Cade Klubnik comes into the 2025 season as one of the most consistent quarterbacks in CFF. We finally got that breakout season where Klubnik totaled 43 touchdowns (36 passing, 7 rushing), and nearly threw for 3,700 yards and rushed for 463 yards. We saw him click last year as Garrett Riley unleashed a more tempo-driven passing game that played to Klubnik’s strengths. With the exceptional talent at wide receiver, his usage in the run game, and another year of experience, we expect more of the same from him.
He brings the best floor over from 2024, where he only dipped below 22 points once. While he might not have that elite ceiling that some other quarterbacks on the list have, he does have the ability to break 30+ points a game and should be a mainstay in the top 15 every week. He’s the most reliable quarterback in the elite tier.
If you are searching for that Konami Code QB, look no further than South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers. This dude is a 6’3", 240 lb QB with 4.5 speed that can hit over 20 mph. Sure, he was still a bit raw as a passer last year, but he does have the arm strength and athleticism to be a true playmaker on the run. He is an elite runner who scores points, and that is what we care about in CFF. His 2025 schedule doesn’t do him any favors, but we did see him score 30+ last year against teams like Texas A&M, Missouri, and Clemson.
Speaking of those games, that is when we saw Sellers break out. He averaged 261 passing yards, 81 rushing yards and had 16 total touchdowns over his last five regular-season games. He was a top 5 QB in 3 of those 5 games and was QB16 and QB36 in the other two. Early in the season, his floor was much lower, as he struggled to break 16 points. However, by the end of the year, we saw him reach the top tier. We expect him to pick up right where he left off.
The Manning name carries a lot of weight, but in our world, it’s the system and supporting cast that make Arch Manning one of the more intriguing QBs entering 2025. When you combine a mobile QB with an elite arm, Sark’s fantasy-friendly system, and arguably some of the best weapons at every skill position, this just screams breakout CFF season.
As a first-time starter in the SEC, we could see bumps and bruises along the way, but he has the potential to eclipse 27 total touchdowns, which is one of our sticky stats to finish as a top QB. We saw him take over a 3-game stretch for Ewers early in 2024, where we caught a glimpse of what he can do. He averaged 268 passing yards and 27 rushing yards in those three games while scoring 10 touchdowns. He finished as QB3 and QB16 in 2 of the 3 games. There is a lot of projection surrounding Arch, but the fit, floor, and fantasy-friendly system point to a top-10 finish in 2025.
Garrett Nussmeier had one of the better CFF starts over the first 8 games last season. He threw for 20 touchdowns and ran for 3 in that span. He was a top 25 QB in 5 of those 8 games and ranked within the top 10 twice. He was throwing the ball an average of 41 times a game for 328 yards. If you're playing in a 6-point passing TD league, he's your guy. There isn’t going to be much upside in the run game with Nuss, but he could vulture a couple of touchdowns throughout the season.
Nussmeier isn't always the safest play, though. He gives us Top 10 upside, but he also had a 4-game stretch where he only broke 20 points once and fell all the way down to 9 points. He was a bit of a boom-or-bust player last year. The good news is that he now has a year of valuable starting experience with a wealth of talent at his disposal, including Aaron Anderson, Chris Hilton, Nic Anderson (if healthy), Caden Durham, and Barion Brown, among others. The system gives us volume and explosiveness, and we’ve already seen Nuss thrive in this system. He’s one of our favorite gunslingers in 2025.
Haynes King is one of the most underrated and under-discussed QBs this year. He isn’t even a top 10 QB in our ADP, despite finishing in the weekly top 25 11 times over the last two seasons. That’s 11 times in 22 games. That might not sound impressive, but you’d be hard pressed to find many as consistent as King has been over two seasons. His worst finish last year while playing the entire game was QB46. In 9 of his 10 games, he was at least a serviceable QB, meaning, if you had him in your starting lineup, his performance wasn’t going to lose you the week.
