Sam Khan Jr. and Antonio Morales at The Athletic put their names to a ranking of the 138 projected starting quarterbacks in FCS football this week.
Coming in at #1: Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss, who this time a year ago was a D2 transfer, before leading Ole Miss to the College Football Playoff.
Darian Mensah, who bolted from Duke to Miami in the offseason, comes in at #4.
Texas QB Arch Manning, despite his pedigree, is #7.
A few more ACC guys:
- Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele (Cal, 14)
- Kevin Jennings (SMU, 15)
- CJ Bailey (NC State, 21)
- Mason Heintschel (Pitt, 23)
- Steve Angeli (Syracuse, 44)
- Ethan Grunkemeyer (Virginia Tech, 45)
One other name to note here: former Virginia QB1 Anthony Colandrea (Nebraska, 39).
All of these, before we get to the guy that Tony Elliott has installed as his #1, Beau Pribula, who comes in at #46.
Note: The Athletic’s 2025 preseason QB ranking had Chandler Morris at #55, behind nine other ACC quarterbacks, including Virginia Tech’s Kyron Drones, who led his team to a 3-9 record, around his head coach getting fired.
Ahem.
The assessment of the guys at The Athletic: Pribula was a gadget player at Penn State before getting his first extended snaps last season at Missouri, which he led to eight wins.
“He didn’t excel as a passer,” The Athletic wrote. “He threw eight touchdowns in nonconference games and just three in SEC play, and he didn’t throw a touchdown pass after Oct. 11.”
Quoting an SEC general manager:
“At times, saw a tough competitor, but that’s kind of it. Overall, just thought he was average.”