Sleeper College Football QBs with Potential for Turnaround 2024 Seasons

Morgan MoriartyMarch 5, 2024Sleeper College Football QBs with Potential for Turnaround 2024 Seasons0 of 8

Cameron Rising #7 of the Utah UtesChris Gardner/Getty Images

College football players have breakout seasons every year. It’s especially cool to see quarterbacks have surprising seasons to jump-start their careers.

As we look ahead to the 2024 season, a handful of signal-callers could have some major turnaround seasons. Some have already showed flashes of what they can do but haven’t been able to stay consistent or healthy enough. Others have been buried on depth charts and haven’t gotten chances to showcase their talents as starters.

Let’s take a look at sleeper quarterbacks who could have turnaround seasons in 2024. While we can’t guarantee each of these guys will have big seasons, they all should have the opportunity to do so.

Recruitment rankings mentioned throughout are via the 247Sports composite rankings.

Duke QB Maalik Murphy 1 of 8

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Maalik Murphy was a 4-star quarterback prospect and the No. 12 signal-caller in the 2022 recruiting class. However, he sat behind starter Quinn Ewers for his two seasons at Texas.

Murphy saw action in seven games last season, going 40-for-71 with 477 passing yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. Texas also signed highly touted quarterback prospect Arch Manning last spring, so it’s not too surprising that Murphy opted to transfer following the 2023 season.

Murphy has since landed at Duke, who has a new head coach in Manny Diaz. The former Miami head coach, who served as Penn State’s defensive coordinator for the last two seasons, has a relationship with Murphy that reportedly goes back to his middle school days.

“The relationship between Diaz and Murphy goes back to when Murphy was in like the eighth grade,” 247Sports insider Tom Loy said in December. “So they have an outstanding shot. My gut right now would probably be Duke as the team to beat.”

Duke is looking for a new starting quarterback in the wake of Riley Leonard’s transfer. Murphy will be competing with Grayson Loftis and Henry Belin IV for that job.

Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard2 of 8

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Quarterback Riley Leonard entered the transfer portal after Duke head coach Mike Elko left for Texas A&M. At Notre Dame, he’ll be in line to replace starter Sam Hartman in 2024.

As a sophomore in 2022, Leonard threw for 2,967 yards and 20 touchdowns with six interceptions. He also rushed for 699 yards and 13 touchdowns while helping lead the Blue Devils to a 9-4 record.

However, Leonard suffered ankle and foot injuries that caused him to take a step back last season. He played in only seven games for the Blue Devils, throwing for just 1,102 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. He completed only 57.6 percent of his passes and added 352 yards and four scores on the ground.

Leonard has plenty of room to improve against big competition, which he’ll face a lot of at Notre Dame. According to Pete Sampson of The Athletic, Leonard completed less than 50 percent of his passes against the four teams he faced that finished the season in the Top 25, and he threw only one touchdown in those games.

We’ll see what a new system will mean for Leonard and the Fighting Irish, who will be looking for a playoff bid in 2024.

Kentucky QB Brock Vandagriff 3 of 8

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Brock Vandagriff is hoping to reach the top of a depth chart in 2024. The former 5-star quarterback prospect from the class of 2021 was the No. 4 signal-caller and No. 17 overall prospect when he signed with the Georgia.

However, Vandagriff backed up Stetson Bennett for two seasons and sat behind Carson Beck in 2023. Over three seasons, he completed only 12 passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns.

With Beck opting to return to Athens for the 2024 season, it wasn’t a surprise that Vandagriff entered the transfer portal. He landed at Kentucky, where he’s expected to be the starter.

“I liked Kentucky before I even talked with [offensive coordinator] Coach [Liam] Coen much just because of their offense,” Vandagriff said of his decision to transfer to the Wildcats. “[Georgia head coach Kirby Smart], he regards Kentucky pretty highly.

“We played them every year we were there at Georgia and he always spoke well about them. Spoke well about Coach Stoops. That’s before I even had any conversations with either of them. Then being able to talk with him after I entered the portal and stuff, I already knew that their offense was really similar to what Georgia runs.”

We’ll soon see if he can live up to his recruiting hype now that he’ll finally get a starting spot in Lexington.

Utah QB Cameron Rising 4 of 8

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Utah’s Cameron Rising will make his long-awaited return from injury in 2024.

Rising helped lead the Utes to a Pac-12 title in 2022 amidst a breakout season in which he threw for 3,034 yards with 26 touchdowns and eight interceptions while rushing for another 465 yards and a touchdown. He also had a solid season in 2021, throwing for 2,493 yards with 20 touchdowns and five interceptions and rushing for 499 yards and six scores.

However, Rising tore his ACL, meniscus, MPFL and MCL against Penn State in the 2023 edition of the Rose Bowl, which kept him off the field entirely last season. Utah had a down year in 2023, finishing 8-4 and struggling with quarterbacks Bryson Barnes and Nate Johnson.

“We’re elated to have him back,” Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said of Rising’s return last month. “He’s a tremendous leader, tremendous player, and a legitimate Heisman candidate, in our opinion. Having him back is huge for our football team. He’s doing very well; everything is as it should be… we expect him to participate fully in spring ball.”

Rising is now entering his fifth collegiate season. As Utah moves to the Big 12 next season, his return should make the Utes a contender within the conference.

Washington QB Will Rogers5 of 8

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Longtime Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers is hoping a fresh start out west can help boost his career.

