2023 QB Country Football Season Preview

Posted September 1, 2023

The 2023 football season promises to be an exciting one across QB Country. Here’s a quick preview highlighting QB Country trainees at the NFL, college, and high school levels. Best of luck to all of our quarterbacks!

NFL Preview: 14 NFL QBs
Daniel Jones (Giants) headlines an ever-expanding list of QB Country trainees in the NFL that now includes two rookie quarterbacks that had outstanding preseasons: fourth round draft pick Stetson Bennett (LA Rams) and undrafted free agent Holton Ahlers (Seattle Seahawks). Bennett, who led Georgia to back-to-back national titles, handled the bulk of action for the Rams during preseason games and is set to be Matthew Stafford’s back-up while former ECU star Ahlers will run Seattle’s scout team after being signed to the practice squad. Jones, who signed a four-year, $160M deal with the Giants last spring, showed his worth during a dominant preseason and has emerged as one of the top QBs in the league.

Other QB Country players to watch include Sam Howell (Commanders) who earned the nod as Washington’s QB1 after a strong close to the 2022 season, Patriots starter Mac Jones (Patriots), Texans #2 Davis Mills, Cowboys #2 Cooper Rush, Colts #2 Gardner Minshew, Vikings #2 Nick Mullens, and practice squad reserves Bailey Zappe (Patriots), Logan Woodside (Falcons), PJ Walker (Browns), Ben Dinucci (Broncos), and Jake Fromm (Commanders). Longtime trainee Cephus Johnson has earned a spot on the Buccaneers’ practice squad as an athlete/QB.

College Preview: 155 Current College QBs
A total of 115 QB Country trained quarterbacks are on FBS (84) and FCS (31) rosters this season, making this the largest D1 contingent in QBC history. Add 40 JUCO, D2, and D3 QBs and there’s a good chance that most college football contests this fall will have some kind of QB Country presence. In fact, of the 98 opening week FBS games, 51 contests feature at least one QB Country trainee on a roster.

The FBS list includes at least 23 game one starters (18% of all of college football) and a number of high-profile QBs on season award watch lists. Trainees earning spots on major preseason watch lists are:

Drake Maye, UNC (Manning Award Watch List, Davey O’Brien Award Watch List, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Watch List, Maxwell Award Watch List)
Bo Nix, Oregon (Manning Award Watch List, Davey O’Brien Award Watch List, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Watch List, Maxwell Award Watch List)
KJ Jefferson, Arkansas (Manning Award Watch List, Davey O’Brien Award Watch List, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Watch List, Maxwell Award Watch List)
Riley Leonard, Duke (Manning Award Watch List, Davey O’Brien Award Watch List, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Watch List, Maxwell Award Watch List)
Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina (Manning Award Watch List, Davey O’Brien Award Watch List, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Watch List, Maxwell Award Watch List)
Will Rogers, Mississippi State (Manning Award Watch List, Davey O’Brien Award Watch List, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Watch List, Maxwell Award Watch List)
Garrett Shrader, Syracuse (Manning Award Watch List, Davey O’Brien Award Watch List, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Watch List, Maxwell Award Watch List)
John Rhys Plumlee, UCF (Manning Award Watch List, Davey O’Brien Watch List, Maxwell Award Watch List)
Carter Bradley, South Alabama (Manning Award Watch List, Davey O’Brien Watch List, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Watch List)
Phil Jurkovec, Boston College (Maxwell Award Watch List, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Watch List)
Tyler Shough, Texas Tech (Maxwell Award Watch List)
Michael Hiers, Samford (Manning Award Watch List)
Tyler Van Dyke, Miami (Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Watch List)
Drew Pyne, Arizona State (Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Watch List)

Featured match-ups this weekend include:

9/2 12 PM ET East Carolina @ Michigan (Mason Garcia/ECU)
9/2 7:30 PM ET Toledo @ Illinois (Luke Altmyer)
9/2 7:30 PM ET UNC @ South Carolina (Drake Maye/UNC)
9/2 8:00 PM Tulane @ South Alabama (Carter Bradley/USA)
9/2 10:30 PM ET Coastal Car. @ UCLA (Grayson McCall/Coastal)
9/4 10:30 PM ET Clemson @ Duke (Riley Leonard/Duke)

Week one will feature Luke Altmyer (Illinois), Mason Garcia (East Carolina), and Billy Wiles (Southern Miss) all getting first starts for their respective programs.

Other news and notes: FCS rosters will be loaded with QB Country talent as well this season. Michael Hiers (Samford) is a Walter Payton Award watch candidate while Hajj Malik-Williams (Campbell) and Draylen Ellis (Tennessee State) are preseason all-conference honorees. Ellis and the Tigers open the season at Notre Dame Saturday…No fewer than 15 QBC trainees are expected to start across D2, D3 and JUCO levels. Brody Davis (Millsaps) is one of the top returning D3 signal-callers this season.

High School Preview (Class of 2024)
QB Country’s Class of 2024 includes a number of players who have already committed to Power 5 programs, including Judd Anderson (Miami), Jayden Bradford (Liberty), Jadyn Davis (Michigan), Josh Flowers (Mississippi State), Aidan Glover (Missouri), Jared Hollins (South Alabama), KJ Jackson (Arkansas), Whit Muschamp (Vanderbilt), Walker White (Auburn), Jakhari Williams (Syracuse). The class of 2025 is equally deep and talented with KJ Lacey (Saraland, AL), George MacIntyre (Brentwood, TN), and AJ Hill (Houston County, GA) ranked among the best in class.