Big Ten tiers: Where does Gophers' Drake Lindsey rank among Big Ten QBs?

After a relatively down year at the position, there will be at least 12 new starting quarterbacks in the Big Ten in 2025. Minnesota's Drake Lindsey is one of five projected starters to have never started a game at the collegiate level, so let's find out where they all stack up.

Tier 1: Great starters

1. Drew Allar, Penn State

Allar is emphatically the top quarterback in the Big Ten heading into 2025. I wanted to call this the elite tier, but I am not ready to give him that much credit yet. With two straight years of starting experience, which included more than 2,500 passing yards, 20 touchdowns and fewer than 10 interceptions in each season, he is clearly in his own tier.

Tier 2: Potentially elite first year starters

2. Dante Moore, Oregon
3. Julian Sayin, Ohio State
4. Demond Williams Jr., Washington
5. Bryce Underwood, Michigan

This tier of quarterbacks are players I could see ending the season as elite options. Moore, Sayin and Underwood are all former five-star recruits with elite supporting casts around them. If everything goes well, they could have great seasons as first-year starters.

Williams is the best quarterback in the conference that nobody has heard of. He had more than 400 yards of total offense and five touchdowns in Washington's Sun Bowl win over Louisville last season, and I think he could be in for a breakout season in year two under Jedd Fisch in Seattle.

Tier 3: More followers than production

6. Nico Iamaleava, UCLA
7. Dylan Raiola, Nebraska

Iamaleava and Raiola have the same level of talent as the tier above them, but they come with a little more baggage. Iamaleava's transfer from Tennessee was arguably the story of the offseason, and Raiola seems to build his life around emulating Patrick Mahomes. I am still a fan of both players' talent, but they might have more questions than answers heading into 2025.

Tier 4: Luke Altmyer

8. Luke Altmyer, Illinois

While making this list, I struggled to find a place for Altmyer, so I gave him his own tier. He was nearly replaced as Illinois' starter in 2023, but he bounced back to have a solid 2024 campaign with more than 2,700 yards, 26 total touchdowns and only six interceptions. He's a solid starting quarterback who won't make many mistakes, but his ceiling is far lower than the players above him.

Tier 5: Wildcards

9. Jayden Maiava, USC
10. Mark Gronowski, Iowa
11. Fernando Mendoza, Indiana

This tier all has a higher ceiling than Altmyer, but also a lower floor. Maiava looked good while replacing Miller Moss last season, but so does any QB playing for Lincoln Riley. His seven touchdowns and five interceptions in his last two games raise some questions about consistency.

I really want to bye into Gronowski after transferring in from South Dakota State, but it's hard to trust any Iowa quarterback to thrive in their archaic offensive system. Mendoza looked solid last season at Cal, but I am not ready to trust a player making the jump from a weak ACC to the Big Ten.

Tier 6: Meh

12. Aidan Chiles, Michigan State
13. Athan Kaliakmanis, Rutgers
14. Preston Stone, Northwestern
15. Billy Edwards Jr., Wisconsin

This tier of quarterbacks all have a year or more of starting experience under their belt, but they weren't great years. Chiles was up-and-down in his first year at Michigan State, along with Kaliakmanis at Rutgers.

Stone might be the most underrated transfer portal QB in the conference after he lost his starting job to Kevin Jennings at SMU last season. Edwards showed flashes last season at Maryland, but I am not ready to buy into a Wisconsin transfer QB under Luke Fickell until I see some success.

Tier 7: Unknown first year starters

16. Drake Lindsey, Minnesota
17. Malik Washington, Maryland
18. Malachi Singleton, Purdue

I wanted to put Lindsey higher on this list, but it's hard to justify trusting a redshirt freshman with zero starting experience over multi-year starters. Ultimately, Lindsey, Washington and Singleton all have intriguing long-term potential in their own right, but none of them have started a game at the college level.