Pitt's Mason Heintschel Disrespected in Spring QB Rankings

PITTSBURGH — Pitt Panthers starting quarterback Mason Heintschel appears to be entering the 2026 season as one of the more underrated quarterbacks at the Power 4 level.

ESPN's Bill Connelly released his pre-spring rankings of all 68 Power 4 quarterbacks on March 5. Heintschel was placed at No. 46 on the list.

"In his first five career starts, Heintschel averaged 302 passing yards per game and 7.4 yards per dropback with a QBR of 70.4 (which is excellent for a freshman). Pitt averaged 40 points per game and went 5-0, too," Connelly wrote.

"Then came the freshman wall. His last four starts: 202 yards per game, 4.5 yards per dropback, 38.2 QBR, 20.3 points per game and a 1-3 record. His ceiling is high, his floor is low, and in 2026 his receiving corps will be awfully new. You could justify ranking him in the 20s or 60s here, and I guess I'm just splitting the difference."

Is Heintschel Really Being Disrespected?

Nov 29, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers quarterback Mason Heintschel (6) passes against the Miami Hurricanes during the first quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Connelly makes a valid point about Heintschel hitting a proverbial "freshman wall," but there's important context behind those numbers.

His team as a whole was completely outmatched in two of those four final games — against No. 9 Notre Dame and No. 16 Miami. In the other two games, Heintschel and the offense scored 42 points in a must-win road game against No. 16 Georgia Tech to keep its ACC Championship hopes alive, and the other was an all-around embarrassing loss to East Carolina in the Military Bowl.

In those last four games, opposing defenses recorded a combined 51 pressures, 18 sacks and 27 tackles for loss, according to Pro Football Focus and each game's box score. Yet, Heintschel completed 62.9% of his throws for 807 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions over that stretch.

Did Heintschel make some bad throws? Yes, of course. But did the team put him in a position to succeed? No, not really.

In addition to the poor blocking, Pitt's offense also committed 11 drops in those four games, 10 of which came in the losses, according to PFF.

Passing for 2,354 yards, 18 touchdowns and eight interceptions while completing 63.6% of his passes and adding 348 non-sack rushing yards with two touchdowns isn't too bad for a true freshman in just nine starts.

But the real disrespect is who Heintschel is ranked behind on Connelly's list.

Heintschel sits behind Missouri's Austin Simmons (No. 44), who passed for 744 yards, four touchdowns and five interceptions in six games at Ole Miss before getting injured and replaced by Ferris State transfer Trinidad Chambliss. Simmons did go 6-0 in those starts, but the only ranked opponents he faced where No. 13 Oklahoma and No. 11 Tulane.

Nico Iamaleava (No. 39) led UCLA to a 3-9 record after passing for 1,928 yards, 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions, plus 505 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns. He did play well in the Bruins' best win of the season against No. 7 Penn State, but never eclipsed 300 passing yards in a game once.

Arizona State's Cutter Boley passed for 2,160 yards, 15 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 11 games for Kentucky in 2025. Boley is just a redshirt sophomore and has a great 6-foot-5, 220-pound frame, but his production has been wildly inconsistent.

A case could also be made for Heintschel to be above Florida's Aaron Philo (No. 43), Georgia Tech's Alberto Mendoza (No. 41), Baylor's DJ Lagway (No. 40) and Florida State's Ashton Daniels (No. 38), to name a few more.

Heintschel will have a new-ish receiving core of Cataurus "Blue" Hicks, Western Carolina transfer Malik Knight, redshirt senior Censere Lee and sophomore Bryce Yates to work with this season. But it's also his second full offseason in Kade Bell's system, which could make 2026 the time for Heintschel to have a breakout season.

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