2024 ACC Quarterback Rankings (Part Two):
Second Group Promising But Unpredictable
By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
One of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s most persistent marketing messages this summer has been its “Conference of Quarterbacks” theme.
Indeed, the ACC placed the most players (counting ties) on the preseason watch lists for the 2024 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award (13), the Maxwell Award (10) and the Davey O’Brien Award (eight).
In the league’s preseason Player of the Year voting, Miami QB Cam Ward (a transfer from Washington State) topped the list, and three very productive returning starters also received votes: Virginia Tech’s Kyron Drones, Georgia Tech’s Haynes King and SMU’s Preston Stone.
During the preseason, at least a half-dozen ACC head coaches stated or implied that they believe their guy deserves top billing in the league, although some were much more direct than others.
“(King is) the best quarterback in the ACC,” Georgia Tech coach Brent Key said. “I won’t be surprised if he’s on every list at the end of the season. I am backing that up when I say that. That’s not bullcrap. That kid’s special.”
Viewed through the National Football League lens, too, the ACC has been impressive lately at the most important position on the field. Eight products of current ACC schools are projected to start at quarterback in Week One of the upcoming NFL regular season, and since 2018 the ACC is the only league that has had at least one quarterback drafted in the first round in five different drafts.
At the same time, though, some early projections of either the upcoming college football season or the 2025 NFL draft left the ACC’s quarterbacks out of the conversation almost entirely, with Georgia’s Carson Beck, Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel, Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, Texas A&M’s Conner Weigman, Houston’s Donovan Smith, Texas’ Quinn Ewers and/or Mississippi’s Jaxson Dart getting more national attention.
Below is Part Two of a three-part series. (You can find Part One here and Part Three here.) The national QB rankings (among the 70 projected starters at power conference programs) and player evaluations are from Pro Football Focus.
7. Kyle McCord, Syracuse, 6-3/220, Sr., 13 career starts (12-1 record)
PFF National Rank: #32
High School: 5-star prospect from Philadelphia (Pa.) St. Joseph’s
Recruitment: enrolled in 2024 as transfer (Ohio State)
Offensive Coordinator: Jeff Nixon, first season (first with McCord)
2023: 229-348 passing (65.8%), 3,170 yards, 24/6 TD/INT; 32-(-65) rushing (0 TDs)
Syracuse head coach Fran Brown on McCord: “I’ve seen a winner. That was the first thing. I said, OK, this guy can win. Played at a high level, played in one of the blue bloods of college football. And I’ve seen the work ethic now. I see a guy that, man, has a chip on his shoulder. I see a guy that wants to go show you who he is by proving himself right.”
PFF College: “Former Ohio State starter Kyle McCord has his limitations but took way too much criticism in Columbus last season. He lost just one game, posted a 90.3 clean-pocket grade and threw multiple touchdowns in nine of his 12 starts. He isn’t mobile, so pass protection is important with him under center. However, Syracuse, which hasn’t had a 3,000-yard passer since 2012, should be thrilled McCord is its quarterback.”
8. Max Johnson, North Carolina, 6-5/225, 5th-Year Sr., 22 career starts (12-10 record)
PFF National Rank: #33
High School: 4-star prospect from Watkinsville (Ga.) Oconee County
Recruitment: enrolled in 2024 as transfer (Texas A&M/LSU)
Offensive Coordinator: Chip Lindsey, second season (first with Johnson)
2021: 225-373 passing (60.3%), 2,814 yards, 27/6 TD/INT; 78-(-39) rushing (1 TD)
2023: 118-190 passing (62.1%), 1,452 yards, 9/5 TD/INT; 51-27 rushing (2 TDs)
UNC head coach Mack Brown on Johnson: “Max Johnson is 6-5. He’s 230 (pounds). Really smart. Tough. He’s played 1,600 snaps in the SEC. He’s thrown 900 passes and played against very tough competition in a tough league and in loud stadiums. But he’s had five offensive coordinators and five different offenses in five years. So we gotta go back and make sure he’s confident, because there has been a lot of stuff thrown at him through these last five years.”
