As fall camp nears, here are our latest rankings of the best quarterbacks the conference has heading into the 2025 season.
July is wrapping up, players are getting ready to get back to campus, and fall camp is nearing it's start. With fall camp nearing, the season will be here in no time.
The upcoming 2025 season is a big one for a lot of different teams across the conference, with coaches needing big years in their early tenure in order to build the foundation for the everchanging landscape of Big Ten football.
With such a big year on the horizon, there is a lot riding on the signal callers of the Big Ten, with the talent pool of the position group getting better and better every year within the conference.
Now, Spartans Wire is going to take our crack at ranking the quarterbacks from the Big Ten, starting at No. 18 and moving all the way down to No. 1:
18. Drake Lindsey (Minnesota)
Going into P.J. Fleck's ninth season in Minneapolis, the Golden Gophers are going to enter 2025 with the inexperienced Drake Lindsey. A member of the 2024 recruiting class, the redshirt freshman fended off Georgia Tech transfer Zach Pyron in the spring, but there are still plenty of question marks.
17. Malik Washington/Justyn Martin (Maryland)
The Terrapins have a big battle coming this fall between high 4-star true freshman quarterback Malik Washington and UCLA transfer Justyn Martin. Whether it ends up being Washington or Martin, there is still a level of uncertainty with the lack of experience the room will have this season.
16. Malachi Singleton (Purdue)
An Arkansas transfer, Malachi Singleton is someone who brings a two-dimensional dynamic to the Boilermakers offense. In 2024, with the Razorbacks, Singleton was highly efficient in his playing time last season. There are still a lot of question marks for this season, but Barry Odom has potential in Singleton.
15. Athan Kaliakmanis (Rutgers)
A onetime Minnesota to Rutgers transfer, Kaliakmanis had a good season last year behind a great offensive line and run game, but he ultimately still hovered around 50% in completion percentage. There will be a lot of pressure on the senior to take a big leap in 2025.
14. Preston Stone (Northwestern)
An SMU transfer, in 2023 Stone threw for over 3,000 yards and 28 touchdowns, although 2024 was a less than ideal season for the Mustangs veteran. Now, he has moved up north to the Wildcats, and may be the most talented quarterback the school has seen in years. All that matters now is whether it is the 2023 or 2024 version of Stone.
13. Billy Edwards Jr. (Wisconsin)
After serving as Taulia Tagovailova's backup for years in College Park, Edwards got his chance to take the reigns for the Terrapins in 2024. While it wasn't an outstanding year, Edwards showed that he can be a serviceable quarterback in the conference, and he will look to add that security in 2025 with the Wisconsin Badgers. It is a big year for Luke Fickell and his tenure, and his chips are in the Maryland transfer's basket.
12. Bryce Underwood (Michigan)
In last year's rankings, I had Dylan Raiola at No. 15, so this year, Underwood is in higher footing as a highly touted true freshman. It is going to be very tough transitioning from KLAA-MHSAA play to Big Ten play, but all things around camp sound like he is going to be a very serviceable Big Ten quarterback in his true freshman season.
11. Mark Gronowski (Iowa)
Another FCS to power conference transfer, we have seen this before with Max Brosmer going from New Hampshire to Minnesota last season, and he had success. Now, Gronowski will move from South Dakota State to Iowa, and look to finally be the QB that rights the Hawkeye's offense. A standout at SDSU, it will all be about how the transition from FCS to Big Ten play goes.
10. Dante Moore (Oregon)
Back to back highly touted MHSAA 5-star quarterbacks, Moore was thought of in the same vein as Underwood at one time. Since then, his true freshman experience at UCLA was abysmal, but now, he has gotten a full year of maturation at Oregon behind Dillon Gabriel, and it will be his turn to live up to the potential he has.
9. Aidan Chiles (Michigan State)
It's a prove it year for Chiles, who has all the talent in the world to be a top quarterback, but decision making can be of question sometimes. Despite having arguably the worst offensive line in the conference a year ago, Chiles showed strong growth over the course of the season, and should be primed for a major junior year.
8. Julian Sayin (Ohio State)
Throughout this whole list, experience has played a major factor in the rankings. For Sayin, he very well could end up being a top three quarterback in the conference, but according to reports, he may not even be the starter if Lincoln Kienholz overtakes him this fall. So Sayin will sit here, not too high, but not too low, with the full knowledge that the potential is there.
7. Jayden Maiava (USC)
The man who took Miller Moss' job from him a year ago, a UNLV transfer, Jayden Maiava is a touch turnover prone, but with his added maturation with Lincoln Riley, should be primed for a big year in his junior campaign with the Trojans.
6. Demond Williams Jr. (Washington)
Starting the year behind Will Rogers as a backup, Williams was so good that he overtook the Mississippi State transfer by November, and in the process, completed 78.1% of his passes for 944 yards and 8 touchdowns with only one interception. A full-time role in 2025 will be interesting, but Williams has all the makings to be a stud when his number is called.
5. Nico Iamaleava (UCLA)
The most prolific transfer of the offseason, former Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava is now with the UCLA Bruins, and it will be interesting to see the adjustments that are made. It will be a vastly different situation, going from the high powered Vols to the lowly Bruins, but Iamaleava has the talent to overcome some deficiencies.
4. Dylan Raiola (Nebraska)
A true freshman season with all of the expectations went surprisingly well for Raiola, and in year two with Matt Rhule, Nebraska is expected to make a major jump. Raiola should have a big jump in year two, and will be coming for a major season in 2025.
3. Fernando Mendoza (Indiana)
A Cal transfer, Mendoza threw for over 3,000 yards in 2024 and took social media by storm. Now, replacing Kurtis Rourke in Curt Cignetti's offense, Mendoza is the perfect candidate to keep the Hoosiers offensive prowess going.
2. Luke Altmyer (Illinois)
A breakout year in 2024 for Altmyer has him and the Fighting Illini as one of the hottest topics this offseason. After the big leap from 2023 to 2024, the former Ole Miss transfer should have one more big leap left in him in 2025, and with a favorable schedule, this could be another huge year for Illniois.
1. Drew Allar (Penn State)
No surprise to anyone, Allar takes the top spot, and there may be no other player with as many expectations in 2025 as the Nittany Lions signal caller. After making a massive leap from 2023 to 2024, silencing a lot of doubters, Allar has positioned himself into superstar status heading into this upcoming season, where he has a whole new set of doubters to silence during the Penn State season.
This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Ranking the Big Ten's quarterbacks before the 2025 season
Category: General Sports
