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There are just five returning QBs who started at least six games last season in the ACC, and we’re counting Notre Dame’s CJ Carr among them as we always include the Irish in our ACC analysis (ranking the Independent QBs doesn’t make for engaging content). Not surprisingly, those five players are among our top seven in the league, and others such as Darian Mensah and Steve Angeli have ACC starting experience and are also near the top.
This group is not as deep as last season’s, when Carson Beck, Chandler Morris and Haynes King led their teams to strong finishes, but there is talent and experience as 11 ACC teams enter the season with a first-year transfer as the projected starter.
Here are our rankings for the 2026 season.
MORE QB RANKINGS: SEC | Big Ten | Big 12
Ranking the ACC QBs for 2026
1. Notre Dame
Starter: Sophomore CJ Carr (12 career starts)
Backup: Freshman Noah Grubbs (0 career starts)
Situation: Carr will be in Heisman conversations this offseason as the point person of a team that should contend for a national championship. The Michigan native directed an offense that averaged 42 points per game as a redshirt freshman, throwing for 228 yards per game with 24 touchdowns and six interceptions. He will be leaned on more this season with the loss of two running backs that were picked in the first round, and he should be ready for the additional workload.
DECOURCY: It is time for the ACC to issue an ultimatum to Notre Dame
2. Miami
Starter: Junior Darian Mensah (27 career starts; 14 at Duke, 13 at Tulane)
Backup: Freshman Luke Nickel (0 career starts)
Situation: Mensah entered the transfer portal on the final day, then negotiated a settlement with Duke after he broke his reported 2-year contract with the school. Mensah was sixth in the nation in passing efficiency at Tulane and 21st at Duke, where he led the Devils to an unlikely ACC title and threw for 3,973 yards. Now he’s surrounded by talent and should improve on his 1-6 record against ranked opponents.
3. SMU
Starter: Senior Kevin Jennings (26 career starts)
Backup: Freshman Ty Hawkins (0 career starts)
Situation: Jennings was second in the ACC in passing yards per game behind Mensah at 280.1 He led the league in INTs with 13 and was fifth in rating. This will be his third season as a starter at SMU, and that experience should help him cut down on his interceptions. Jennings does not add much as a rusher, but he has a 65 percent career completion percentage and has 55 career touchdowns.
MORE: SN's Big Board for 2027 NFL Draft
4. Cal
Starter: Sophomore Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele (13 career starts)
Backup: Junior Jackson Brousseau (8 career starts at Colorado State)
Situation: Sagapolutele was runner-up for ACC Rookie of the Year to Miami’s Malachi Toney last season after completing 64 percent of his passes for 3,454 yards and 18 touchdowns. He was fifth in the ACC in touchdowns and third in passing yards per game. He ran for four touchdowns, but was sacked 30 times and is not a threat in the running game. JKS led the Bears to late comeback wins against Boston College and SMU, plus threw a game-winning TD in overtime to beat Louisville. He threw nine INTs, but none in his final four games.
5. Syracuse
Starter: Senior Steve Angeli (5 career starts; 4 at Syracuse, 1 at Notre Dame)
Backup: Junior Amari Odom (19 career starts; 10 at Kennesaw State, 9 at Wofford)
Situation: Syracuse spiraled immediately after Angeli was lost for the season after tearing his Achilles in the fourth game. The former Notre Dame transfer averaged 329 yards per game with 10 touchdowns and two interceptions. The Orange won at Clemson in the game Angeli was hurt late, and then never won another game. Unlike last season, Syracuse has a capable backup in Odom, who was first-team All-Conference USA last season and was the C-USA championship game MVP.
6. NC State
Starter: Junior CJ Bailey (22 career starts)
Backup: Sophomore Will Wilson (0 career starts)
Situation: Bailey followed up a strong true freshman season with another solid effort in 2025, starting all 13 games and finishing third in the ACC in QB rating behind Mensah and Carson Beck. He threw multiple interceptions against Duke, Notre Dame and Miami, but was flawless in a 48-36 upset of Georgia Tech. Bailey had a rush of at least 10+ yards in 11 of his 13 games and ran for six touchdowns.
MORE: SN's post-spring Top 25 rankings
7. Pitt
Starter: Sophomore Mason Heintschel (8 career starts)
Backup: Senior Holden Geriner (0 career starts)
Situation: Heintschel’s first start as a true freshman last season was at Florida State, where he led Pitt to a 34-31 upset. That started a run of four straight wins where the Panthers averaged 38 points per game. Heintschel lost three of his final four starts, but there should still be optimism at the position for 2026.
8. Virginia
Starter: Senior Beau Pribula (10 career starts at Missouri)
Backup: Senior Eli Holstein (12 career starts at Pitt)
Situation: Virginia had big success with a first-year transfer QB last year with Chandler Morris and hopes it can do the same with Pribula. The former Penn State backup and Missouri starter enjoyed a strong season with the Tigers, going 7-3 in the 10 games he played. He was 0-3 vs. ranked teams (Alabama, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma) and finished with just 11 TDs and nine interceptions. Pribula had six rushing touchdowns and completed 67 percent of his passes. He was the 11th rated passer in the SEC. Holstein spent two years at Pitt and one at Alabama.
