Buy or Sell: Is Georgia Tech's Quarterback Room Good Enough to Win The ACC?

Georgia Tech is going to have one of the most inexperienced quarterback rooms in the ACC

Georgia Tech is going to be turning to Alberto Mendoza this season | Georgia Tech Footbal

There are going to be 12 ACC teams with different quarterbacks than they had in the 2025 season.

SMU, Pittsburgh, NC State, California, and Syracuse are the only teams in the conference who are going to start the same quarterbacks as they did in the opening weekend of last season and that is one of many reasons that the race to get to Charlotte is wide open (besides Miami being a massive favorite to win the ACC).

Georgia Tech is one of the teams that is going to be starting a new quarterback in 2026, and they are going to have one of the most inexperienced quarterback rooms in the country. Of the four quarterbacks that the Yellow Jackets have on scholarship, none of them has made a start, and only Alberto Mendoza has played in multiple games.

Will this position be good enough to win the ACC in 2026?

Buy or Sell?- Buy, for now

Nov 15, 2025; Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets head coach Brent Key during the second half against Boston College Eagles at Alumni Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

This is both a trust in Brent Key and Chris Weinke making the right choice in quarterback and a belief in Alberto Mendoza after having seen him go through the process in the spring.

It is fair to expect a drop-off in the dual-threat ability from Haynes King to Mendoza, as King was one of the top runners at the position in the country last season, but I think that Mendoza is going to conduct the offense well and still bring that element of the offense with him.

This is the first time since Brent Key took over as the full-time head coach in 2023 that Haynes King is not going to be the starter for the first game of the season. I think there should be some trust that Key and Weinke have chosen the right quarterback for this team, because they did identify King in the portal and develop him into the quarterback he became (along with former OC Buster Faulkner), and they should get some benefit of the doubt.

I think the rest of the uncertainty in the conference surrounding the position can theoretically play into Georgia Tech's favor as well.

When you look at the top players at the QB position in the conference heading into the 2026 season, there are not a lot of sure things. Darian Mensah should be outstanding at Miami, considering the talent he is playing with and how good he was at Duke last season. Kevin Jennings has been solid at SMU, Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele had plenty of flashes during his freshman season, as did Mason Heintschel at Pitt, and Steve Angeli was fantastic at Syracuse before sustaining a season -ending injury.

But I don't think it is out of the question at all for Mendoza to reach the same heights as those players and break into the top five of ACC quarterbacks.

Mendoza's biggest strengths are his accuracy, decision-making, and mobility. His experience is his biggest question mark going into the season, as well as some uncertainty around who exactly is going to catch passes from him.

Georgia Tech is going to have a new quarterback, paired with a new offensive coordinator, inexperience at receiver, and three new starters on the offensive line. However, I think Mendoza was impressive enough in the spring to buy into him being good enough to win the ACC, though it is far from a guarantee and other things are going to have to come togethter for him and the rest of the team if they want to be in Charlotte.