Duke’s 2026 schedule won’t exactly be a quarterback gauntlet, but the Blue Devils are still going to see a few names that can change a game in a hurry.
That matters for a program trying to defend its 2025 ACC Championship - Duke’s first conference title since 1980 - after Manny Diaz and his staff spent the offseason navigating major roster turnover. The slate looks manageable overall, yet the quarterback list still has some real teeth at the top.
At the bottom of the board is William & Mary’s Derrick Gurley, the only Tribe quarterback who saw game action last season. He threw one pass in a 55-14 win over Hampton, and with starter Tyler Hughes having transferred to Wyoming this offseason, the job is open. Gurley is the projection here despite extremely limited experience over two seasons.
A little higher up sits Stanford’s Elijah Brown Warren, a former walk-on at Michigan who spent five years in the program. He missed all of 2025 with a torn ACL, and in 2024 he appeared in nine games for the Wolverines, finishing with 1,199 passing yards, seven touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Boston College’s Dylan McKenzie brings a different kind of jump. He’s heading into his redshirt junior season after starting at Saginaw Valley State, where he piled up more than 4,300 passing yards and 31 touchdowns, plus over 1,600 rushing yards and 18 rushing scores. He was GLIAC Freshman of the Year in 2024 and GLIAC Player of the Year in 2025, and now he’s making the leap to the Power Conference level.
Georgia Tech’s Fernando Mendoza is in a very different spotlight. The brother of Fernando Mendoza might be a national champ, but he doesn't have quite the same expectations as his brother, who was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft by the Las Vegas Raiders. Mendoza spent two years at Indiana before transferring, and in nine games for the Hoosiers in 2025 he threw for 286 yards, five touchdowns and one interception on 24 attempts.
Wake Forest’s Robby Lopez had a solid 2024 at South Alabama, then moved to North Carolina hoping to lock down the job in Bill Belichick’s first year. It didn’t go according to plan.
In 11 games, Lopez posted 1,747 passing yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions for a UNC team that finished 4-8. Now he’ll try to get his career back on track as the Demon Deacons’ starter.
North Carolina’s own quarterback situation is still completely unsettled. The Tar Heels are sorting through Wisconsin transfer Billy Edwards Jr., Texas A&M transfer Miles O'Neill and incoming 4-star freshman Travis Burgess.
Edwards put up 2,881 passing yards, 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions at Maryland in 2024, but he missed almost all of the 2025 season at Wisconsin because of injury. O'Neill played in seven games for Texas A&M in 2025 and completed 7-of-14 passes for 120 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.
Burgess is the intriguing newcomer, though he looks like the longest shot to win the job.
Tulane is another spot where the depth chart is unsettled, but the projection here goes to Brendan Semonza because of what he’s already done as a starter. He transferred from Ball State to Tulane in the spring of 2025, appeared in four games as a true freshman and threw for 480 yards, three touchdowns and five interceptions. Then, as a full-time starter in 2025, he completed 275-of-426 passes for 2,904 yards, 25 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while earning MAC Freshman of the Year.
Clemson’s Christopher Vizzina is next. A former 4-star recruit, per 247Sports, he’s set to replace longtime Tigers starter Cade Klubnik.
In 2025, Vizzina attempted a pass in five games and finished with 406 yards, four touchdowns and one interception while completing 45-of-71 throws. He was ranked the No. 10 quarterback in the 2023 recruiting class by 247Sports.
Missouri’s Beau Pribula gets a spot near the top after Chandler Morris was denied a waiver for the 2026 season. Pribula spent three years at Penn State before becoming a full-time starter at Mizzou in 2025. The York, PA native completed 182-of-270 passes for 1,941 yards, 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions, and Missouri went 8-5 overall and 4-4 in the SEC, including a 13-7 loss to Virginia in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl.
NC State’s CJ Bailey is one of the more established names Duke will face. Entering his true junior season, he’s spent his entire college career in Raleigh and has already started for two years.
The 6'6", 210-pound quarterback has totaled 5,518 passing yards, 42 touchdowns and 19 interceptions, while also adding 494 rushing yards and 11 rushing scores. Last season against Duke, Bailey threw for 364 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions in a 45-33 loss.
Illinois quarterback Hank Houser rounds out the upper tier. He transferred to Illinois after two seasons at Michigan State and two at East Carolina, where he started seven games in 2024 and all 12 in 2025. Across his two seasons with the Pirates, Houser threw for 5,306 yards, 37 touchdowns and 17 interceptions, and he has one year of eligibility left with the Fighting Illini.
At the top is Miami’s Darian Mensah, and that one stings for Duke. After transferring from Tulane to Duke, Mensah was the ACC’s best quarterback in 2025. He led the conference with 3,973 passing yards and 34 passing touchdowns while throwing only six interceptions, and he powered the Blue Devils to their first ACC title in more than 30 years before leaving for Miami this offseason.
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