Week 7 is here, and with more conference games on the board, the quarterback picture is starting to sharpen. The top seven is still driven by advanced numbers, and the new passing metrics from CollegeFootballData.com are doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
At the top, Darian Mensah isn’t moving. The Miami quarterback stayed idle last week, but his grip on No. 1 is still airtight thanks to an 84% completion rate, 18% CPOE and a 29% dead-end play rate. The one blemish is an ADOT of just over 6, but that’s easy to overlook when he’s throwing to a slot weapon like Malachi Toney, who can turn short throws into big gains after the catch.
CJ Carr jumps into second, and the gap from No. 2 through No. 5 is razor-thin. Carr gets the edge in this week’s grouping because of what he’s doing before the throw ever arrives.
His pocket feel stands out, and his 1.4% sack rate is elite. He’s also posting a rushing success rate north of 70%.
Notre Dame’s schedule is about to get tougher over the next month, but the expectation here is that Carr keeps humming.
Gunner Stockton slides all the way up to third, and he’s making it harder to keep calling him a game manager. Georgia’s quarterback has a 13% CPOE, an ADOT of almost 9 and sits in the top 5 nationally in EPA per dropback.
He’s also a real threat with his legs. Against Alabama last week, Stockton delivered a CPOE of nearly 22%, which ranks among the best single-game performances in that metric for any P4 quarterback this season.
Keelon Russell drops a couple of spots to fourth after a rough outing against Georgia, where he posted an -8% CPOE. The Alabama quarterback is still viewed as a huge long-term talent, but the sack problem remains real - his sack rate sits at 8.4% in 2026. He’ll face another difficult test this weekend when Alabama travels to Tennessee in Knoxville.
Julian Sayin comes in at fifth after a line that looked good on paper against Maryland: 13-of-21 passing for 242 yards, 4 touchdowns and 1 interception. The reason he slips is mostly that he’s been operating with Jeremiah Smith as a teammate, and that matters here.
Sayin’s overall CPOE is around 13%, but it drops below 9% when he targets anyone other than Smith. That’s still strong, but not quite in the elite tier.
He also takes too many sacks, with a 6.4% rate that trails only Russell among this group.
Trinidad Chambliss lands sixth. The Ole Miss quarterback keeps falling a little because the profile just doesn’t stack up quite as well as the quarterbacks around him.
His CPOE is a little under 8%, which is solid, but not special, and only 22% of his throws travel 15 or more yards downfield. He’s won more big games than pretty much any quarterback still in college, but the second half of the season needs to bring better metrics.
Josh Hoover debuts at seventh after a huge comeback win over Nebraska, where he averaged more than 10 yards per attempt. He hasn’t been quite as good as Fernando Mendoza was last year, but the production is still real.
Hoover is No. 2 nationally in EPA per dropback, behind only Mensah, and he looks to have cleaned up the turnover issues from his time at TCU. His ADOT sits at 11, higher than almost everyone else on this list.
There are also a few quarterbacks hovering just outside the top seven. Austin Simmons was sixth last week before a rough day against Texas A&M, finishing with 147 passing yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception on 28 attempts. He gets a big one this weekend against his old teammates in Oxford.
Drew Mestemaker is picking up more NFL Draft buzz, but the numbers don’t scream special yet. His CPOE is 4.5%, his ADOT is under 9, and he’s limiting sacks at 2.3%. Still, any draft talk would require a lot of projection.
Aidan Chiles keeps standing out, and Northwestern’s success is tied heavily to him. His CPOE is 10%, which is excellent, and he’s even better on deep throws, where his 25% CPOE on passes 15-plus yards downfield is elite. Only Mensah is better there.
In Other News...
DeBoer Called Out What Fueled Alabamas Offensive Meltdown At Tennessee
Tennessees defense spent Saturday night making Alabama look unsteady in all the ways that matter, forcing four turnovers and holding the Crimson Tide to just 201 total yards in a 26-10 loss in Knoxville. DeSean Bishop led the way for the Vols with 159 rushing yards and two touchdowns, while Alabama was stuck all night trying to find any rhythm against a defense that kept the pressure on and the Tide off schedule.
Kalen DeBoer was left to sort through the offensive breakdown afterward, and his halftime message pointed straight at the emotional side of the meltdown. Alabama needed more composure and better decisions, but those fixes were easier to identify than to find once Tennessee had taken control of the game and turned every mistake into a bigger problem for the Tide. [Read more 🡒]
Nick Saban Backed Alabama But His GameDay Warning Stood Out
As ESPNs College GameDay rolled through its weekly pick segment, the usual mix of confidence and caution came out around Alabamas trip to Tennessee. Pat McAfee and Steve Young leaned into some eye-catching calls elsewhere on the board, but the conversation around the Crimson Tide centered on a familiar theme: talent is one thing, handling the road in that atmosphere is another. Nick Saban was part of the broadcast lineup, adding his perspective as the analysts weighed the strengths and challenges facing both teams.
The picks themselves mostly tilted Alabamas way, with the panel generally backing the Crimson Tide against Tennessee while Young was the outlier. Still, Sabans presence gave the segment extra weight, especially as the discussion turned from simple prediction to warning signs and execution. Even in a show built around official picks, the broader takeaway was less about who everyone chose and more about how thin the margin can be when Alabama steps into a game like this. [Read more 🡒]
Nick Saban Sees One Real Threat In Alabama's Trip To Neyland
The buildup to Alabamas Week 7 trip to Neyland Stadium is centered on more than just the rankings, because Tennessees defense has given the Crimson Tide a real reason to pause. Former Alabama coach Nick Saban singled out the Volunteers on College GameDay, pointing to a group that can limit scoring, defend the pass and pressure the quarterback, all traits that tend to make life difficult for even the most polished offenses.
For Alabama, that means every possession could matter in a matchup that already carries plenty of weight. The Tide are headed into one of the SECs louder environments with a defense on the other side that looks built to make the game uncomfortable, and how Alabama handles that pressure may go a long way toward deciding whether the afternoon in Knoxville turns into a statement or a struggle. [Read more 🡒]