Okay, forcing Pac-12 QB Rankings this year seems like a less-than-fruitful exercise. Yet, here we are. While it’s just Oregon State and Washington State in the mix, we figured we’d do these Pac-12 QB Rankings a bit different, explaining the Beavers and Cougars QB situation, but also ranking them against their Mountain West counterparts.
2024 Pac-12 QB Rankings
As with all of our conference rankings and our national quarterback evaluations, the Pac-12 QB rankings below consider everything involved with quarterbacking at the major college football level.
While statistics are listed, they were not the lone deciding factor in ranking the athletes. The list below prefers programs with a solidified quarterback situation and one signal-caller who plays significant snaps against top-tier competition. Two-quarterback systems will always be looked down upon, especially in those cases where an answer has not yet been provided for the long term.
Other factors in these rankings include but are not limited to game film, injury history, play-calling, offensive system knowledge and continuity, general quarterbacking mechanics, level of competition, the elevation of supporting casts, and several other influential factors.
All Other QB Rankings
National 1-134 | ACC | B1G | Big 12 | SEC | AAC | CUSA | MAC | MWC | Sun Belt | Independent
1) Ben Gulbranson | Oregon State
National Rank: 111
Though he made a start to end the year, Ben Gulbranson’s most consistent work came in 2022 as the starter for Oregon State in the final eight games. Though they weren’t all pretty, there were some solid moments, including a bowl-game shellacking over Florida to end the season.
However, he was spurned by his own coaching staff when they secured D.J. Uiagalelei in the portal last year, and it was clear Gulbranson wasn’t the clear-cut starter many thought he may have earned.
So what saw him struggle and why was he cast aside? Perhaps it was his inability to push the ball downfield accurately or consistently. Or perhaps it was something internally.
All we can do is look to what we know, and the lack of top-tier traits is a worrisome fate for any quarterback vying at the highest level of college football.
2) John Mateer/Zevi Eckhaus | Washington State
National Rank: 126
Word on the street is that Washington State is set to announce their starting QB on August 17, just two weeks ahead of their season opening game against Portland State. Good thing for the Cougars, they get a warm-up match against the Vikings in order to figure out if they made the right call or not.
Between John Mateer and Zevi Eckhaus, the Cougars may be a year away from competing in every game on their new-look Pac-12/Mountain West combination, solely because of the unknown at the position. Mateer has been with the program for three seasons now, throwing just 19 total passes across seven games of action.
Eckhaus, on the other hand, has a wealth of experience at the FCS level, throwing for nearly 3,000 yards in each of the past two seasons at Bryant. However, if you look at his performance against his FBS competition during his three-year run at Bryant, it leads much to wonder about.
He averaged under five yards per attempt against Akron back in 2021 and performed well against UNLV for a half in 2023. Those are spurts, though, and if he is to win the job, it’ll be because the staff in Pullman thinks he can consistently win downfield, something he did frequently against inferior competition.
Pac-12 vs. Mountain West QB Rankings
Here’s how the Oregon State and Washington State QB situations stack up against the rest of the Mountain West quarterbacks this season, given the fact that they’ll be playing de facto MWC schedules.
1) Mikey Keene | Fresno State
2) Brayden Schager | Hawaii
3) Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi | Colorado State
4) Matthew Sluka | UNLV
5) Maddux Madsen | Boise State
6) Danny O’Neill | San Diego State
7) Ben Gulbranson | Oregon State
8) Devon Dampier | New Mexico
9) Bryson Barnes | Utah State
10) Chubba Purdy | Nevada
11) John Busha | Air Force
12) Evan Svoboda | Wyoming
13) John Mateer/Zevi Eckhaus | Washington State
14) Jay Butterfield | San Jose State
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