Big Ten QB rankings: Dante Moore leads way in 2026 after spurning NFL Draft

The Big Ten has had a good run at the quarterback position in recent years. The 2025 season saw Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza win the Heisman Trophy en route to leading the program to its first national title, and Mendoza is highly likely to be the first name called at this year’s NFL Draft. If that happens, he’d be the first Big Ten player taken No. 1 overall. He would join Michigan’s JJ McCarthy and Ohio State’s CJ Stroud as Big Ten quarterbacks to go in the top 10 in the last four drafts.

But the conference could’ve had more this year. Had Oregon’s Dante Moore chosen to enter the draft, many analysts felt he’d be the second QB off the board and may have gone directly after Mendoza. Moore had other plans, though, and decided to return to Oregon, which is huge for the Ducks and the Big Ten as a whole.

At this time last year, plenty of question marks hovered over the conference, as first-time starters and transfers were seen all over the league. The 2026 season sees a lot more experience returning. Nine of the 18 schools in the league will have the same QBs they had last season. Seven others bring in experienced transfers, two of whom come with prior Big Ten experience from playing at Michigan State. Ironically, Michigan State is one of only two programs with a new starter who isn’t a transfer. Iowa is the other.

So if I’d been asked to rank the Big Ten’s starting QBs last March, the difficulty of the task would’ve been trying to figure out so many unknown commodities. This season, the hardest part is discerning which experienced player is “better” than the other. In truth, the gap between so many of these players is insignificant, so it wasn’t easy to come up with a list I felt great about (after the top few names, anyway). Still, I persevered, and this is what I came up with.

Early Big Ten QB rankings entering 2026 season

1. Dante Moore, Oregon

I’ve already mentioned Moore’s decision to return as a key moment for the Ducks this offseason, and I think it’s the right choice for Moore, too. He’s very good already, but he has plenty left to learn, and his long-term career is better served by learning at Oregon instead of being thrown to the wolves with the New York Jets or some other dysfunctional NFL franchise. Moore will enter the season as a Heisman favorite and is a big reason why the Ducks will be a popular choice to win the Big Ten and reach the College Football Playoff again.

2. Julian Sayin, Ohio State

There’s no getting around the fact that Sayin had his worst performances against Ohio State’s toughest competition, but he was still magnificent most of last season in his first year as a starter and is likely to improve in his second. Oh, and he still has a ton of talent around him, including that Jeremiah Smith fella.

3. Jayden Maiava, USC

I was skeptical of USC’s decision to stay out of the portal last offseason and roll with Maiava, but I’m skeptical no longer. Maiava has a tendency to put the ball in danger and make throws he shouldn’t, but that comes with inexperience, and another year as a starter could see him take his game to an entirely new level.

4. Josh Hoover, Indiana

I was very high on Hoover after 2024 when he cut down on the turnovers in his second season at TCU, but those turnover problems returned last year. However, I don’t pin all the blame on Hoover. He wasn’t in the best situation last year, and now he’ll be playing for an Indiana team with a good offensive line and great receivers. Expect him to excel in his new home.

5. Demond Williams, Washington

OK, so things will probably be a bit awkward here. Williams did attempt to enter the portal after all. Still, as long as he plays well, all will be forgiven, and Williams is an exciting playmaker at the QB position. As with all college QBs, there are wrinkles to iron out, but experience is the best teacher, and Williams now has a full season as a starter under his belt.

6. Rocco Becht, Penn State

Becht is part of the great migration of Iowa State Cyclones to Happy Valley, and on the player side, he’s the most important. He’s very much a moxie over prototype QB, but Penn State’s had plenty of success with QBs like that before. Becht’s experience and leadership in the offense should help the transition to the Matt Campbell Era go smoothly.

7. Bryce Underwood, Michigan

Underwood is the type of talent who can easily leap to No. 1 on this list by the end of next season. I’m starting him here, though, because while he has the potential to be the best QB in the Big Ten, his freshman season had all the bumps and bruises you’d expect. What he didn’t expect was for his coach to be fired and to have a new staff and new offense coming in his second year. So, in a sense, Underwood is a freshman again, but a freshman with a better idea of what to expect every week.

8. Katin Houser, Illinois

The former Michigan State QB hit his stride playing for East Carolina the last two seasons and was a big reason why the Pirates were in contention for an American title late into last season. He brings three years of starting experience to Champaign, where he’ll have big shoes to fill following Luke Altmyer’s departure, but he’s a good fit for what the Illini like to do on offense.

