3,600-Yard QB Ranked No. 1 in Big Ten Ahead of 2026 College Football Season

A college football media outlet named this quarterback the best in the Big Ten entering the 2026 season.

Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Julian Sayin (10) smiles participates in the third day of training camp at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Aug. 8, 2026 in Columbus, Ohio. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Big Ten holds a legitimate claim as the deepest quarterback conference in college football.

Oregon, Ohio State, USC and Washington all return second-year starters who threw for more than 3,000 yards in 2025. Indiana and Penn State bring in transfers who started multiple seasons at Big 12 schools, both of which rank third all-time in passing yards at their previous stops.

USA Today unveiled its preseason rankings of the Big Ten's quarterbacks on Monday, ranking second-year Ohio State starter Julian Sayin as the league's top signal-caller. The 6-foot-1, 208-pounder from Carlsbad, California, threw for 3,610 yards, 24 touchdowns and six interceptions in 2025.

What makes Sayin the best quarterback in the Big Ten?

The surgical precision Sayin possesses is rare among quarterbacks at all levels of football. In 2025, he completed 77% of his pass attempts, 4.6% better than the next most efficient starters.

77.4% is the most efficient completion rate in college football history, a mark set by Mac Jones at Alabama in 2020 and met by Bo Nix at Oregon in 2023. Sayin was more efficient last season than Joe Burrow was at LSU in 2019, who posted a 76.3% rate in the Tigers' national championship run.

This efficiency, coupled with the Buckeyes' dominant 12-0 mark, catapulted Sayin into Heisman Trophy discussions at the conclusion of the 2025 regular season. Sayin must fend off several prominent contenders if he wants the award in 2026, but he is the only Heisman Trophy finalist from last season returning to college football.

Which quarterbacks occupy the three slots behind Sayin?

Dec 13, 2025; Inglewood, CA, USA; Washington Huskies quarterback Demond Williams Jr. (2) in the first half of the LA Bowl against the Boise State Broncos at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The No. 2 quarterback in USA Today's rankings is Oregon starter Dante Moore, another Heisman Trophy hopeful in 2026. Fresh off a run to the College Football Playoff semifinals a season ago, Moore is poised to cement himself not only in the Heisman Trophy conversation but in the first few picks of the 2027 NFL draft.

Washington starter Demond Williams Jr. is the No. 3 quarterback on the list. The 5-foot-11, 191-pounder threw for over 3,000 yards and ran for over 600 more while leading the Huskies to a nine-win finish, a feat that enticed at least one Power Four program to attempt to lure him away via the NCAA transfer portal.

USA Today ranks TCU transfer Josh Hoover as the Big Ten's fourth-best quarterback. Hoover ranks behind only Andy Dalton and Trevone Boykin for the most passing yards in the Horned Frogs' program history, and Curt Cignetti is optimistic that he can cut down on his turnovers in Indiana's system.