There are a lot of big-name quarterbacks in new places ahead of the 2024 American football season.
Playoff contenders like Ohio State, Oregon, Notre Dame and Florida State have all added QBs in the offseason to boost their national title chances. And that’s just a fraction of the quarterback trades that have taken place since the end of the 2023 season. Here’s a quick look at the notable names new teams have found for the upcoming season.
Wake Forest QB Hank Bachmeier (from Louisiana Tech)
Bachmeier spent one season at Louisiana Tech after four at Boise State. His best season came in 2021 with the Broncos when he threw for over 3,000 yards and completed 63% of his passes.
Michigan State QB Aidan Chiles (from Oregon State)
Chiles played nine games for the Beavers in 2023 and comes to East Lansing after Michigan State signed Jonathan Smith from Corvallis. Chiles is the favorite to start for the Spartans in 2024.
Baylor QB DeQuan Finn (from Toledo)
The 2023 MAC Player of the Year threw for 2,657 yards and 22 TDs last season while carrying for 563 yards and seven scores. He will be relied upon heavily as Baylor looks to revamp its offense after a disappointing 2023 campaign.
Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel (from Oklahoma)
Gabriel is a Heisman favorite entering the 2024 season as he plays his sixth collegiate season at his third school. The former UCF QB spent two seasons at Oklahoma, throwing for over 3,600 yards with 30 TDs in 2023. Can he have the same type of season Bo Nix had last year en route to setting the single-season completion percentage record?
Arkansas QB Taylen Green (from Boise State)
Green comes from Boise State to lead Bobby Petrino’s offense in the former Razorbacks coach’s return to Fayetteville as the team’s offensive coordinator. Green still has work to do throwing the ball — his career completion percentage is just over 59% — but is a dynamic rusher. He’s averaging 6.3 yards per carry in his career with 19 TDs.
Will Howard, Ohio State quarterback (from Kansas State)
Howard is the odds-on favorite to start for the Buckeyes in a season of immense expectation. He emerged as the Wildcats’ starter midway through the 2022 season and has played in 12 games in 2023, throwing for 2,643 yards passing and 24 touchdowns against 10 interceptions. He also rushed for 351 yards and nine touchdowns a season ago.
Jefferson is playing his sixth season of college football in Orlando for former Auburn coach Gus Malzahn. Jefferson was very good in 2021 and 2022 before he and the Arkansas offense regressed in 2023. Jefferson has completed 65% of his passes in his career with 67 TDs compared to just 18 interceptions. He has also rushed for 1,876 yards and 21 TDs.
North Carolina QB Max Johnson (from Texas A&M)
The son of former NFL QB Brad Johnson is in his third school in five seasons. He is the favorite to replace Drake Maye at the Tar Heels after throwing for 1,452 yards and nine TDs in eight games with the Aggies in 2023. Johnson’s best season came in 2021 at LSU when he threw for 2,814 yards and 27 TDs.
Irish coach Marcus Freeman has brought in a transfer QB from the ACC for the second time in two seasons. Leonard was limited to just seven games in 2023 due to injuries after a stellar 2022. Two seasons ago, Leonard completed 64% of his passes for 2,967 yards and 20 TDs. He also rushed for 699 yards and 13 scores.
USC QB Jayden Maiava (from UNLV)
Maiava ultimately ended up at USC after briefly transferring to Georgia following a stellar freshman season with the Rebels. He completed over 63% of his passes for 3,085 yards and threw 17 TDs against 10 interceptions. He will compete with Miller Moss to become the Trojans’ starter.
NC State QB Grayson McCall (from Coastal Carolina)
McCall was the maestro of Jamey Chadwell’s offense at Coastal Carolina. He was excellent from 2020-22, throwing for 77 touchdowns against just eight interceptions and averaging more than 10 yards per attempt in that span. A concussion on a nasty hit limited him to seven games in 2023, and his numbers were down in his first year playing for coach Tim Beck.
Texas State QB Jordan McCloud (from James Madison)
McCloud will play for his fourth school in 2024, following a successful season at James Madison in 2023. After stints at South Florida and Arizona, McCloud threw for 3,657 yards and 35 TDs in 2023, while also scoring eight scores.
Syracuse QB Kyle McCord (from Ohio State)
The Buckeyes’ 2023 starter was reassigned for the Cotton Bowl. McCord completed 229 of 348 passes for 3,170 yards and 24 TDs. He struggled against Notre Dame, however, before a late game-winning drive and threw two interceptions in Ohio State’s loss to Michigan.
