Our journey to catalogue the relevant biographical details of every FBS quarterback began yesterday with the ACC, and continues today with the Big 12.
Fifteen of the 16 schools have either declared starting quarterbacks or left enough breadcrumbs that it doesn't require Nostradamus to predict who will take the first snap next weekend. Only Oklahoma State remains a mystery; the Cowboys will start either redshirt freshman Zane Flores or redshirt freshman Hauss Hejny.
Even knowing that, the Big 12 is loaded with veteran quarterbacks, at least compared to the ACC. The median Big 12 QB1 has 17 career starts, a fairly significant jump from the ACC's median of 12.5. Within that number, Noah Fifita (Arizona), Sam Leavitt (Arizona State), Sawyer Robertson (Baylor), Brendan Sorsby (Cincinnati), Rocco Becht (Iowa State), Jalon Daniels (Kansas), Avery Johnson (K-State) and Josh Hoover (TCU) are all set to be multi-year starters at their current schools, and Kaidon Salter (Colorado), Conner Weigman (Houston), Cam Fancher (UCF), and Devon Dampier (Utah) bring plenty of experience from their previous institutions.
Only Weigman was an elite recruit from that bunch, but this is a veteran group who will use their accumulated reps to overcome whatever physical limitations the recruiting services saw in them as recruits.
Long-story short, this Big 12 season is going to be fun.
7 of 15 signed with their current school out of high school
7 of 16 are first-time starters at their current school
13 of 16 redshirted at some point in their career
Big 12 QB1s by Signing Class:
2025: 1
2024: 0
2023: 3
2022: 6
2021: 4
2020: 1
Big 12 QB1s by home state
6: Texas
3: California
2: Arizona
1: Florida, Kansas, Ohio, Oregon
Big 12 QBs by recruiting ranking
5-star: 1
Top 100 4-star: 0
4-star, 101 or below: 7
3-star: 7
2-star: 0
Unrated: 0
Player-by-player study:
Noah Fifita, Arizona
redshirt junior with 21 career starts; signed with Arizona out of Huntington Beach, Calif.; 3-star recruit in the class of 2022
Sam Leavitt, Arizona State
redshirt sophomore with 13 career starts, all at ASU; signed with Michigan State out of West Linn, Ore.; 4-star recruit in the class of 2023
Sawyer Robertson, Baylor
fifth-year senior with 14 career starts, all at Baylor; signed with Mississippi State out of Lubbock, Texas; 4-star recruit in the class of 2021
Bear Bachmeier, BYU
true freshman; signed with Stanford out of Murrieta, Calif.; 4-star recruit in the class of 2025
Brendan Sorsby, Cincinnati
redshirt junior with 19 career starts, 12 at Cincy; signed with Indiana out of Denton, Texas; 3-star recruit in the class of 2022
Kaidon Salter, Colorado
fifth-year senior with 33 career starts, none at CU; signed with Tennessee out of Cedar Hill, Texas; 4-star recruit in the class of 2021
Conner Weigman, Houston
redshirt junior with 13 career starts, none at UH; signed with Texas A&M out of Cypress, Texas; 5-star recruit in the class of 2022
Rocco Becht, Iowa State
redshirt junior with 27 career starts; signed with Iowa State out of Wesley Chapel, Fla.; 3-star recruit in the class of 2022
Jalon Daniels, Kansas
sixth-year senior with 24 career starts; signed with Kansas out of Lawndale, Calif.; 3-star recruit in the class of 2020
Avery Johnson, Kansas State
true junior with 15 career starts; signed with K-State out of Wichita, Kan.; 4-star recruit in the class of 2023
???, Oklahoma State
Josh Hoover, TCU
redshirt junior with 19 career starts; signed with TCU out of Heath, Texas; 3-star recruit in the class of 2022
Behren Morton, Texas Tech
fifth-year senior with 24 career starts; signed with Texas Tech out of Eastland, Texas; 4-star recruit in the class of 2021
Cam Fancher, UCF
fifth-year senior with 26 career starts (none at UCF); signed with Marshall out of Dayton, Ohio; 3-star recruit in the class of 2021
Devon Dampier, Utah
true junior with 13 starts (none at Utah); signed with New Mexico out of Phoenix; 3-star recruit in the class of 2023
Nicco Marchiol, West Virginia
redshirt junior with three starts; signed with West Virginia out of Chandler, Ariz.; 4-star recruit in the class of 2022
CUMULATIVE DATA
11 of 34 anticipated starters signed with their current school out of high school
18 of 34 are first-time starters at their current school
27 of 34 redshirted at some point in their career
FBS QB1s by home state
11: Texas
7: California
3: Florida
2: Arizona, Georgia
1: Alabama, Hawaii, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon
FBS QBs by recruiting ranking
5-star: 2
Top 100 4-star: 3
4-star, 101 or below: 15
3-star: 12
2-star: 1
Unrated: 0