His CFF floor is in the top tier and rivals Cade Klubnik's for best floor. King averages 10 rushing attempts per game. He is going to throw the ball another 25 times a game. He’s scored double-digit touchdowns on the ground over the last two seasons. We did see a dip in his passing touchdowns last season (only 14), but he threw for 27 in 2023, so the potential is there. Perhaps we are just bored with King as he enters his third year as a starter for Georgia Tech, but he remains one of the best values in drafts. He has weekly top 5 upside and one of the best floors over the last two seasons.
Colton Joseph didn’t become a full-time starter last season until week 6. He ended up starting 7 games, during which he threw for 1,585 yards (226 yards per game), ran for 581 yards (83 yards per game), and scored 21 total touchdowns. He was a top 3 QB in that stretch. He finished in the weekly top 7 four times and also added a top 18 finish. If you were able to pick him up early enough in any of your CFF leagues last year, he likely led you to the playoffs and possibly the championship.
Joseph hasn’t officially been named the starter for 2025 yet. He’s battling Quinn Henicle, who came in for an injured Joseph in week 14 and put up 46 fantasy points. That is something to watch for, but when Joseph was the starter last season, the team averaged 30 points per game. He’s limited in the passing game and very rarely throws it downfield. He attempted only 35 passes of 20 yards or more last season and completed 31% of those attempts. His value is almost entirely rushing-driven. There is also a risk of regression here with Joseph. The possibility of injury looms with how much he runs the ball, and we will see defenses scheming for him this year. If he doesn’t improve in the passing game, we might see his value dip.
Caden Veltkamp ended last season as a top 30 QB, where he threw for 3,108 yards, 25 TDs and 10 interceptions. He added 150 yards on the ground with 7 rushing touchdowns. Not bad. Veltkamp enters the transfer portal after a good season at WKU and joins his old OC, Zach Kittley, at FAU, along with his top slot WR from last season, Easton Messer. Jackpot.
We expect Kittley to get back closer to his roots as he leads the FAU Owls. Kittley went out and got Veltkamp and his top slot guy, Messer, to run his system. Kittle has a penchant for throwing the ball 50 times a game. Back in 2021, Bailey Zappe averaged 4.5 passing touchdowns per game. That is the ceiling, but even if you just look at the average, his QBs throw 3 touchdowns a game. Add in the fact that Veltkamp has the size to vulture touchdowns on the goal line, and he could be well on his way to being one of the top CFF QBs. There is significant upside for Veltkamp in this system.
Last season, we had 20 different quarterbacks average at least 35 pass attempts per game. Out of those 20 QBs, only 1 had over 300 rushing yards on the season. That QB was Owen McCown. What does it mean? Volume. He’s a volume passer, and he’s giving us good value in the run game. Typically, QBs throwing the ball 35+ times aren’t running it much. McCown is. He completed 63% of his passes last year, but wasn’t particularly effective when throwing deep. He’s a scrambler, and that is how he gains most of his rushing yards. But he’s scoring in both phases of the offense.
McCown got off to a slow start last season. It wasn’t until week 7 that he took off. Over the next six games, he averaged almost 28 fantasy points per game and finished as QB11 three times in that span, never finishing worse than QB39. We also really like the talent that surrounds him. If WRs David Amador and Devin McCuin can stay healthy, McCown will have two of the better receivers in the AAC. Add in tight ends Houston Thomas and Patrick Overmyer, and this passing offense looks to be one of the best in the conference.
Last season, we were only able to catch glimpses of what Demond Williams could be. His action was limited for most of the season, but he threw for 374 yards and 4 touchdowns against Louisville in the bowl game. He also ran for 48 yards and a touchdown. Jedd Fisch and Jimmie Dougherty haven’t really given us elite QBs in their system, but we’ve also never really seen a QB with Williams' skillset, and that gives us reason for optimism.
