Quarterback talent is stacked in the Big Ten heading into this season, and the top of the league looks loaded with passers who can shape the entire race. Fernando Mendoza, the starting quarterback for last season’s title-winning Indiana Hoosiers, was picked No. 1 in this past NFL draft, and this fall brings another group with real star power. Micah Huff’s top five starts with Oregon’s Dante Moore at the top, followed by Ohio State’s Julian Sayin, USC’s Jayden Maiava, Washington’s Demond Williams Jr., and Indiana’s Josh Hoover.
Moore takes the No. 1 spot after a season that kept him in the national conversation. He threw for 2733 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions while helping power Oregon’s offense to a College Football Playoff berth.
He was dangerous in the pocket, showed off underrated athleticism, and made the most of a strong supporting cast and run game. This year, he’s back with more continuity and a deeper group of weapons at the skill positions, which is why Huff expects a huge season and a finish that puts Moore in position to be the undisputed No. 1 overall pick just like Fernando Mendoza.
Sayin lands at No. 2 after what Huff called an incredible freshman season. He was efficient from the start, and even with Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate around him, he still maximized the opportunity.
Sayin finished with 3323 passing yards, 31 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions, and his connection with Jeremiah Smith already looks established. Huff also noted that Sayin ran the offense even better than Will Howard did the year before.
Still, there were growing pains under the brightest lights, including the College Football Playoff loss to the Miami Hurricanes and the Big Ten championship loss to the Indiana Hoosiers. The talent is obvious, but there’s still another level for him to reach.
Maiava comes in at No. 3, and Huff believes he still isn’t getting enough credit. In his first season as a starter, he helped push USC’s offense into top-unit territory, giving Lincoln Riley’s attack the kind of confidence and explosiveness it needed.
Maiava threw for 3431 yards, 23 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions, and Huff described him as a gunslinger who takes plenty of shots. The next step is about control, cutting down the turnovers, and showing his running ability more often.
If that happens, Huff sees real draft upside and thinks Maiava can be one of the first quarterbacks selected in the next draft.
At No. 4 is Demond Williams Jr., who Huff calls the most exciting player on the list. The Washington quarterback brings an elite dual-threat skill set, even if he isn’t as consistent as the names above him.
Huff pointed to a clear split for the Huskies last season, when they were unbeatable at home but looked like a different team on the road, and Williams Jr.’s play was a big part of that. He threw for 2850 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions, and he remains a Heisman watch name if he can sharpen his consistency.
For Washington to make any kind of postseason push, Huff says Williams will have to deliver a special season.
Hoover rounds out the top five as he moves into the Big Ten with experience and consistency. He threw for 3697 yards, 23 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions in 2024, then followed that with 3472 yards, 29 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions last season.
Huff calls him a gunslinger with pinpoint accuracy, but also notes that turnovers hurt TCU more often than not. The jump to the Big Ten is a different challenge, and Hoover will have to prove himself all over again.
If he does, Indiana should be able to keep rolling after last year’s title win, and Curt Cignetti could turn Hoover into another strong example of how he develops players.
In Other News...
Lincoln Riley Just Sent A Major Message About Jayden Maiava
At Big Ten media days, Lincoln Riley made it clear that Jayden Maiava has earned plenty of trust heading into the new season. The USC coach praised the quarterbacks growth since taking over last year, pointing to the kind of steady improvement that can matter just as much as raw talent when a program is trying to settle in at the position.
Maiava was USCs starter last season and helped guide an offense that functioned effectively, which gives Rileys confidence some real backing. The bigger takeaway for the Trojans is that the quarterback conversation already feels far more settled than it did a year ago, with Maiava positioned to open 2026 carrying the full support of the staff behind him. [Read more 🡒]
USC Freshmen Are Already Making Fall Camp Defense Decisions Tougher
USCs young defensive class has already turned spring work into a real fall-camp subplot, with several freshmen making enough of an impression to force the staff to think beyond simple redshirt plans. The group includes linebacker Talanoa Ili, cornerback Elbert Hill, safety Madden Riordan and defensive lineman Tomuhini Topui, all of whom have shown traits that fit what the Trojans want on that side of the ball.
Ili has drawn attention as a linebacker prospect with rare upside, Hill has looked unusually polished in coverage since arriving in January, Riordan has flashed the kind of ball skills that created turnovers in high school, and Topui brings the size and burst that can translate to early snaps up front. None of that guarantees a clean path to playing time, but it does mean USCs coaches are heading into camp with more options than they probably expected, and a few more decisions to make once the pads come on. [Read more 🡒]
USCs New Roster Just Raised Bigger Questions About This Team
USC is only into fall camp, but the first updated roster already tells a story about how much the program has changed since spring. The Trojans have been busy reshaping the board in the offseason, adding 24 players overall, mostly walk-ons, while also bringing in a handful of more notable newcomers through signings and transfers. For a team opening against San Jose State, those kinds of roster updates are more than housekeeping. They are a snapshot of where the staff thinks it has depth, where it needs help, and which bodies are expected to carry more of the load this fall.
The physical changes are just as revealing. Some players have clearly been asked to carry different roles, from offensive linemen and tight ends to defensive linemen and corners, and the new measurements suggest USC is still sorting out how this roster wants to look in August. The most interesting part is not just who arrived, but how many players seem to have changed in ways that could affect the two-deep before the opener even gets here. [Read more 🡒]