College football's biggest quarterback situations to watch ahead of 2023

Whatever style a team plays and whatever changes come to offensive game-planning, the quarterback position will always be the most important in college football.

As a school's quarterback goes, oftentimes its offense goes, and as its offense goes, so goes its New Year's bowl game or College Football Playoff hopes.

This year's NFL Draft class will take some of the nation's premier players at the position out of the college ranks, leaving important decisions to be made.

C.J. Stroud is leaving Ohio State, Bryce Young said goodbye to Alabama, Stetson Bennett is out at Georgia, and so is Sean Clifford at Penn State, Will Levis at Kentucky, and Anthony Richardson at Florida. They're all turning pro, among many others.

Who does that leave to take the helm at the most important teams this season?

College Football's QB Situations to Watch in 2023

Ohio State

Who's in the mix: Kyle McCord, Devin Brown

Early pick: McCord

Where things are: The loss of C.J. Stroud could have reverberations around the Buckeyes' otherwise brilliant offense in what will be a crucial season for the program, with a more critical gaze around head coach Ryan Day after two straight losses to Michigan.

Kyle McCord is the consensus favorite to succeed Stroud as the starter under center as he has more seniority by being around the program for a few seasons. Devin Brown, the third-string quarterback a year ago, is also very much in the race and Day said he's going into spring football with a completely open mind.

Florida

Who's in the mix: Graham Mertz, Jack Miller

Early pick: Mertz

Where things are: Despite many draft analysts saying he should have waited another year, Anthony Richardson elected to leave Florida and head to the NFL Draft. With him goes a talent that, while he struggled building consistent tape throwing the ball, boasts incredible athletic upside and is a well-established rusher.

Jaden Rashada was supposed to be in the mix here, but the 2023 recruit backed out of his UF pledge amid conflicts surrounding an NIL deal worth a reported $13 million. That leaves two options for the Gators to lean on: Graham Mertz, a transfer from Wisconsin, and Jack Miller, the one-time Ohio State hopeful.

Miller is low on experience, but Mertz has four years behind him with the Badgers, throwing for 5,405 yards with 38 touchdowns and 26 interceptions, numbers that don't fly off the page, but he should have more athletic options to work with at Florida than he had in the Big Ten.

Stanford

Who's in the mix: Ari Patu, Myles Jackson

Early pick: Patu

Where things are: It's a new day for the Stanford football program after head coach David Shaw stepped down and the school brought in Troy Taylor as his successor. Taylor's biggest job building the Cardinal's offense is to locate a successor at quarterback, too, after Tanner McKee elected to go into the 2023 NFL Draft.

Ashton Daniels enters his sophomore season with limited experience, rushing for three touchdowns in 10 games. Ari Patu threw nine passes a year ago and two of them went for touchdowns. One wild card in the picture is true freshman Myles Jackson, a three-star prospect from Long Beach who re-classified to 2023 in order to pledge to Stanford, his dream school.

Tennessee

Who's in the mix: Joe Milton, Nico Iamaleava

Early pick: Milton

Where things are: Big Orange posted the unchallenged No. 1 offense in college football a year ago thanks in large part to the work of Hendon Hooker, but with the signal caller heading to the draft, that leaves Josh Heupel with a potentially program-defining decision.

Joe Milton comes into the spring as the favorite to succeed Hooker under center and with some real promise: he passed for 10 touchdowns with no interceptions in limited action a year ago, and hit 68% of his throws with three scores in the Orange Bowl win over Clemson.

Milton has a big arm, but his inability to play a more polished game got him benched back in 2021, but his bowl game tape is a positive step forward, but is it enough to definitively beat out 2023 five-star pledge Nico Iamaleava?

Texas

Who's in the mix: Quinn Ewers, Arch Manning

Early pick: Ewers

Where things are: Quinn Ewers transferred to the Longhorns from Ohio State last offseason and quickly made an impression, especially in the Alabama game where he performed so well before an untimely injury ended his afternoon.

In 10 games overall, Ewers threw for 2,177 yards and 15 touchdowns with six interceptions. He struggled down the stretch in parts but threw 116 straight passes without a pick and looked strong in the Alamo Bowl loss to Washington.

In comes Arch Manning, a consensus 5-star prospect and the latest product of the Manning football dynasty into what head coach Steve Sarkisian calls an open competition. That sets up a major storyline heading into the 2023 season.

Ole Miss

Who's in the mix: Jaxson Dart, Spencer Sanders, Walker Howard

Early pick: Dart

Where things are: Coming into the offseason, it appeared that Jaxson Dart was the unchallenged option coming into 2023 after he transferred from USC to take the Rebels' starting quarterback job. But he struggled somewhat in the later part of the season, hitting under 20 completions and under 60 percent passing in three games, part of a 1-5 stretch for Ole Miss to close out.

His position grew much more tenuous after Oklahoma State veteran Spencer Sanders arrived in Oxford. His multi-purpose skill set fits well into Lane Kiffin's offense and he has just one year of eligibility remaining. Will Dart transfer out if Sanders wins the competition?

Add into the mix newcomer Walker Howard, a highly-coveted 4-star prospect who originally pledged to LSU. Observers don't think he'll beat out Dart or Sanders right now, but he could be the Rebels' future in 2024 and after.

Alabama

Who's in the mix: Jalen Milroe, Ty Simpson

Early pick: Milroe

Where things are: It's a year of turnover for the Crimson Tide at several important positions, including quarterback after the departure of Bryce Young, the school's fourth Heisman Trophy winner.

Currently favored to take Young's place is Jalen Milroe, who started for Alabama against Texas A&M when Young was injured and stepped in during the Arkansas game when the starter went down again.

Milroe completed a shade under 59 percent of his passes in those appearances, throwing three of his five TD passes in the A&M game, and running for 91 yards with two all-purpose scored against the Razorbacks.

But watch for Ty Simpson to make an impression during spring football. A former five-star prospect and the No. 3 quarterback in the 2022 recruiting class, Simpson is a traditional pocket passer who can run the run-pass option.

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