Williams can beat a defense with both his arm and legs. He’s accurate in the passing game, can get the ball downfield and can throw on the run. He’s a dynamic runner as well. In his limited action last season, he did a lot of his work on the ground, rushing for 282 yards. We expect designed runs in this system for Williams, but he can also scramble and create outside the structure of the offense if needed. There is a lot of projection with this ranking, but he possesses the skill set to be a top CFF QB.
Avery Johnson put together a solid campaign in his first year as a full-time starter. He threw for over 2,700 yards and a school record 25 TDs. He also ran for 605 yards and seven touchdowns. Matt Wells took over as offensive coordinator last year, and we did not see a drop-off in QB-designed runs, unlike what we have come to expect from a Chris Klieman-led team. Those give Johnson a solid floor.
Johnson scored over 30 points only once last season and had a few other solid starts that put him in the top 30. What we saw from Johnson last season aligns closely with how QBs typically perform on Klieman's teams. His floor isn’t going to lose you weeks, but his ceiling isn’t going to win you any weeks. If history tells us anything, he is going to be a safe play and is best paired with a high-ceiling QB.
Believe it or not, a Rourke (Nathan and Kurtis) has been the QB1 for Ohio for 7 straight seasons. Parker Navarro ushered in the post-Rourke era at Ohio last season, and he did not disappoint. He became only the second ever QB to run for over 1,000 yards in a single season at Ohio, while adding 18 rushing TDs. He also threw for almost 2,400 yards and 13 touchdowns. Phenomenal season. That is what a season looked like when Nathan Rourke was leading the Bobcats.
One concern we have with Navarro is the potential for regression. Can he put together another 2,400 passing yards, 1,000 rushing yards season, where he has over 30 touchdowns? We will likely see regression, but when considering what Nathan Rourke achieved in this system (a good comparison for Navarro), we know that he posted similar numbers in each of his three seasons as QB1. So, it’s possible that Navarro doesn’t see much of a drop-off at all. You could argue he sees a jump in the passing game. He only threw 13 touchdowns last year and 11 interceptions. Can he turn a few of those turnovers into touchdowns this year?
John Mateer has been one of the hardest players to project for the upcoming season. On one hand, you have a guy who put together one of the most dominant CFF seasons we’ve seen from a QB in some time. He finished as QB12 or better 9 times last season. He scored a rushing TD in all but one regular-season game. In seven games, he scored four or more touchdowns, finishing with 44 total TDs. He also threw for over 3,100 yards and rushed for over 800 yards. The problem is that he did all that against one of the weakest schedules.
Mateer followed his OC, Ben Arbuckle, over to Oklahoma, which is a good situation for both of them. Mateer will undoubtedly have better talent around him than he had at Washington State, and a system he is already familiar with that has produced top-10 QBs over the last four seasons. However, Mateer and Arbuckle are going to face nine defenses that are tougher than the most formidable defense they faced all last season. It's a significant increase in competition. We’ve seen these two dominate the C-USA and what was essentially a Mountain West schedule, featuring Pac-12 talent at Washington State. He has QB1 upside. But will the jump in competition be too much to overcome?
It was a tale of two seasons for Blake Horvath. After a relatively quiet start against Bucknell in week 1, Horvath ripped off four straight top-15 weeks, where he averaged 40 points a game. During that span, he also scored over 60 points against Memphis, rushing for more than 200 yards and four touchdowns in that game. We also saw a bit more shotgun looks, which led to a slight uptick in the passing game for a Navy offense, as well as a bit more QB runs. Horvath led all quarterbacks in breakaway yards last season, with a breakaway percentage of 58%. He was one of the top QBs for missed tackles and yards after contact. At times, he was unstoppable.
