The Big 12's Quarterback Arms Race
No conference leaned harder into the transfer portal at the quarterback position than the Big 12. Athlon Sports' 2026 Big 12 quarterback rankings are dominated by transfers — Oklahoma State's Drew Mestemaker, Arizona's Noah Fifita, Utah's Devon Dampier, Houston's Conner Weigman, and Baylor's DJ Lagway all changed schools within the past two cycles — making this the most interesting QB room in the Power conference pecking order.
The rankings weigh pure talent, supporting cast, hold on the No. 1 job, previous production, 2026 projection, and scheme changes — not just past accomplishments or pro potential. The result is a list where the top five could plausibly reshuffle by November.
The Top Tier
No. 1: Drew Mestemaker, Oklahoma State. The former walk-on is one of the best stories in college football. He led a North Texas offense averaging 45.1 points per game in 2025, throwing for 4,379 yards with 34 touchdowns against 9 interceptions at 9.5 yards per attempt — and tied for first nationally with 11 completions of 50-plus yards. Hudl IQ graded him at 0.33 EPA per pass with a 54.9 percent success rate. He is the reason Oklahoma State is a wild-card Big 12 title contender.
No. 2: Noah Fifita, Arizona. Fifita rebounded with first-team All-Big 12 honors: 3,228 passing yards, 29 touchdowns, and just 6 interceptions, plus three rushing scores. His 46.8 percent success rate and 6.2 percent completion percentage over expectation suggest the production is sustainable — even as Arizona retools around him.
No. 3: Devon Dampier, Utah. The dynamic transfer from New Mexico had 2,490 passing yards and 24 touchdowns against 5 interceptions in 12 games, and finished second on the team with 835 rushing yards and 10 rushing scores. His 277.1 total yards per game ranked fourth among Big 12 quarterbacks.
No. 4: Bear Bachmeier, BYU. The true sophomore thrived in 2025, helping BYU reach the Big 12 title game: 3,033 passing yards, 15 passing touchdowns, plus 527 rushing yards and 11 rushing scores. He ranked second in the conference with 10 completions of 40-plus yards and could climb higher with an improved receiver room.
No. 5: Conner Weigman, Houston. Weigman finally put it together in his 2025 Houston debut: 2,705 passing yards, 25 touchdowns against 9 interceptions, plus 700 rushing yards and 11 rushing touchdowns over 13 starts. Five-star freshman Keisean Henderson waits behind him — the only situation in the conference where a five-star is a backup.
Wild Cards and Names to Know
Kansas State's Avery Johnson (No. 6) takes a step back in 2025 but gets a schematic reset under new coach Collin Klein. Texas Tech's Will Hammond (No. 7) is coming off a knee injury and steps into the spotlight after Brendan Sorsby was ruled ineligible. Former five-star DJ Lagway (No. 8) brings unmatched physical talent to Baylor but must cut down the turnovers that followed him from Florida. TCU's Josh Craig (No. 9) is the conference's most intriguing FCS-to-FBS bet after a Walter Payton Award-finalist career at Harvard. The rest of the list includes Arizona State's Brock Boley, UCF's Alonza Barnett III, Colorado's JuJu Lewis, Iowa State's Jaylen Raynor, West Virginia's Javon Hawkins Jr., and Kansas' Cole Ballard — plenty of names that could reshuffle the pecking order by midseason.
What This Means for CFB 27
In College Football 27, the Big 12 is a sandbox for quarterback-driven rosters, and this ranking is a preview of how the upcoming roster update will value each team's pass attack. Mestemaker, Fifita, Dampier, and Bachmeier are the kind of mobile, playmaking signal-callers who translate directly to strong THP-SPEED ratings in the game — making Oklahoma State, Arizona, and Utah sleeper Dynasty picks if the roster update mirrors the real 2026 depth charts. When Week 0 rosters land, check these QBs' ratings first: the transfer-laden Big 12 is where the game's biggest rating mismatches between real-world hype and in-game stats tend to show up.