BENDER: Why a 24-team playoff is a terrible idea
9. Virginia Tech
Starter: Sophomore Ethan Grunkemeyer (7 career starts at Penn State)
Backup: Freshman Bryce Baker (0 career starts)
Situation: A four-star coming out of high school, Grunkemeyer backed up Drew Allar at Penn State in 2024. Grunkemeyer took over the week James Franklin was fired in 2025 and finished 4-3 with a reeling Penn State team that included narrow losses to Iowa and Indiana. Grunkemeyer is a classic pocket QB who completed 69 percent of his passes with eight touchdowns and four interceptions.
10. Louisville
Starter: Junior Lincoln Kienholz (0 career starts)
Backup: Senior Davin Wydner (18 career starts at West Georgia)
Situation: Kienholtz spent three years at Ohio State after signing as a four-star out of South Dakota. His only significant time with the Buckeyes was during a 14-3 Cotton Bowl loss to Missouri with a depleted roster after the 2023 season. Jeff Brohm has a stellar track record with QBs throughout his career, and it will be interesting to see if he can unlock Kienholz’s potential. Kienholz was reportedly just behind eventual Heisman finalist Julian Sayin during a training camp battle for QB1 in 2025. Wydner signed with Ole Miss out of high school.
11. Duke
Starter: Senior Walker Eget (18 career starts at San Jose State)
Backup: Freshman Dan Mahan (0 career starts)
Situation: Eget is the most experienced QB on the roster with two years as a starter at San Jose State. He threw for over 300 yards six times last season and was averaging 327 yards per game before a nightmarish 74-yard, 3-interception effort at Nevada and a 32-yard game against San Diego State where he left in the first quarter with a leg injury. How his play translates from the MWC to the ACC remains to be seen, but coach Manny Diaz looks to have salvaged the position somewhat after losing Mesah at the last minute.
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12. Clemson
Starter: Junior Chris Vizzina (1 career start)
Backup: Freshman Chris Denson (0 career starts)
Situation: Vizzina was a four-star coming out of high school and has waited his turn for three years behind Cade Klubnik. He started one game in 2025 and looked good, completing 29 of 42 passes for 317 yards with 3 TDs and no INTs in a 35-24 loss at SMU. The offense now belongs to him, and the Tigers will need to improve on its 105th-ranked rushing offense to give Vizzina his best chance.
13. Georgia Tech
Starter: Sophomore Alberto Mendoza (0 career starts)
Backup: Sophomore Graham Knowles (0 career starts)
Situation: The Jackets go from having one of the most experienced quarterbacks in the nation in Haynes King to having a combined 0 QB starts on the roster after projected successor Aaron Philo transferred to Florida. Mendoza, the younger brother of Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, left Indiana and won the job over the spring. He has some elements that can contribute to the run game like King did.
14. Wake Forest
Starter: Sophomore Gio Lopez (22 career starts; 11 at North Carolina, 11 at South Alabama)
Backup: Freshman Steele Pizzella (0 career starts)
Situation: Lopez put up strong numbers at South Alabama as a dual threat QB, but mostly struggled as Bill Belichick’s starter at North Carolina last season. He went 4-7, with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions while completing 65 percent of his passes. Lopez was 14th in the ACC in passer rating, but there is optimism he will be able to tap into his potential away from the Chapel Bill spotlight.
15. Florida State
Starter: Senior Ashton Daniels (23 career starts; 3 at Auburn, 20 at Stanford)
Backup: Freshman Kevin Sperry (0 career starts)
Situation: Daniels has flashed potential in his career, throwing for over 300 yards three times and rushing for over 100 yards in two other starts, but he has had too many subpar performances mixed in to lend a lot of confidence heading into his new gig at Florida State. When he is on, he is a dynamic QB that can put up points. Too often, his teams at Stanford and Auburn were overmatched. Having Duce Robinson back at WR is a big plus. Sperry redshirted as a four-star signee last season and should be ready should Daniels falter.
16. North Carolina
Starter: Senior Billy Edwards Jr. (16 career starts; 2 at Wisconsin, 14 at Maryland)
Backup: Sophomore Miles O’Neil (0 career starts)
Situation: A knee injury limited Edwards to just two games at Wisconsin last season, and he briefly retired before deciding to apply for a medical redshirt and play one more season. In his one season as a full-time starter at Maryland in 2024, he had nine touchdowns and eight interceptions in Big Ten play and was benched in the season finale. We’ll see if Belichick can bring the best out of the pro-style QB.
17. Boston College
Starter: Junior Mason McKenzie (22 career starts at Saginaw Valley State)
Backup: Freshman Grayson Wilson (0 career starts)
Situation: McKenzie arrives at Boston College from the same Division 2 conference that produced Ole Miss star Trinidad Chambliss. The dual-threat threw for 2,086 yards and 17 TDs and rushed for 942 yards and 10 TDs over 11 games in 2025 and SVS went 6-5. Behind him is Wilson, who did not see the field during a redshirt season at Arkansas.
18. Stanford
Starter: Senior Davis Warren (9 career starts at Michigan)
Backup: Sophomore Dylan Rizk (3 career starts at UCF)
Situation: Warren earned a scholarship after beginning as a walk-on at Michigan, He was the primary starter in 2024 and went 6-3, beating both Ohio State and Alabama to close the season. He threw just seven TDs against nine interceptions, however and was not a threat in the run game. Michigan was 17th in the Big Ten in total offense in 2024. Warren was unable to hold onto the job and did not see the field when Bryce Underwood arrived in 2025.
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