For years now we've done a study each August on starting quarterbacks in college football. The QB1 is the most important person on the team, and to learn about how starting quarterbacks are acquired, developed and selected, it's important to look back at where they came from. Last year's end result showed that the starting quarterbacks in major college football were older and more traveled than ever. At the Power 4 level, there were more QB1s from the class of 2018 (three) than the class of 2024 (one).
The more I learn about starting QBs, the more I want to know. Where do they come from? What was their recruiting ranking? How much experience do they have?
This year, we're blowing up our QB1 study into a full-blown series. We're starting today with the ACC.
The typical ACC QB1 has a season's worth of starting experience, but not at his current school. He was a 4-star recruit ranked between 150 and 200 nationally, and played his high school ball in Texas, California or the Florida/Georgia corridor. This is his third or fourth year in college. There was likely a major injury in his past life, or a coaching change, or he lost a position battle at his original school that he assumed he'd win coming out of high school.
In fact, here are the numbers. The median ACC QB1 has 12.5 career starts.
3 of 17 starters signed with their current school out of high school
10 of 17 are first-time starters at their current school
13 of 17 redshirted at some point in their career
ACC QB1s by Signing Class
2025: 1
2024: 1
2023: 4
2022: 4
2021: 2
2020: 4
2019: 1
ACC QB1s by home state
5: Texas
4: California
2: Florida, Georgia
1: Alabama, Hawaii, Louisiana, New Jersey
ACC QB1s by recruiting ranking
5-star: 1
Top 100 4-star: 2
4-star, 101 or below: 8
3-star: 5
2-star: 1
Unrated: 0
Here's a player-by-player study.
ACC
Dylan Lonergan, Boston College
redshirt sophomore and a first-time starter; signed with Alabama out of Snellville, Ga.; 4-star recruit in the class of 2023
Jaron-Keawe Sagapoulete, Cal
true freshman; signed with Oregon out of Ewa Beach, Hawaii; 4-star, top 100 recruit in the class of 2025
Cade Klubnik, Clemson
senior with 28 career starts; signed with Clemson out of Austin, Texas; 5-star recruit in the class of 2022
Darian Mensah, Duke
redshirt sophomore with 13 career starts (none at Duke); signed with Tulane out of San Luis Obispo, Calif.; 2-star recruit in the class of 2023
Tommy Castellanos, Florida State
true senior with 20 career starts (none at FSU); signed with UCF out of Waycross, Ga.; 3-star recruit in the class of 2022
Haynes King, Georgia Tech
sixth-year senior with 27 career starts (24 at GT); signed with Texas A&M out of Longview, Texas; 4-star recruit in the class of 2020
Miller Moss, Louisville
fifth-year senior with 10 career starts (none at Louisville); signed with USC out of Los Angeles; 4-star, top 100 recruit in the class of 2021
Gio Lopez, North Carolina
redshirt sophomore with 12 career starts (none at UNC); signed with South Alabama out of Madison, Ala.; 3-star recruit in the class of 2023
CJ Bailey, NC State
true sophomore with nine starts; signed with NC State out of Miami; 4-star recruit in the class of 2024
Carson Beck, Miami
sixth-year senior with 27 career starts (none at Miami); signed with Georgia out of Jacksonville, Fla.; 4-star recruit in the class of 2020
Eli Holstein, Pitt
redshirt sophomore with 10 career starts; signed with Alabama out of Zachary, La.; 4-star recruit in the class of 2023
Kevin Jennings, SMU
redshirt junior with 10 career starts; signed with SMU out of Oak Cliff, Texas; 3-star recruit in the class of 2022
Ben Gulbranson, Stanford
sixth-year senior with 11 career starts (none at Stanford); signed with Oregon State out of Newbury Park, Calif.; 3-star recruit in the class of 2020
Steve Angeli, Syracuse
redshirt junior with one career start (not at Syracuse); signed with Notre Dame out of Westfield, N.J.; 4-star recruit in the class of 2022
Chandler Morris, Virginia
sixth-year senior with 22 career starts (none at Virginia); signed with Oklahoma out of Highland Park, Texas; 3-star recruit in the class of 2020
Kyron Drones, Virginia Tech
fifth-year senior with 20 career starts; signed with Baylor out of Houston; 4-star recruit in the class of 2021
Hank Bachmeier, Wake Forest
seventh-year senior with 48 career starts (11 at Wake); signed with Boise State out of Murrieta, Calif.; 4-star recruit in the class of 2019
Finally, here's Notre Dame. We did not include CJ Carr's data in the ACC numbers above, but will include them in the cumulative data.
CJ Carr, Notre Dame
redshirt freshman and a first-time starter; signed with Notre Dame out of Saline, Mich.; 4-star, top 100 recruit in the class of 2024