College football’s 10 best backup quarterbacks: LSU, SMU among teams with strong QB2 options in 2025

The depth of construction at the quarter -university football is almost impossible in the era of the transfer portal. It is rare that a quality backup remains in fact, especially since – if they are quite good – they can go somewhere that they have promised a more immediate departure place.

Quality backup quarters are therefore an invaluable goods. The teams hope that they never need it, but it is entirely possible that a quarter-Arrière 2 can do or break a season, depending on the injuries and other factors.

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This is why it is appropriate to highlight these unspecified backups. Whether it is a veteran who is stuck despite other changes in the quarter room, or a young player who decided to transfer in a better situation, here is a glimpse of the 10 quarters of backups of university football.

It should be noted that this list is limited to college backups that have already played significant snaps. We could do an entire article based on the old first -rate perspectives which serve as backups in 2025 while they are waiting for their turn to start.

As such, very well rated n ° 2 are included in a fast fire list at the end of the article.

Michael Van Buren, LSU

Van Buren stolen under the radar while starting eight games as a real recruit at the Mississippi State last season, but he showed real potential as the future SEC star. He only completed 54.7% of his passes with seven interceptions, but these figures are expected of a first-year quarter from one of the country’s most competitive conferences.

Here is how the Van Buren figures accumulate against the Florida quarter-Arrière, DJ Lagway, who has played in a comparable number of games and which, after a similar sample, already receives a certain recognition is a quarter of the top 10 of university football:

Van Buren therefore has a lot of potential. Now he’s in an ideal place. LSU has become a modern quarter-Arrière factory and Van Buren learns behind the overall potential choice n ° 1 in Garrett Nussmeier while taking more time to develop without the pressure of carrying out an offense. It is also a premium insurance option.

Matthew Caldwell, Texas

The Texas plunged into the spring portal to add a veteran backup that is necessary behind Arch Manning, which patiently waited for its turn as a Texas Starter. Caldwell comes to Austin as a fifth year senior who spent the 2024 season in Troy. He started the year on Troy’s bench before starting the last five games.

In his relatively short playing time, he launched 1,608 yards and 13 affected while rushing for five other affected. He guided the Trojan horses to a 3-2 file and, with Caldwell opening the way, Troy’s attack collected on average 35.8 points and 235.6 yards per game. Caldwell, however, could have competition for rescue work with Trey Owens after Redshirting in the first year in 2024.

Chriss replaced a Donovan Smith in difficulty as a Houston Starter in the middle of the 2024 season. Normally, this would put him in a privileged position to maintain the incoming role in 2025. But the cougars went to the transfer portal and landed the former Texas A&M Conner Weigman, a former five -star prospect and a four -star transfer according to 247Sports.

Houston did not recruit Weigman to get into the pine. However, Weigman brings a story of injury regarding Houston, which means that cougars may have to count on Chriss again. While Chriss leaves a lot to be desired as a passer – he had only 824 yards and four affected at eight interceptions in seven departures – he is an excellent runner with a lot of athletics and speed to burn. His comfort in the system of coach Willie Frtiz is another boon, was Houston to recall his number again.

Ashton Daniels, Auburn

Auburn has not actually named a starting quarter, so there is a projection here, but it is sure to assume that the old Jackson Arnold five stars will be the first in the game once August 29. This leaves Daniels and Freshman Deuce Knight for rescue work. We will give Daniels an advantage thanks to his experience.

After being Quarter-Arrière Wildcat in Stanford in 2022, he became the starter of the cardinal in 2023 and started 20 games in the last two seasons. In this period, he launched for 3,947 yards and 21 affected with 20 interceptions. Daniels is also a more athlete, with 1,117 yards and nine affected rushing into his career, so that he can carve out an option to change place in certain training courses.

There was once a time when Van Dyke looked like the next great thing in university football. He was a star in small groups in Miami in 2021 when he launched for 2,931 yards and 25 affected in nine starts. But his campaign in 2022 was hampered by a joint AC sprain in his shoulder and a majority of his 2023 season was affected by a knee injury, so he never really reached the heights he put in the second year.

He was transferred to Wisconsin in 2024 and had his only year with badgers interrupted after three games due to a torn ACL. Sustainability is a major concern, but it doesn’t matter as much when SMU do not count on him to appear in each match. He is a high-level option as a starter, was something to arrive at Mustangs star, Kevin Jennings, and he knows the boss of the SMU Rhett Lashlee, who was an attacking coordinator of Miami from 2020-21, where he led Van Dyke in the best year of his career.

It is still not clear what direction Bill Belichick will go to the quarter in his first year with the Tar Heels. North Carolina took the transfer from the south of Alabama Gio Lopez during the spring transfer window, which seems to indicate that it will get the first crack at the start. The first year four -star student Bryce Baker is also like the future of the program.

Johnson should not get lost in the shuffle, even if he recalls a devastating leg injury. He entered the 2024 season as North Carolina QB1 and, before that, he started 23 games in Lsu and Texas A&M. His best year occurred in 2021 when, with the Tigers, he recorded 2,814 yards and 27 affected. He also had 1,969 yards and 12 affected during his two years with the Aggles, although he has never played a full season.

It’s no longer a question of knowing when, and not if Underwood will emerge as a starter of Michigan. It is simply too talented to stay in the pen for a long time. Keene could at least have the chance to secure her place during the first games. No matter who comes out first, Michigan is in an ideal place with its second option.

Underwood was the best hope of the 2025 class. He has a ready -made frame for university, a live arm and the talent to raise a Wolverines stagnant attack. Keene, on the other hand, brings 34 games of departure experience of stops at the UCF and Fresno State. He has more than 8,000 yards and 65 affected in his career.

TCU is in large hands with Josh Hoover, especially given its sustainability. The horns in horns could do much worse than having seals as an option of “break-breast in an emergency”. Seals did not play last season – his first with TCU – but he started 22 games in the dry with Vanderbilt before moving to Fort Worth.

In 2020, he became the third real first-year quarter to start a first of the season and he launched a better 1,928 yarking yards and 12 affected with 10 interceptions in nine games. During the following seasons, he rebounded between the starting point and a reserve a role. The seals exceeded 1,000 meters in the air in 2021 and 2023.

Few backups come while Battle has been tested as Sims. He started 10 games in the first year at Georgia Tech in 2020, was a booming starter for the Yellow Jackets in the next two years, then transferred to Nebraska in 2023, where he was bench after two departures. Sims returned the ball in 11 of its 28 trips as a QB of Nebraska.

He therefore transferred again and was option n ° 2 for an Arizona 2024 state team which won the title Big 12 and went to the play football playoffs. He started in the defeat of the state of Arizona against Cincinnati last season while Sam Leavitt was injured. Sims brings value as a veteran in the quarter room, even if you do not necessarily want to see it enter a game in times of crisis.

Like some teams on this list, Texas A&M enters the 2025 season with a young starter – Marcel Reed – and decided to travel the transfer portal for a veteran. The Aggies won one of the most experienced options available in Zeno, which has participated in university football since 2019. He initially signed with Baylor and then transferred to the UAB in 2022.

He finally gained a chance to start regularly in 2023 and was well shown by completing 73.6% of his passes for 3,126 yards and 20 affected. He maintained the departure position in 2024 but suffered an end to the end of the season four games in the year.

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