb Williams on the flight home, and said "He's really good too." Harbaugh said it's like comparing Kobe and MJ, Manning and Brady. "They're both really good." pic.twitter.com/hxHijQ4Npl
Yet, McCarthy is No. 1 in QBR. He’s got 11 touchdown passes (three rushing touchdowns) and is completing 77.6 percent of his throws. His QBR has been 90 or better in five of six games this season and if he played in a wide-open offense, he’d be in the Heisman hunt with Caleb Williams.
3. Dillon Gabriel, Oklahoma
Gabriel has been outstanding this season for the Sooners and capped it with his game-winning drive last week against Texas. For the season, he’s sixth in passing yardage and has gone over 300 total yards in each of the last four games.
Gabriel also has 16 touchdown passes and five rushing touchdowns in addition to completing 72.3 percent of the passes. His QBR is also third in all of college football and there’s zero doubt that the Oklahoma quarterback is in the Heisman mix. He also has OU squarely in the playoff chase.
2. Michael Penix, Washington
You could probably make a case for Gabriel ranking ahead of Michael Penix in our ranking of college football quarterbacks.
However, Penix has been elite with a Capital E.
Penix has 16 touchdown passes which has him tied for third in all of college football. He’s also second in QBR behind only McCarthy. He’ll get his chance to prove he’s big-game ready against Oregon and he’ll need a big showing to hold onto the No. 2 spot next week.
1. Caleb Williams, USC
Williams has been unreal. He’s got 28 total touchdowns this season (22 passing, six rushing) and has been carrying USC.
The Trojans defense is awful. USC might have lost against Colorado if it wasn’t for Williams’ six touchdown passes. He also had three rushing scores and a touchdown pass last week in the triple overtime win over Arizona.
We’ll see what he can do against Notre Dame this week, in the toughest matchup of the season so far for the Trojans, but for now, he’s holding firm at No. 1.