Illinois Football 2025 Scouting Report: Quarterback Luke Altmyer

Altmyer made the leap from starter to star in 2024, but the next step has the potential to be his biggest yet

Oregon’s Bryce Boettcher, left, gets a hand on Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer during the third quarter at Autzen Stadium. | Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Illinois on SI is delivering scouting reports for each of the key players on the Illini football team's 2025 roster. Below, we present our breakdown of Illini senior quarterback Luke Altmyer. We will add more as other on-field contributors emerge during the season. Find our scouting reports of other Illinois players by searching in your favorite browser or clicking in our projected depth chart.

Luke Altmyer | Quarterback | Senior | No. 9

Hometown: Starkville, Mississippi

High school: Starkville

Height: 6-foot-2

Weight: 215 pounds

Preseason honors: Phil Steele preseason All-Big Ten second team, Athlon preseason All-Big Ten third team, 2025 Wooden Citizen Cup nominee, Maxwell Award preseason watch list

Scouting report

Altmyer is a quarterback with good tools but is a player who is even more than the sum of his parts. His arm strength and accuracy aren't elite, but they are better than most. He lacks prototype size but is big enough. He isn't an explosive athlete, but he is crafty on his feet, buying time and picking up yards with his scrambling. So much of Altmyer's game is built on nuance – unseen preparation, decision-making, timing, level-headedness and clutch confidence – that his physical gifts are sometimes overlooked.

#illini Luke Altmyer on being team captain

“It’s a culmination of all the setbacks”

- Transfer from Ole Miss
- quiet kid, and inconsistent in 2023
- Paddock starts last two games of 2023

Now, he’s a top 3 Big Ten QB. NFL draft prospect. And illinois is No. 12 in AP Poll… pic.twitter.com/2ZvsTUlBKG

— Carson Gourdie (@GourdieReport) August 19, 2025

It's true that Altmyer isn't 6-foot-5, doesn't run like a gazelle and doesn't throw the 15-yard out on a rope. Many of college football's top quarterbacks have excelled without any of those attributes. Although he lacks the skills to create something out of nothing, as some of his peers can, Altmyer's intelligence, consistency and ability to avoid negative plays often makes him the better performer over the course of a game.

Experience

Altmyer spent his freshman and (eventual redshirt) sophomore seasons at Ole Miss backing up quarterbacks who are both currently cashing paychecks as professionals – Matt Corral (UFL) and Jaxson Dart (NFL). Whether he saw a better opportunity or just needed a change of scenery, he transferred to Illinois in 2023, earned the starting job and was solid enough, though the Illini went just 5-7.

As a junior last season, Altmyer took a giant leap forward, improving his efficiency and leading the nation with three game-winning touchdown drives in the final minute or overtime as Illinois doubled its win total. He is one of the most experienced starting quarterbacks in the Big Ten, and his command of the Illini offense is a legitimate game-changer based on the style of play Bret Bielema and his staff favor.

Year	Team	Games	Pass Pct.	Pass yards	Yards per attempt	Pass TDs	INTs	QB rating	Rushing yards	Rushing TDs
2024	Illinois	13	60.8	2,717	8.3	22	6	144.0	99	4
2023	Illinois	9	64.8	1,883	6.3	13	10	131.9	94	3
2022	Ole Miss	4	47.1	125	7.1	2	1	135.9	3	1
2021	Ole Miss	5	54.1	192	3.3	1	2	95.8	0	0

Media highlights

What they're saying

"One of the things that Luke has done is, because of the way he can move and thrown, he challenges the defense in ways that they can't load the box at times. ... Overall, the plan that [offensive coordinator] Barry Lunney has put together, just, offensively, the mojo those guys have got as an offensive staff is really awesome, and Luke just continues to be very impressive."

2025 outlook

Altmyer isn't a legitimate Heisman candidate or a future NFL first-round pick. He's just a damn good college quarterback capable of making a decent team good. Can he make a good team great? That's the question.

Here’s our @NBCSports feature on Illinois QB Luke Altmyer: pic.twitter.com/xhovHE2WT5

— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) August 29, 2025

After pushing all the right buttons and helping lift Illinois onto the national stage last season, Altmyer will have to take that (arguably more difficult) incremental step in 2025 without his favorite target in receiver Pat Bryant (now with the Denver Broncos). There may not be a Bryant in Illinois' current receiver mix, but there is good talent and excellent depth. Give Altmyer – the MacGyver of college quarterbacks – a paper clip, a wad of chewing gum and five seconds to defuse, er, throw a bomb, and he'll find a way to get it done. He'll be one of the best quarterbacks in the conference this season, and Illinois as a team will go as far as he can lead them.

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