As the 2024 college football season shifts into full gear, we examine which states produce the most Power Four starting QBs.
David Cobb
The crop of Power Four starting quarterbacks in college football entering the 2024 season is a diverse group from across the map. A total of 24 home states and two countries are represented within the group. A heavy concentration of them are from Texas and California, but even some states that aren't regarded as hotbeds of college football talent have produced big-time quarterbacks.
Wisconsin's Tyler Van Dyke is originally from Connecticut, Vanderbilt's Diego Pavia is from New Mexico and Indiana's Kurtis Rourke hopped across the border from Canada to play college football.
On the other end of the spectrum, not a single Power Four starting quarterback is from Tennessee or Maryland, which are both states that feature highly touted high school prospects at the position in the Class of 2025.
RELATED:Ranking every QB in the Power Four ahead of college football's 2024 season, from No. 1 to 68
While the chunk of QBs from typical recruiting hotbeds is predictable, the fact that multiple players from states like Mississippi, Kansas and Nevada are Power Four starting quarterbacks in 2024 is evidence that talent can come from a multitude of places.
Here's a deeper dive on where college football's power conference quarterbacks are from.
(Note: home states are taken from official player bios on team websites and may notreflect where they played their final season of high school football)
Texas (17)
This year's crop of starting Power Four quarterbacks from Texas features 10 players who are either at in-state schools or who have played for in-state schools at some point in their careers. There are relative newcomers such as Oklahoma redshirt freshman Jackson Arnold (Class of 2023) and veterans such as Oklahoma State's Alan Bowman (Class of 2018).
Predictably, several are from the Dallas-Fort Worth area. But Austin is also well-represented with Cade Klubnik (Clemson) andHudson Card (Purdue) both hailing from the area. Others such as Miami's Cam Ward (West Columbia), Georgia Tech's Haynes King (Longview) and Texas Tech's Behren Morton (Eastland) hail from more rural parts of the state.
Cam Ward, Miami
Alex Orji, Michigan
Josh Hoover, TCU
Shedeur Sanders, Colorado
Alan Bowman, Oklahoma State
Taylen Green, Arkansas
Brendan Sorsby, Cincinnati
Preston Stone, SMU
Behren Morton, Texas Tech
Jalen Milroe, Alabama
Haynes King, Georgia Tech
Kyron Drones, Virginia Tech
Hudson Card, Purdue
Cade Klubnik, Clemson
Conner Weigman, Texas A&M
Jackson Arnold, Oklahoma
Quinn Ewers, Texas
California (11)
California's quarterback prospects have spread far and wide over the last several years to find starting positions in the Power Four ranks. While USC's Miller Moss and UCLA's Ethan Garbers stayed close to home, others have traveled across the country to realize their full potential. All four power leagues have at least one starter originally from the Golden State, but the Big 12 leads the way with four. In the SEC, there is just one: Tennessee's Nico Iamaleava.
Jake Retzlaff, BYU
Jalon Daniels, Kansas
Noah Fifita, Arizona
Cam Rising, Utah
Miller Moss, USC
Hank Bachmeier, Wake Forest
Ethan Garbers, UCLA
Maalik Murphy, Duke
Aidan Chiles, Michigan State
Nico Iamaleava, Tennessee
DJ Uiagalelei, Florida State
Georgia (7)
While Georgia's contingent features a couple of former highly touted prospects such as Dylan Raiola (Nebraska) and Brock Vandagriff (Kentucky), the Peach State has also produced some under-the-radar quarterback prospects who have emerged as Power Four starters. Among the most-surprising is former unranked Class of 2019 prospect Max Brosmer, who is beginning the season as Minnesota's starting quarterback after five seasons at FCS New Hampshire.
Max Brosmer, Minnesota
Ashton Daniels, Stanford
Thomas Castellanos, Boston College
Max Johnson, North Carolina
Mike Wright, Northwestern
Brock Vandagriff, Kentucky
Dylan Raiola, Nebraska
Florida (5)
The headliner from Florida's crop is Georgia starter and projected first-round NFL Draft pick Carson Beck. However, the state's other four Power Four starting quarterbacks were all just three-star prospects coming out of high school. They have spread out across the country to every league except the Big Ten.
Fernando Mendoza, Cal
Anthony Colandrea, Virginia
Garrett Greene, West Virginia
Rocco Becht, Iowa State
Carson Beck, Georgia
Mississippi (3)
Mississippi is tied with Louisiana at No. 5 in terms of states with the most Power Four starting quarterbacks. Luke Altmyer of Illinois began his career at Ole Miss before transferring to Illinois. He's now entering his second year as the Illini's starter. UCF's KJ Jefferson logged 38 starts in five years at Arkansas before joining the Golden Knights this season. Finally, Will Rogers posted prolific numbers in four seasons at Mississippi State before transferring to Washington for the 2024 season.
KJ Jefferson, UCF
Will Rogers, Washington
Luke Altymer, Illinois
Louisiana: 3
As is the case with neighboring Mississippi, all of Louisiana's starting QBs are either in the SEC or have been through the conference at some point. Blake Shapen is in his first season at Mississippi State after transferring in from Baylor, and Eli Holstein is expected to begin the season as Pitt's starter after redshirting at Alabama last season. Nussmeier has spent his entire career at LSU, waiting since before coach Brian Kelly's arrival for his chance to be the program's starting quarterback.
Blake Shapen, Mississippi State
Garrett Nussmeier, LSU
Eli Holstein, Pitt
Illinois: 2
Payton Thorne, Auburn
Athan Kaliakmanis, Illinois
Kansas: 2
Avery Johnson, Kansas State
Graham Mertz, Florida
Nevada: 2
Donovan Smith, Houston
Cade McNamara, Iowa
Alabama: 1
Riley Leonard, Notre Dame
Arizona: 1
Tyler Shough, Louisville
Canada: 1
Kurtis Rourke, Indiana
Connecticut: 1
Tyler Van Dyke, Wisconsin
Hawaii: 1
Dillon Gabriel, Oregon
Michigan: 1
Dequan Finn, Baylor
Missouri: 1
Brady Cook, Missouri
New Jersey: 1
Kyle McCord, Syracuse
New Mexico: 1
Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt
North Carolina: 1
Grayson McCall, NC State
Ohio: 1
Drew Allar, Penn State
Oregon: 1
Sam Leavitt, Arizona State
Pennsylvania: 1
Will Howard, Ohio State
South Carolina: 1
LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina
Utah: 1
Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss
Virginia: 1
Billy Edwards, Maryland