9. Malik Washington, Maryland

There weren’t a lot of reasons to be optimistic about Maryland last season, but Washington was most of them. Keeping him in College Park was the most important thing Mike Locksley had to do this offseason, and his return provides some hope heading into 2026. He’s not quite as talented as Underwood, but he has the kind of potential that could see him emerge as one of the best QBs in the league next season. Assuming his receivers don’t drop a billion passes again.

10. Colton Joseph, Wisconsin

I’m torn on Joseph. There’s a lot to like about the Old Dominion transfer’s game, but he was a bit turnover-prone with the Monarchs. His Whoopsy Daisy Rate (fumbles and interceptions per dropback) of 3.15% last year ranked 115th out of 118 qualified QBs. And he put up that number playing in a far easier conference than the one he’ll face this year. Of course, he’ll have far better talent surrounding him, too.

11. Anthony Colandrea, Nebraska

Perhaps TJ Lateef wins this job, but I don’t think the Huskers go into the portal to get Colandrea from UNLV if they expect that to be the case. Colandrea has plenty of experience from his time at UNLV and Virginia, and honestly, he feels like a better fit for a Dana Holgorsen offense than Dylan Raiola did. That doesn’t mean he’ll be better than Raiola, but it means he could be.

12. Nico Iamaleava, UCLA

This is a big case of “What if?” for me. I was very high on Nico before he became the starter at Tennessee and saw a lot in his first year there to dream on. Then the transfer to UCLA came and all the drama that followed. Last year at UCLA was a nightmare for everybody, and it led to Deshaun Foster getting canned during the season. Now, Nico will be in his third (or fourth) different offense in three years. Some will feel I have him too high, but I remain that high on the potential. I also fully understand why some will think I’m out of my mind for being so.

13. Drake Lindsey, Minnesota

Drake Lindsey, like Minnesota’s offense overall, is steak and potatoes. There’s nothing all that thrilling about it, but you’re going to eat it, it will taste good and you’ll be full after. Lindsey wasn’t asked to do a ton as a freshman, but he did a great job of not making mistakes. His Whoopsy Daisy Rate of 1.09% ranked 7th nationally. Turn around, hand the ball off and then take some shots off play action. The kind of football you can set your watch to.

14. Aidan Chiles, Northwestern

Am I intrigued by the combination of Chip Kelly and Aidan Chiles at Northwestern of all places? I certainly am. Do I think the idea that the Wildcats will suddenly have an electric offense is far-fetched? Also, a yes. It’s never too late to improve, but I’ve seen a lot of Chiles the last couple of years, and I haven’t seen enough signs of progress to believe he’ll improve significantly enough on the bad (turnovers, holding onto the ball too long, taking sacks) parts to be an above-average QB at the P4 level. He sure can sling it, though.

15. Ryan Browne, Purdue

I might be too low on Ryan Browne. Or I may not be. Listen, there are a lot of moments where Ryan Browne does something awesome, and he did a much better job last season of not abandoning the pocket too early, but his accuracy down the field still leaves something to be desired. He’s also incredibly loose with the football, which is not something Purdue can afford considering its deficiencies elsewhere.

16. Dylan Lonergan, Rutgers

I don’t know that Lonergan’s name is etched in stone at Rutgers, but I have him as the favorite to win the starting job. For those who didn’t pay close attention to Rutgers the last couple of seasons, he has big shoes to fill. Athan Kaliakmanis was fantastic for the Knights. Lonergan has experience and was effective enough with Boston College last season, but I think it’s far more likely that Rutgers takes a step back at the most important position next year than a step forward.

17. Alessio Milivojevic, Michigan State

We got a pretty good dose of Milivojevic last season, as he played in nine games and threw 173 passes. And guess what? He wasn’t too bad! In fact, I’d say he was pretty dang reliable in his four starts to finish the season, even if he wasn’t wowing you. Given Pat Fitzgerald’s history as a coach, I don’t expect Alessio to be dropping back to throw 40 times per game, but I won’t be shocked if he proves to be much closer to the middle of the league than the bottom by season’s end.

18. Jeremy Hecklinski, Iowa

Iowa is a QB battle between Hecklinski and Hank Brown, but reading the tea leaves (Brown started No. 2 last year but Hecklinski seemed to pass him on the depth chart), I’m leaning toward Hecklinski winning the job out of camp. Either way, I haven’t seen a whole lot of either, and if history is any great indicator, odds are Iowa’s not going to have the best QB in the Big Ten. Everybody was thrilled with Mark Gronowski last year, and he didn’t throw his first TD in conference play until Iowa’s fifth Big Ten game.