The transfer portal creates a lot of turnover at the quarterback position around the country, and the ACC is certainly no exception. There are familiar faces in new places and new faces in new places, which makes evaluating this crop of signal callers a challenge.
Perhaps the easiest player to rank played in the conference last year, but is headed to a new team in 2026. After leading Duke to an ACC Championship last season, Darian Mensah transferred to Miami, where he and the Hurricanes will be faced with national championship expectations. Along with Mensah, the ACC has a handful of talented quarterbacks who have already proven themselves. The most exciting of them could be California’s Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, who was terrific as a true freshman in 2024.
Behind the big guns, there are a lot of unknowns, which will only make Week 1 even more interesting. A couple of former highly-touted Big Ten recruits — Ethan Grunkemeyer and Lincoln Kienholz — are making the jump to the ACC. How they fare as full-time starters will determine how the final conference standings shake out.
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In total, 11 of the 17 quarterbacks in these rankings will play for new teams in 2026, but not all of them are set in stone. Most notably, Florida State and Georgia Tech should have position battles to determine their starting quarterbacks, but we did our best to project the winners.
Let’s take a look at how the ACC quarterbacks stack up entering spring practice ahead of the 2026 season.
1. Darian Mensah, Miami
There’s a good reason Duke filed a lawsuit when Mensah initially attempted to enter the transfer portal. He was one of the best quarterbacks in the country last season, and now he’s surrounded by more talent at Miami.
Last year, Mensah completed 66.8% of his passes while leading the ACC in passing yards (3,973) and passing touchdowns (34). He also threw just six interceptions on 500 passing attempts and powered Duke to a conference championship. If he can lead Miami to the College Football Playoff, Mensah could wind up in New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist.
2. CJ Bailey, NC State
Ever since Grayson McCall got injured in Week 2 of the 2024 season, Bailey has asserted himself as a budding star at NC State. Last season, at the age of 19, he totaled 3,310 yards and 31 touchdowns. Now entering his junior season, Bailey has the potential to take another step forward in his development, which is bad news for the rest of the ACC.
If there’s one thing Bailey needs to prove in 2026, it’s his ability to elevate his game against the best opponents on the Wolfpack’s schedule. Eight of Bailey’s nine interceptions came against Duke, Notre Dame and Miami.
3. Kevin Jennings, SMU
If you want an indication of what Jennings can do at his best, look no further than his performance in SMU’s win over Miami last season. He threw for 365 yards, tossed a touchdown pass and rushed for another. Over the last two seasons, Jennings has thrown for 6,886 yards and 49 touchdowns while also leading the Mustangs to a College Football Playoff appearance in 2024. It’s hard to find a more proven signal caller than Jennings, and that experience will come in handy.
The only thing that prevents Jennings from being higher in this ranking is the frequency with which he throws the ball to the other team. Last season, Jennings led the ACC in interceptions with 13, and he threw 11 in 2024. Can the fifth-year senior clean up his decision-making and accuracy?
4. Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, Cal
After winning the starting job as a true freshman last year, Sagapolutele lived up to his impressive recruiting pedigree. The former four-star prospect connected on 64.2% of his throws for 3,454 yards and 18 touchdowns. While Sagapolutele did throw nine interceptions — something that could be attributed to his inexperience — he cleaned up that aspect of his game down the stretch. In Cal’s final seven games, Sagapolutele threw nine touchdowns and just two interceptions.
Keeping Sagapolutele on the roster was one of new coach Tosh Lupoi’s first priorities this offseason, as it should have been. Based on what he did as a true freshman, Sagapolutele could be poised for a huge leap in 2026. That potential may propel him past the three players in front of him by the end of the year.
5. Mason Heintschel, Pitt
As a freshman, Heintschel wrestled the starting job away from Eli Holstein last season, and he flashed some real upside.
He had his share of ups and downs, as is to be expected from any young player, but he led the Panthers to big wins over NC State and Georgia Tech.
Pitt went 6-3 with Heintschel as its starter, and he finished the season with 2,354 passing yards, 16 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Expectations will be raised coming into 2026.
6. Ethan Grunkemeyer, Virginia Tech
Grunkemeyer followed coach James Franklin from Penn State, and he gives the Hokies reason to believe they could be in for a quick turnaround.
After Drew Allar suffered a season-ending injury last fall, Grunkemeyer took over the starting job and performed admirably as a redshirt freshman.
A four-star recruit in the 2024 signing class, he helped the Nittany Lions rattle off four straight wins to end their 2025 campaign. He threw for six touchdowns and zero interceptions over that span.
7. Steve Angeli, Syracuse
It’s a shame Angeli tore his Achilles in Week 4 last season because he was off to a red-hot start. In those four games, Angeli completed 62.8% of his passes for 1,317 yards, 10 touchdowns and one interception.
