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Unlike previous seasons, the Big 12 is shaping up to have as many as ten above-average quarterbacks surveying the field this fall, a handful of which are on the BYU Cougars' schedule.
As part of the The Athletic's recently released tiers of all 138 projected starting quarterbacks in college football heading into 2026, we dove into where every opposing passer for the Cougars fell in the rankings. As expected, there were a number of highly-ranked quarterbacks that BYU will be up against.
None were ranked higher than Notre Dame's CJ Carr, who found himself in the first tier at No. 3 overall. Carr's first season as a starter was in 2025, and he showed the sort of pinpoint passing ability that has drawn comparisons to Drew Brees. While that's a midseason matchup against the Fighting Irish, the Cougars will take on Noah Fifita and Arizona in Week 2. The Wildcats' signal-caller landed in Tier 2 at No. 10 overall, representing an early test for BYU's pass defense.
From there, the quarterback for BYU's bitter rival, Utah, appears on the list in Tier 3 and 22nd overall. Devon Dampier's 2025 season was mired with injuries, but he was as dynamic as it gets from the quarterback position when he was healthy.
Dampier was the only opposing Tier 3 passer, but four were included in Tier 4: TCU's Jaden Craig (No. 38 overall), Arizona State's Cutter Boley (No. 40 overall), Baylor's DJ Lagway (No. 42 overall) and UCF's Alonza Barnett III (No. 43 overall). Each of whom are transfers, excelling at their previous spot and parlaying their successes into a spot in the Big 12.
The going gets a bit easier for BYU with the four other quarterbacks that the Cougars face. Iowa State's Jaylen Raynor, who threw 52 touchdowns in three seasons at Arkansas State, is considered to be in Tier 5 at No. 50 overall.
Cincinnati starter JC French IV, a Georgia Southern transfer, and Colorado State starter Hauss Hejny, an Oklahoma State transfer, each were in Tier 6 at No. 79 and 84 overall, respectively. Unproven Kansas starter Cole Ballard held up the rear, coming in at 108th overall in Tier 7.
While there are several players that are in Ballard's boat as unproven starters at their respective schools, the Cougars pass defense will need to be on its game week to week in order to take care of business during the regular season.
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This article originally appeared on BYU Cougars Wire: BYU's 2026 opposing QBs in the The Athletic's QB tiers