North Texas QB Chandler Morris (from TCU)
The former Oklahoma and TCU QB is moving north to Denton for the 2024 season. Morris was Max Duggan’s backup in 2022 as TCU reached the national title game, but was limited to seven games in 2023 as the Horned Frogs struggled. Last season, Morris threw for 1,532 yards and 12 TDs.
Maryland QB MJ Morris (from NC State)
Morris played two seasons at NC State and became the Wolfpack’s starter, albeit briefly, in 2023. Morris decided to redshirt the remainder of the season after appearing in four games and then transferred to Maryland in the offseason. He has thrown for 1,367 yards and 14 TDs on 199 attempts in nine career games.
Duke QB Maalik Murphy (from Texas)
Murphy started 2023 in Quinn Ewers’ absence before moving on for the College Football Playoff. He will play for new Duke coach Manny Diaz and should replace Leonard as Duke’s starting QB. Murphy was 40 of 71 passing for 477 yards with three TDs and three interceptions in seven appearances a season ago.
The former five-star recruit appeared in just one game as a freshman for the Trojans in 2023. He is the presumptive starter in Boise as the Broncos are among the favorites to be the Group of Five representative in the expanded College Football Playoff.
Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia (from New Mexico State)
Pavia had a breakout season in 2023 as New Mexico State reached the Conference USA title game and went to a bowl. Pavia threw for nearly 3,000 yards and 26 TDs while rushing 176 times for 923 yards and seven TDs. He had three passing TDs in the Aggies’ 31-10 win over Auburn in November.
Petras has played in 12 games in each of the past two seasons at Iowa and may get a chance to flourish in a different offensive system. Petras threw for 5,199 yards on 825 career attempts at Iowa with just 24 touchdowns and 19 interceptions.
Washington QB Will Rogers (from Mississippi State)
Rogers threw for more than 12,315 yards in four seasons at Mississippi State and is the SEC’s all-time leader in career passing yards. He transferred to Washington under coach Kalen DeBoer and remains under new coach Jedd Fisch. Rogers should be a much better fit in Fisch’s offense than he was at Mississippi State’s in 2023. When the Bulldogs switched from Mike Leach’s Air Raid system, Rogers completed fewer than 60 percent of his passes for the first time in his career.
Rourke arrives at Indiana after five seasons at Ohio State. He tore his ACL toward the end of a stellar 2022 season in which he completed 69 percent of his passes for 3,257 yards and 25 TDs. Rourke played in 11 games in 2023, but his passing numbers were down from the previous season. He should be fully healthy in 2024.
TCU QB Ken Seals (from Vanderbilt)
Seals played in 27 games in three seasons at Vanderbilt. He has a career completion percentage of 60.5% and has thrown for 4,292 yards with 28 touchdowns and 22 interceptions.
Mississippi State QB Blake Shapen (from Baylor)
Shane played in 27 games over three seasons for the Bears, completing 64% of his passes for 5,574 yards and 36 TDs. He should start for the Bulldogs and new coach Jeff Lebby.
Louisville QB Tyler Shough (from Texas Tech)
The 2024 season will mark Shough’s seventh year playing college football at his third school. After three seasons at Oregon, Shough spent three seasons in Lubbock. Injuries have marred his career thus far; Shough has never played more than seven games in a season. He has a career completion percentage of 63% and averages 8.2 yards per attempt.
Florida State QB DJ Uiagalelei (from Oregon State)
The former Clemson QB is back in the ACC after a one-season stint at Oregon State. While his completion percentage dipped from his final season at Clemson, Uiagalelei had the best season of his career with 2,638 yards passing and averaged 8.4 yards per attempt. He’ll be tasked with replacing Jordan Travis in Tallahassee and leading FSU to the College Football Playoff for a second time.
Van Dyke had a breakout season as a redshirt freshman with the Hurricanes in 2021, throwing 2,931 passing yards and 25 TD passes in 10 games. However, he failed to live up to that promise in 2022 and 2023, throwing 12 interceptions against 19 TD passes in 2023. He’s looking to revive his career in Madison.
With Carson Beck as Georgia’s starter, Vandagriff transferred to another SEC school in the offseason. The former four-star recruit threw the first 18 passes of his career in 2023 and threw for two touchdowns.
Miami QB Cam Ward (from Washington State)
Ward had an uncertain offseason. He was mentioned as a possible transfer by several schools before declaring for the NFL Draft. He eventually landed with the Hurricanes, where he will be heavily relied upon as the Hurricanes attempt to live up to expectations in Mario Cristobal’s third season. In two seasons at Washington State, Ward threw for nearly 7,000 yards and 48 TDs.
