The Athletic: College football quarterback tiers 2026: Ranking every projected starter from 1 to 138 (#29. Drake Lindsey)

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Per The Athletic:

Our expert panel consisted of roughly three dozen coaches, general managers, personnel directors, scouts and front office staffers across the country, representing every conference. These people, who spoke on condition of anonymity so they could offer their honest opinions, gave us their thoughts on how quarterbacks in their league compared, what they think of players they’ve competed against and who the very best in the country are, regardless of conference. We relied heavily on this feedback to form the list. There was no formal point system or vote tally. We simply leaned on these experts for their insight.

Just like last year, we categorized the 138 quarterbacks into tiers. There is no fixed number for each tier; they are divided where separations felt natural based on feedback.

29 Drake Lindsey

Lindsey more than held his own in his first season as a starter. He threw for 2,382 yards, led the Golden Gophers to eight wins and solidified himself as a key building block for the program. His size, tools and play have even generated some early NFL Draft buzz, and he should only be better this season now that he has a year of starting experience under his belt.

“He’s got a big arm,” a Big Ten front office staffer said. “If you look more at the statuesque passer-type with a big-bodied kid who makes a ton of plays for them, too.”


Scouting Take
Lindsey is one of the more underrated quarterback prospects in college football. A good-sized passer, he has a strong arm and delivers with touch. And he anticipates well to put the ball where his receiver will be, not where he is. His 2025 tape is littered with decisions he would like back, which is to be expected of a first-year starter in the Big Ten. But scouts are excited to see what Year 2 looks like. — Brugler


Go Gophers!!
 


Per The Athletic:

Our expert panel consisted of roughly three dozen coaches, general managers, personnel directors, scouts and front office staffers across the country, representing every conference. These people, who spoke on condition of anonymity so they could offer their honest opinions, gave us their thoughts on how quarterbacks in their league compared, what they think of players they’ve competed against and who the very best in the country are, regardless of conference. We relied heavily on this feedback to form the list. There was no formal point system or vote tally. We simply leaned on these experts for their insight.

Just like last year, we categorized the 138 quarterbacks into tiers. There is no fixed number for each tier; they are divided where separations felt natural based on feedback.

29 Drake Lindsey

Lindsey more than held his own in his first season as a starter. He threw for 2,382 yards, led the Golden Gophers to eight wins and solidified himself as a key building block for the program. His size, tools and play have even generated some early NFL Draft buzz, and he should only be better this season now that he has a year of starting experience under his belt.

“He’s got a big arm,” a Big Ten front office staffer said. “If you look more at the statuesque passer-type with a big-bodied kid who makes a ton of plays for them, too.”


Scouting Take
Lindsey is one of the more underrated quarterback prospects in college football. A good-sized passer, he has a strong arm and delivers with touch. And he anticipates well to put the ball where his receiver will be, not where he is. His 2025 tape is littered with decisions he would like back, which is to be expected of a first-year starter in the Big Ten. But scouts are excited to see what Year 2 looks like. — Brugler


Go Gophers!!
I think to be a no doubt first rounder, he needs two more years under his belt, unless we/he have an off the charts season.
 
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Here is the full ranking of Big Ten quarterbacks

Tier 1

#2 – Dante Moore (Oregon)

#5 – Julian Sayin (OSU)

Tier 2

#9- Jayden Maiava (USC)

#12 – Josh Hoover (IND)

Tier 3

#20 – Demond Williams Jr. (WASH)

#21 – Malik Washington (MD)

#24 – Rocco Becht (Penn State)

#25 – Nico Iamaleava (UCLA)

#29 – Drake Lindsey (MN)

Tier 4

#31 – Bryce Underwood (MICH)

#36 – Colton Joseph (WISC)

#39 – Anthony Colandrea (NEB)

#41 – Katin Houser (IL)

Tier 6

#69 - Alessio Milivojevic (MICH ST)

#70 – Aiden Chiles (NW)

Tier 7

#106 – Jeremy Heckliniski (IOWA)

#107 – Dylan Lonergon (Rutgers)

#111 – Ryan Brown (Purdue)

COMMENTS:

Poor Ryan Brown and Lonergon! Two starters last season who are ranked below a guy who has thrown two passes in his career to this point. I guess that's a case of what you don't know having to be better than some things you do know.

Based on what Milivojec showed against us last season I think he's a bit underrated. Interesting that the player ranked directly below him is the one who he replaced as a starter at Michigan State.

I will admit to not watching Malik Washington last season (Who watches Maryland unless your team is playing them?) but there is a lot of preseason praise being showered on him and I don't entirely get it. He was only a true freshman last season but he ranked only above Ryan Brown in QB rating for the season. He certainly threw the ball a lot last season (39.4 passing attempts per game)

Nico Iameleava seems to be benefitting from his elite HS ranking (#2 QB in the country per 247). His QB ranking was lower than Drake's last season and he was older and more experienced than Drake.
 


I think to be a no doubt first rounder, he needs two more years under his belt, unless we/he have an off the charts season.
Mendoza was ranked #17 last year I believe. The bigger programs get the benefit of the doubt in these rankings imo. It wouldn't surprise me to see Drake put up numbers this year that compare to Mendoza.
 



Mendoza was ranked #17 last year I believe. The bigger programs get the benefit of the doubt in these rankings imo. It wouldn't surprise me to see Drake put up numbers this year that compare to Mendoza.

That would surprise me a hell of a lot. Mendoza wasn't just a starter for a national champion. He also led the nation in Quarterback Rating in Sports Reference's system (182.9). Second place was OSU's Julian Sayin at 177.5. Drake's first year rating was 126.9. Sure, it helps your quarterback rating a lot when you have one of the very best team's playing with you but Drake is still going to have that comparative disadvantage this season.
 






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