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Ranking the Pac-12 Quarterbacks for 2022

Spring practice is underway at every conference school except Cal, and there are QB competitions at some
Jake Curtis|
Ranking the Pac-12 Quarterbacks for 2022
Ranking the Pac-12 Quarterbacks for 2022

Which Pac-12 teams will have the best quarterbacks in 2022? 

Ranking the conference quarterbacks this season is particularly difficult because six and possibly seven Pac-12 teams are likely to have a recent transfer as their starting quarterbacks, and six of the schools will have a quarterback competition to determine their starting signal-callers.

With spring football practice underway at every Pac-12 school except Cal, which begins spring ball April 6, it’s not too early to rank the quarterbacks. We focus primarily on the projected starting quarterback, although the backups are considered in the evaluation. Whether there is a competition to determine the starting quarterbacks is also noted.

Here's how we see it:

1. USC

Projected starter: Caleb Williams

Spring competition to determine starter: No

Comment: Many betting sites, including VegasInsider, put Williams, a transfer from Oklahoma, as the No. 3 favorite to win the Heisman Trophy, behind only 2021 Heisman winner Bryce Young of Alabama and Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud. Williams was outstanding as a freshman with the Sooners, and he has the same head coach (Lincoln Riley) he had last season.

2. UCLA

Projected starter: Dorian Thompson-Robinson

Spring competition to determine starter: No.

Comment: DTR led the conference in passer rating last season and has improved steadily in his four seasons under Chip Kelly. He should take another step up in his fifth season after being the second-team all-Pac-12 selection in 2021.

3. Utah

Projected Starter: Cameron Rising

Spring competition to determine starting quarterback: No

Comment: How can the 2021 Pac-12 offensive player of the year only be No. 3? He’s a proven winner who excels in critical moments, but a productive ground game and a strong defense aided his success.

4. Washington State

Projected starter: Cameron Ward

Spring competition to determine starter: No.

Comment: It’s difficult to project how Ward will fare in 2022. Although he played at FCS school Incarnate Word last year after being recruited by almost nobody out of high school, Ward threw 47 touchdown passes in 2021 and was considered the third-best quarterback transfer this year. Washington State’s offensive coordinator, Eric Morris, was Ward’s head coach at Incarnate Word.

5. Arizona

Projected starter: Jayden de Laura

Spring competition to determine starter: Yes

Comment: Jordan McCloud, who took over the starting job last year until getting injured, and Will Plummer, who started the final seven games a year ago, are nominally in the competition with Jayden de Laura. But de Laura is taking the first-team reps during spring ball after throwing a conference-leading 23 touchdown passes last season. Whether he can flourish with Arizona’s talent shortcomings is the question.

6. Stanford

Projected starter: Tanner McKee

Spring competition to determine starter: No

Comment: McKee might be the best quarterback pro prospect in the conference, but the Cardinal’s shortcomings in the running game and on defense may make it difficult for him to excel in 2022.

7. Oregon

Projected starter: Bo Nix

Spring competition: Yes

Comment: Highly touted redshirt freshman Ty Thompson, who played in three games last season, is Nix’s chief competition for the starting job, but Nix was a three-year starter at Auburn, and new coach Dan Lanning, who faced Nix three times as Georgia’s defensive coordinator, did not bring Nix in to be a backup. Nix had an ankle injury that required surgery last season, but he is participating in spring drills.

8. Oregon State

Projected starter: Chance Nolan

Spring competition to determine starting quarterback: Yes

Comments: It seems odd to place Nolan this low after he guided the Beavers to their first winning conference record in nine years, but he must compete with Tristan Gebbia for the starting assignment in 2022. Gebbia beat out Nolan for the starting job in 2020 before a hamstring injury sidelined him for about a year and a half. Ben Gulbranson apparently is in the mix too, but he’s a long shot.

9. Washington

Projected starter: Michael Penix Jr.

Spring competition to determine starting quarterback: Yes

Comment: Penix has the inside track because he was Indiana’s starter for three seasons and because new Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer was his offensive coordinator with the Hoosiers in 2019. But Dylan Morris, the Huskies’ starter the past two seasons, and ballyhooed recruit Sam Huard are in the mix for the starting job. Penix’s history injuries doesn’t help his cause.

10. Cal

Projected starter: Jack Plummer

Spring competition to determine starting quarterback: Yes

Comment: Plummer was replaced as Purdue’s starting quarterback midway through last season before transferring, so he has some things to prove if he is to be Chase Garbers’ successor. But his chief competition, redshirt freshman Kai Millner and third-year sophomore Zach Johnson, have never played in a college game.

11. Colorado

Projected starter: Brendon Lewis

Spring competition to determine starting quarterback: Yes

Comment: Lewis was the starter in 2021 but was less than stellar, ranking 11th in the conference in passer rating. JT Shrout, who was running neck-and-neck with Lewis for the starting job in training camp last year before suffering a season-ending injury, is Lewis’ biggest competition to retain the starting job.

12. Arizona State

Projected starter: Paul Tyson

Spring competition to determine starting quarterback: Yes

Comment: When Jayden Daniels transferred to LSU, Arizona State went from having one of the best quarterbacks in the Pac-12 to having perhaps the worst. Paul Tyson, who was Bryce Young’s backup at Alabama last season, and Trenton Bourguet, last year’s backup to Daniels, are the chief competitors for the job, but neither has proven much. Tyson is a great grandson of Bear Bryant, which gives him some cachet.

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Cover photo of Caleb Williams by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman, USA TODAY Network

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Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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