PFF College: “Johnson was thrown into the fire at Texas A&M last season after Conner Weigman went down with a season-ending injury. The son of Super Bowl champion Brad Johnson posted a career-high 80.6 passing grade. Like his father, Johnson has a cannon for an arm and uses it very well when protected. He has some very nice weapons to work with, including RB Omarion Hampton and TE Bryson Nesbit, and should have a nice year in Chapel Hill.”
PFF National Rank: #35
High School: 3-star prospect from Waycross (Ga.) Ware County
Recruitment: enrolled in 2023 as transfer (UCF)
Offensive Coordinator: Will Lawing, first season (first with Castellanos)
2023: 189-330 passing (57.3%), 2,248 yards, 15/14 TD/INT, 215-1,113 rushing (13 TDs)Boston College head coach Bill O’Brien on Castellanos: “Tommy is one of the most improved players on our team. He’s done a really good job of learning our system, what we’re trying to do offensively, directing things, changing plays, changing protections, mike-(linebacker)-points-type things, he’s done a great job with that. He’s done a good job of standing in there and delivering the ball and making those off-schedule plays that I think are a big part of his game.”PFF College: “Castellanos’ frame and rushing ability are reminiscent of Kyler Murray. He has explosive wheels and finished second among all quarterbacks in rushing yards and missed tackles forced. He struggled mightily as a passer in ACC play, but if Bill O’Brien can help Castellanos find consistency on that front, he could become one of the most dynamic playmakers in college football.”
10. Hank Bachmeier, Wake Forest, 6-2/215, 6th-Year Sr., 37 career starts (22-15 record)
PFF National Rank: #44
High School: 4-star prospect from Murietta (Calif.) Valley
Recruitment: enrolled in 2024 as transfer (Louisiana Tech/Boise State)
Offensive Coordinator: Warren Ruggiero, 11th season (first with Bachmeier)
2021: 252-401 passing (62.8%), 3,079 yards, 20/8 TD/INT; 60-(-20) rushing (0 TDs)
2023: 182-269 passing (67.7%), 2,058 yards, 10/5 TD/INT; 58-47 rushing (2 TDs)
Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson on Bachmeier: “We’re gonna play the long game with this one. I think 2021 might have been the only year here that we didn’t have to start different quarterbacks. We have two guys (Bachmeier and career backup Michael Kern) in their sixth year, and then we have a bunch of guys in their first and second year, and I hope that we can keep those guys healthy, but certainly odds are that we’re going to need both of them.”
PFF College: “Bachmeier is a veteran pocket quarterback who enjoyed success at Boise State and Louisiana Tech. He has a very good arm and is capable of making NFL-caliber throws when he is protected. His 91.2 clean-pocket passing grade was a top-15 mark in the nation last season. He can be productive this season if Wake Forest provides the requisite pass protection and he makes fewer mistakes under pressure.”
PFF National Rank: #45
High School: 5-star prospect from Austin (Texas) Westlake
Recruitment: enrolled in 2022 as high school signee
Offensive Coordinator: Garrett Riley, second season (second with Klubnik)
2023: 290-454 passing (63.9%), 2,844 yards, 19/9 TD/INT; 125-182 rushing (4 TDs)Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney on Klubnik: “Growth-wise, he’s physically bigger. He’s about 210 (pounds), so he’s substantially bigger than he was this time last year. So, we’re proud of that. But we’ve all seen him take that next step in practice. So now he’s just gotta go do it on game day, you know, consistently. Oh, by the way, you get — the first ‘warmup’ is the #1 team in the nation (Georgia), but we’re proud of him. He’s had a great camp. … Cade has really grown as a leader, and the things that he needed — that we needed to see him improve on, he’s done that in practice, and he’s done it in our scrimmages. Now he’s just got to go carry that to game day.”PFF College: “Klubnik will be under the microscope in Year Two as the Tigers’ starter. His first full season was a bit discouraging. He made some nice throws last season, especially in the intermediate range, but he also made at least one turnover-worthy play in all but one of his starts. As a result, he earned at least a 70.0 overall grade in just one game. Clemson’s offense will struggle again if Klubnik doesn’t significantly improve.”