Although he got hurt in his team’s win over Clemson, Angeli was still the catalyst behind the Orange springing an upset in Death Valley, throwing for 245 yards and a pair of scores before exiting the game.
How quickly can Angeli shake off the rust after recovering from such a devastating injury?
8. Lincoln Kienholz, Louisville
Unable to beat out Julian Sayin for the starting job at Ohio State last year, Kienholz transferred to Louisville, where he will get the chance to show what he can do as the No. 1 quarterback.
Because he sat behind Sayin and Will Howard in Columbus, Kienholz hasn’t been able to put much on tape at the college level. That said, he was a highly-touted prospect as a four-star recruit and the No. 11 quarterback in the 2023 signing class, per 247Sports.
It’ll be interesting to see what Jeff Brohm can do with Kienholz in Louisville.
9. Christopher Vizzina, Clemson
The Cade Klubnik era is over — for better or worse — and it looks like Vizzina will step in as his replacement in 2026.
According to 247Sports, Vizzina was a four-star prospect and the No. 10 quarterback in the 2023 recruiting cycle, but he’s only attempted 105 passes at the college level. The bulk of those attempts came last season, when Vizzina got his first start against SMU, and he performed well.
Vizzina threw for 317 yards and three touchdowns in a 35-24 loss.
10. Beau Pribula, Virginia
Chandler Morris recently filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in hopes of getting a seventh year of eligibility, but we’ll assume Pribula gets the Week 1 start for these rankings.
If that is the case, Pribula brings some dual-threat ability to the Cavaliers’ backfield, but consistency was a problem last season at Missouri. He threw 11 touchdowns to nine interceptions, and he tossed at least one pick in six of his nine starts against FBS competition.
11. Gio Lopez, Wake Forest
After playing one season under Bill Belichick at North Carolina, Lopez is hoping for a fresh start with another ACC team.
After displaying some upside at South Alabama in 2024, Lopez was never able to hit his stride with the Tar Heels. Still, there is reason to believe a bounce back could be in store for Lopez this year as he reunites with former South Alabama offensive coordinator Rob Ezell in Winston-Salem.
12. Ashton Daniels, Florida State
As far as transfer quarterbacks go, Daniels was a somewhat uninspiring pickup for Mike Norvell and the Seminoles. Except for a spectacular performance in a losing effort against Vanderbilt, Daniels failed to really separate himself in an underwhelming quarterback room at Auburn.
That said, Daniels brings experience and a rushing threat to the quarterback position in Tallahassee. The more exciting prospect for Florida State fans is probably JUCO transfer Malachi Mitchell, who will have some catching up to do as a summer enrollee.
13. Walker Eget, Duke
When Darian Mensah bolted for Miami after leading Duke to an ACC Championship, the Blue Devils were in a pinch at the quarterback position.
Given the circumstances, they probably could’ve done a lot worse than Eget, a San Jose State transfer.
Last season, the 6-foot-3 Eget threw for 3,051 yards, 17 touchdowns and nine interceptions. His numbers dipped late in the last few weeks, but it’s worth noting he played on a torn ACL in those games. We’ll see what he can do when healthy against ACC competition.
14. Billy Edwards Jr., North Carolina
Edwards entered last season as the starter at Wisconsin, but he suffered a knee injury in Week 1 and played just one offensive series the rest of the year. He’ll be tasked with leading the North Carolina offense, and he’s had some success as a Power Four starter before.
In 2024, Edwards threw for 2,881 yards, 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions at Maryland. Offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino should help maximize Edwards’ potential.
15. Alberto Mendoza, Georgia Tech
There should be an open competition for the Georgia Tech job, but the Indiana transfer and brother of Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza may start with the inside track.
A three-star recruit in the 2024 signing class, Mendoza played relatively well in mop-up duty for the Hoosiers last year, totaling 286 passing yards, five touchdowns and one interception.
He also rushed for 190 yards. Expect Grady Adamson and Graham Knowles to push Mendoza in spring practice and fall camp.
16. Mason McKenzie, Boston College
Following in the footsteps of Ole Miss breakout star Trinidad Chambliss, McKenzie won the 2025 GLIAC Player of the Year.
While leading Saginaw Valley to a 6-5 record and a 5-2 mark in conference play, McKenzie tallied 2,086 passing yards, 942 rushing yards and 27 total touchdowns.
So, does Boston College have the next Chambliss under center? It’s probably reasonable to assume the Rebels’ superstar was the exception and not the rule when it comes to GLIAC transfers.
17. Davis Warren, Stanford
Warren missed the entire 2025 season at Michigan due to a torn ACL. Now, he will get another opportunity to start at Stanford. In the 2024 campaign, Warren got the majority of reps under center for the Wolverines, but he split time with Alex Orji and Jack Tuttle at various points throughout the season. In nine appearances, he threw for just 1,199 yards while tossing more interceptions (9) than touchdowns (7).
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