The problem was that, after all those hits and teams scheming against him, his stats began to taper off drastically. Over the last five games, his rush yards per game (ypg) decreased from 113 to 66. His passing yards per game went from 154 to 95. He only found the end zone 7 times over the last 5 games. In that stretch, his best finish was QB36, and he hovered around QB50. He went from a set-and-forget QB to questioning whether you want to use a roster spot on him. We’ve seen what he is capable of in this offense. It’s impressive. However, the lack of full-season consistency makes us cautious.
Micah Alejado comes into 2025 with the least experience of any QB in our top 25, but you wouldn’t know it based on where he’s being drafted. In a system that has yet to produce better than QB37 in recent years, he has already gone as high as QB1 in a best-ball draft and consistently comes off the board as a top-5 QB. Our projection also places him inside the top 20. That begs the question: why all the hype?
We saw a glimpse of what he can be in the bowl game, and it was electric. We can’t ignore the upside, even if it was a bowl game against a soft New Mexico defense (QB-friendly!). He had a monster game, throwing for 469 yards and five touchdowns on 57 pass attempts. He also ran for 54 yards. His performance in that bowl game took us back to watching Colt Brennan and current Hawaii head coach Timmy Chang throwing it all over the field. Chang feels like the perfect fit in this system, and hinted at the volume we could see from Alejado. He brings a better rushing element than Shager did and will have reliable weapons in Pofele Ashlock and Nick Cenacle to throw to on those final Saturday nights.
The Jaxson Dart era is over in Oxford. Lane Kiffin’s quarterback pipeline continues to churn out talent, with former four-star prospect Austin Simmons next in line. Simmons possesses elite arm talent and now holds the keys to a CFF-friendly system that consistently produces top 15 fantasy QBs. Under Kiffin, we’ve seen Matt Corral post back-to-back seasons with 3,300+ passing yards and 500+ rushing yards, followed by Dart, who by year two was throwing for more yards while still averaging 9 carries per game.
Kiffin's system is designed to elevate QB production through tempo, spacing, and RPO usage. So the question becomes, can Simmons deliver the rushing upside that made Corral and Dart top 15 QBs? The short answer is probably not. But Simmons could provide more upside through the air. He has a big-time arm, a quick trigger in the RPO game, and has a loaded supporting cast around him. We expect a drop-off in rushing volume compared to the previous QBs, but that could shift the offensive emphasis more towards the passing game. If there’s one thing we know about Kiffin, it’s that he fits his offense around his QB’s strengths.
Sawyer Robertson enters Year 2 as the starting QB for Baylor and OC Jake Spavital. We suspected Robertson could make a nice jump in 2024 with Spavital coming in as his OC. After all, he is better known for developing QBs than managing rosters. Spav’s developed QBs like Johnny Manziel, Will Grier, and Davis Webb, so when Robertson threw for over 3,000 yards, ran for over 200 yards, and scored 32 total touchdowns, we probably shouldn't have been surprised.
Robertson has three of his top targets back in WR Josh Cameron, Ashtyn Hawkins and TE Michael Trigg, and the staff added a few key transfers to bolster that room. He should be able to rely on strong WR play this season and offers some rushing upside with the mobility to extend plays. In Year 2 of OC Spav, we expect the offense to continue improving, and Robertson should once again thrive in this high-tempo offense.
Katin Houser burst onto the scene last season in week 8 after he took over as QB for ECU. Over his first three starts, he averaged almost 300 passing yards a game and threw for 12 touchdowns, adding 72 total yards and two TDs on the ground. He was QB14, QB13, and QB1 in those three weeks. He looked like that midseason QB pickup in CFF that could turn into a league winner.
Unfortunately, the hot streak didn’t last. Over Houser’s next three starts, he threw 5 TDs to 5 interceptions, and while the passing volume stayed consistent, his rushing impact dried up a bit. His bowl game also felt like a step back, as he tossed two interceptions with no passing touchdowns. He flashed in the run game, though, with two touchdowns. So, which Houser will we get in 2025? He’ll have every opportunity to prove himself starting the season as QB1 for ECU. He loses top target Chase Sowell to the portal, but returning are Anthony Smith and Yannick Smith, both of whom flashed big-play potential last season. We’ve seen the ceiling and think Houser will trend closer to his ceiling than his floor in his second season at ECU.