Rogers had his best season as a sophomore in 2021 in Starkville, when he threw for 4,739 yards with 36 touchdowns and nine interceptions. However, his production has regressed since then.

In 2022, Rogers threw for 3,974 yards, 35 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Injuries limited him to only eight games last season, and he finished with 1,626 passing yards, 12 touchdowns and four interceptions.

Rogers transferred to Washington before then-head coach Kalen DeBoer left for Alabama. But new head coach Jedd Fisch was able to retain Rogers even though the signal-caller briefly entered transfer portal following DeBoer’s departure.

“I have a lot of faith in Coach Fisch and feel like he’ll be ready to have us compete at a high level,” Rogers told ESPN’s Pete Thamel of his decision to remain in Seattle.

Four-star QB signee Demond Williams also followed Fisch from Arizona to Washington, but Rogers’ experience should give him the edge under center.

Iowa QB Cade McNamara6 of 8

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Iowa signal-caller Cade McNamara has had an up-and-down collegiate career thus far.

He had a breakout season at Michigan in 2021, throwing for 2,576 yards with 15 touchdowns and six interceptions. He led the Wolverines to a 42-27 win over Ohio State and their first-ever College Football Playoff bid that year.

But following a battle with J.J. McCarthy for the starting job in 2022 at the start of the year, the job ultimately went to McCarthy. McNamara transferred to Iowa following a season largely spent on the bench.

McNamara was named the Hawkeyes’ starting quarterback prior to the 2023 season. Through five games, he threw for 505 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions. But during the Hawkeyes’ Sept. 30 game vs. Michigan State, McNamara unfortunately tore his ACL, sidelining him for the rest of the season.

After struggling under offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz, the Hawkeyes replaced him with Tim Lester this offseason. Lester spent 2023 as an offensive analyst for the Green Bay Packers, and he was Western Michigan’s head coach from 2017-22.

It sounds like there is some optimism surrounding McNamara’s return in Iowa City.

“Whenever Cade is ready to go, I’m looking forward to working with him,” Lester said in February, via David Eickholt of Hawkeye Insider. “But there is absolutely zero way that you can discount his experience. When you have experience in playing in games, I’m very confident that he’ll pick it up when it’s time, when he’s healthy, when he’s ready. If he didn’t have a ton of experience, I’d be more scared, more worried.”

A fully healthy year under a new offensive coordinator could have the makings of a breakout season for McNamara.

Texas A&M QB Conner Weigman7 of 8

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Thanks to coaching decisions and injuries, we have yet to see quarterback’s Conner Weigman’s full potential.

When Weigman was a true freshman in 2022, then-Aggies head coach Jimbo Fisher didn’t play him until Texas A&M’s last five games of the season. He finished with 896 passing yards, eight touchdowns and zero interceptions.

When Weigman was named Texas A&M’s starter in 2023, the expectations were high under center in College Station. However, he suffered a right foot injury during a Week 4 win over Auburn that sidelined him for the rest of the season. He threw for 979 yards with eight touchdowns and two interceptions and rushed for two scores over four games before his injury.

Fisher is out at TAMU, and Weigman will remain the quarterback under center with new Aggies head coach Mike Elko and offensive coordinator Collin Klein. The latter spent the last seven seasons on Kansas State’s coaching staff before joining Elko’s staff.

“I think first, it’s having Collin Klein,” Elko told ESPN’s Pete Thamel in February. “Who is one of the brightest young minds in all of college football right now, and certainly a guy that played the position in an extremely high level and did it from a toughness standpoint at an extremely high level.

“And I think all of that commands a certain level of respect. And so you announced Collin as the OC and all of a sudden Conner’s up here 12 hours later and he wants to talk to him. And so you see those guys starting to meet and formulate those relationships.”

Weigman looks poised to have his brightest season yet with a new coaching staff.

Wisconsin QB Tyler Van Dyke8 of 8

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Tyler Van Dyke showed promise early on in his career at Miami. But he’s looking for a fresh start at Wisconsin following some injuries and lack of consistency in Coral Gables.

As a redshirt freshman at Miami in 2021, Van Dyke threw for 2,931 yards with 25 touchdowns and six interceptions over 10 games. He did so coming off the bench due to injury, and he was named the ACC’s Rookie of the Year for his efforts.

He regressed a bit in 2022, throwing for just 1,835 yards and 10 interceptions with five interceptions. An injury to his throwing shoulder caused him to miss a few games, too.

Things didn’t improve for him much last season for the Canes. He threw for 2,703 yards with 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, and he missed the Oct. 21 game against Clemson due to injury. He was then benched for Miami’s game against Florida State in early November.

At Wisconsin, Van Dyke will fill the void of a veteran quarterback, as he’s replacing outgoing quarterback Tanner Mordecai. Badgers offensive coordinator Phil Longo, who watched Van Dyke play when he was North Carolina’s offensive coordinator from 2019-2022, is excited about coaching the signal-caller this fall.

“He’s a guy that has proven he can do that in the past and he’s a guy that I’ve actually watched live and that carried some weight with me with regards to liking him because I’ve seen him do it against our defense two years in a row,” Longo said, via Evan Flood of 247Sports. “I’ve seen him do it against the entire league that I coached in for four years and I know what he was competing against and I know how high a level he was playing and so I’m obviously thrilled to have him here in our quarterback.”

A fresh start in a new system may be just what Van Dyke needs to get his career back on track. If he can stay healthy, he should have a big year. The Badgers return leading receivers Will Paulding and Bryson Green from last season and three starters along the offensive line.