Ranking the best ACC quarterbacks Virginia will face in 2026

Virginia avoids many of the ACC’s top teams, but faces some of its better quarterbacks

Jacob Holmes brings down California quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele on the road Nov. 1, 2025. | Courtesy Virginia Athletics

For the second year in a row, Virginia avoids an arduous ACC slate — for example, the Cavaliers face North Carolina, Duke and Florida State instead of Miami, Notre Dame and Georgia Tech. However, a team’s projected performance does not always correlate to its quarterback talent.

The Cavaliers do face some uninspiring quarterbacks in Wake Forest’s Gio Lopez, North Carolina’s Billy Edwards and Florida State’s Ashton Daniels. Virginia even avoids star Darian Mensah and Miami. However, the Cavaliers do have to battle some of the ACC’s better quarterbacks.

Here is how those opposing signal-callers stack up.

T-6: Walker Eget, Duke 

2025: 3,051 passing yards with 17 touchdowns, nine interceptions and a 62.0 quarterback rating

Duke was supposed to have Mensah as its starting quarterback. But when the Hurricanes swooped in to swipe the ACC champion QB, the Blue Devils had to quickly pivot. They managed to snag Eget from San Jose State in late January. 

Eget slung the football all over Mountain West defenses — but he will have to adjust to ACC play, although he has the valuable experience of 18 starts under his belt. He should have a higher floor than the Hokies’ quarterback, although his ceiling could be lower.

T-6: Ethan Grunkemeyer, Virginia Tech

2025: 1,339 passing yards with eight touchdowns, four interceptions and a 75.0 QBR

Grunkemeyer was the backup at Penn State before then-starter Drew Allar suffered a season-ending fractured left ankle on Oct. 11 against Northwestern. Grunkemeyer ended up starting the final seven games for the Nittany Lions, going 3-4, including a win over Clemson in the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl.

Now at Virginia Tech, Grunkemeyer is reunited with former Penn State Coach James Franklin. Grunkemeyer’s ceiling could be high — but he will have to prove himself as a first-time starter. Eget would be a better player early on, but by the time Virginia plays the Hokies, Grunkemeyer could likely be on a roll.

4: Steve Angeli, Syracuse

2025: 1,317 passing yards with 10 touchdowns, two interceptions and a 63.0 QBR

Early in the 2025 season, Angeli looked like he was on the fast track to becoming one of the ACC’s top quarterbacks. Unfortunately for the Orange, Angeli tore his ACL Sept. 20 against Clemson. After he went down, Syracuse’s season was completely derailed. 

Angeli is a smooth passer with the ability to consistently hit his targets at all three levels. At the moment, he is firmly ahead of Grunkemeyer, Eget, and most other quarterbacks the Cavaliers will face this regular season. 

3: Kevin Jennings, SMU

2025: 3,641 passing yards with 26 touchdowns, 13 interceptions and a 70.0 QBR

SMU’s four losses last year were by a combined 18 points. If a few plays went the Mustangs’ way, Jennings could ascend this list. Truthfully, Jennings benefits from an elite SMU defense — the Mustangs beat Arizona in the Trust & Will Holiday Bowl even though Jennings threw three interceptions and zero touchdowns in the game.

Jennings usually does not take over a game — he has surpassed 300 passing yards just six times thus far in his career. Rather, he is a uniquely dynamic game manager who keeps his team in games.

2: Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, California

2025: 3,454 passing yards with 18 touchdowns, nine interceptions and a 58.5 QBR

At the moment, it would be easy to consider Jennings and Sagapolutele as equals. However, Sagapolutele was only a freshman last season. He was near-perfect in ranked upset wins against Louisville and SMU.

Sagapolutele tossed for at least 320 yards in three of his final four games down the stretch. He has the ceiling of a top-10 quarterback in all of college football — if Sagapolutele picks up momentum before facing Virginia on Nov. 14, he could potentially author a major upset win.

1: CJ Bailey, NC State

2025: 3,105 passing yards with 25 touchdowns, nine interceptions and a 79.4 QBR

NC State was cursed with the rotational “nightmare ACC schedule” in 2025. Even so, Bailey performed well — he only tossed an interception in four games, three of which were against Notre Dame, Miami and Duke. Bailey was clean against Virginia, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Pitt, North Carolina and others.

Factor in Bailey’s 215 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns, and it becomes difficult to form an argument against Bailey being one of the ACC’s very best quarterbacks. He has been continually underrated by the national media, and his Wolfpack will seriously challenge Virginia in the season opener.