If you are looking for a pure volume play in a proven scheme in a 6-point passing TD league, then look no further than Josh Hoover. He’s not going to win any foot races (he’s a statue back there), but with his volume, he could win you a week when he throws it 52 times for 400 yards and 4 touchdowns (week 3 vs UCF last season). He has been somewhat turnover-prone over the previous two seasons, though, throwing 20 interceptions in that time, but his floor remains steady.
He loses top target Jack Bech and Savion Williams to the NFL, but returns Eric McAlister, who, coincidentally, had his biggest weeks of the season when Hoover also had his. Hoover will need another WR or two to step up, but TCU has some weapons they can rely on. If this WR room holds up and the tempo stays high, Hoover has a real shot to be a top QB in 6-point passing TD leagues and should be a factor in 4-point leagues as well.
Marcel Reed wasn’t named QB1 to start the 2024 season, but by the end of the year, he had our attention. He stepped in after injuries hit the Aggies’ QB room and showed off the kind of playmaking that makes CFF managers take notice. He’s a dual-threat improviser who fits perfectly into Colin Klein's scheme. He hit plenty of bumps in the road (9 fantasy points against Texas, 14 against South Carolina), but also had a few high points, finishing as QB12 against Auburn and QB17 against Florida.
We expect a jump from Reed as he enters 2025 as the full-time starter and second year in Klein's system. While most of Klein’s QBs finish around that QB50 range, we think Reed could trend towards the higher end, nearer to the top 20. The biggest key to his success in the CFF world is staying healthy. Klein’s QBs take a lot of hits and very rarely make it through the entire season without missing time. So if Reed can stay healthy, he has the skill set to excel in this system.
In 2022 and 2023, Matthew Sluka was one of the most dominant dual-threat QBs in the FCS at Holy Cross, and if those numbers translated to CFF, he’d have been inside the top 10 in both seasons.
2022 stat line: 2,489 pass yards, 26 TDs, 4 Int, 1,234 rush yards, 11 TDs.
2023 stat line: 1,728 pass yards, 20 TDs, 5 Int, 1,247 rush yards, 9 TDs.
Then came the strange chapter at UNLV, where he suited up for three games, posted pedestrian statistics, and then left the program. Now, he reunites with his former Holy Cross coach Bob Chesney and OC Dean Kennedy. This JMU staff held its own as it transitioned from the FCS to an FBS program. They were led by QB Alonza Barnett, who put together a top 15 CFF season before tearing his ACL in December.
If Barnett is ready to go at the start of the season, which Chesney has said he is ahead of his recovery schedule, it’s going to make for one of the most watched QB battles for the CFF community. Sluka, who dominated at Holy Cross in this system, currently has the leg up for us solely because of the injury to Barnett and how quickly that turnaround time would be. But this is worth watching as both QBs have excelled in this system, and the ceiling is high.
Last summer, there was a legit debate in the CFF world about whether Kevin Jennings might unseat Preston Stone. Stone won the job, but the two split snaps through the first three weeks. It quickly became clear that the SMU offense was just better with Jennings at the helm. He took over full-time in Week 4 and never looked back. He led SMU to a playoff appearance and became a reliable CFF QB option along the way. Outside of a forgettable showing in the playoff loss against Penn State, Jennings consistently posted 22-24 fantasy points per game, with a ceiling that peaked at 30 points against Clemson.
In the second half of the season, his pass volume increased while his rushing tapered off a bit. The mobility is there, though. He ran for over 100 yards against Louisville. He's a pass-first quarterback with real dual-threat capability, where he can extend plays and chip in 20-30 rushing yards when needed. He’s got a great floor, and the system with his talent gives him the potential to have a higher ceiling coming into 2025.
It was another disappointing season for Scott Satterfield and Cincinnati in their second year in the Big 12. Still, there were some bright spots, notably around QB Brendan Sorsby and the stability he brought to the team. His numbers don’t jump off the page: 2,800 passing yards, 18 touchdowns, 7 picks with 445 rushing yards and 9 TDs on the ground. Even with what looks like pedestrian stats, Sorsby quietly finished as a top 15 fantasy QB.
His ceiling wasn’t nearly as high as others in our top 25, but he was a reliable QB with a high floor. The perfect QB to pair with your high-risk/high-upside QB. Sorbsy was throwing the ball 32 times a game last season, which is more than we typically see in this system. If he keeps up that volume and sees a bit more in the run game, he can become a high-end QB2. He’s a safe dual-threat QB, and if he can get more from his WRs, we should see more flashes from him.
Sam Leavitt comes in as one of the most reliable second-tier QBs from last year. He’s not going to win you weeks with 45-point blow-ups, but he’s also not going to sink your lineup with 8-point duds. He’s a guy we like to pair with a high upside but riskier option — the perfect sidekick QB. Leavitt is going to throw the ball 25 times a game and run it around 8 times. He has solid weekly volume, and the rushing upside keeps him in the second tier of QBs.
He’s a guy on NFL radars after leading Arizona State to the playoffs last season. He makes quick decisions and has excellent ball placement. He’s got dual-threat mobility, running for 443 yards and 5 TDs last season. ASU loses top rusher Cam Skattebo, but they bring back top WR target Jordyn Tyson and TE Chamon Metayer as well as some solid transfers to help bolster the WR room. The loss of Skattebo will hurt the run game, but could benefit Leavitt in the passing game, giving him more opportunities to run.
We caught flashes of who Devon Dampier was back in 2023, but he exploded onto the scene last year at New Mexico, throwing for over 2,700 yards and rushing for 1,100 yards for a team that couldn’t stop anyone. He was must-see TV, pure chaos, 50-point shootouts, and 100-yard rushing games. Big plays. Big mistakes. No matter how the games ended, Dampier was a top 20 QB. He had such a high ceiling and very rarely showed his floor.
Dampier has a new home this year, following OC Jason Beck to Utah. Beck has some CFF history. You may remember guys like Bryce Perkins and Brennan Armstrong. He was their quarterback coach during the top-10 seasons they produced. His two-year stint at Syracuse wasn’t as successful, which included his first shot as an OC. It makes us wonder how the jump from Mountain West to the Big 12 will impact both Beck and Dampier.
While the Big 12 isn’t known for its elite defenses, it does offer a step up in speed and pressure. You also have a defense-minded head coach who has historically had offenses run a slower tempo than what Beck ran at New Mexico last season. It’s unlikely Dampier hits the same wild volume, but we do think they are going to have to rely on his legs at Utah with that shaky wide receiver room. If he can hold up throughout the season, he’ll have high weekly upside as a true dual-threat playmaker.
Last summer, Byrum Brown was a no-brainer 1st-round pick in CFF drafts, coming off a monster 2023 campaign where he threw for over 3,200 yards and ran for over 800 yards while scoring 22 total touchdowns. He had his go-to slot man, Sean Atkins, back, and all he needed to do was get past Alabama and Miami; then his schedule lightened up. Unfortunately, his production significantly declined. He was only averaging 167 pass yards and 53 rush yards before going down with injury in Week 5 and missing the rest of the year. Even against the winnable opponents, it just felt like he never found his rhythm.
Fast forward to 2025, and we’re looking at a nearly identical script. Brown faces Boise St, Florida, and Miami all in the first three weeks of the season. If he can get through that stretch healthy, the schedule opens up for a second-half surge. His value lies in his legs, and that is where his value resides, but he does just enough in the passing game to give him an elite ceiling. We expect another slow start, but Brown could be the player who helps you win your league down the stretch.
