New-Look ACC Provides Huge Chunk
Of NFL Quarterback Starters, Backups
By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
(last updated Aug. 16, 2025)
The National Football League’s 2025 preseason schedule, which runs from July 31 through Aug. 23, is offering another reminder of the professional league’s heavy Atlantic Coast Conference flavor, especially at the most important position on the field.
While the NFL’s regular season won’t begin until Sept. 4, the latest projections have at least six — and perhaps even eight — quarterbacks who previously competed for current ACC schools as the likely starters behind center for their respective pro teams.
At the high end of the possibilities, if one of a wide variety of projected second-team QBs (see below) somehow gets promoted in the coming weeks, a full one-quarter of the 32-team NFL would have someone from a current ACC school calling the offensive signals on opening day.
The only other college conferences with six or more of their products (those who actually played in the conference) currently projected as first-string NFL quarterbacks this season are the Southeastern Conference (eight) and the pre-realignment version of the Pac-12 (six).
Here’s the full ACC list, in alphabetical order:
Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens (Louisville)
Daniel Jones, Indianapolis Colts (Duke)
Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars (Clemson)
Drake Maye, New England Patriots (North Carolina)
Aaron Rodgers^, Pittsburgh Steelers (Cal)
Cam Ward#, Tennessee Titans (Miami)
Deshaun Watson*, Cleveland Browns (Clemson)
Russell Wilson, New York Giants (NC State)
^—played at school before it joined ACC
#—2025 NFL rookie
*—may miss entire 2025 season with injury
Seven of the eight quarterbacks listed above (representing seven different ACC schools) have been NFL starters in previous seasons. Ward, the #1 overall selection in the 2025 NFL draft, is the only newcomer in that regard.
Maye, New England’s first-round selection (#3 overall) in 2024, started 12 games for the Patriots last season. Now he has a new head coach in Mike Vrabel and a new wide receiver in former UNC star Mack Hollins, a nine-year NFL veteran who is playing for his fifth pro team.
“I actually know (Maye’s) brother Luke,” Hollins said. “We were in school together. Their family is great, and I think that’s important at any position, but especially quarterback, because I think there’s so much more on the shoulders of quarterbacks, especially in today’s game.
“So, he was raised well, but he’s also a fierce competitor. Just from watching him and playing against him, I know that, and I’m excited to get opportunities to play with him and catch the ball from him.”
Including Ward, who won the Davey O’Brien and Manning Awards (as the nation’s top college QB) during his single season with the Miami Hurricanes, four of the eight projected starters listed above are getting a fresh start with a new team this season.
Jones, a 28-year-old from Charlotte, served as the New York Giants’ primary signal-caller (69 starts) over the past six seasons, after developing into a first-round draft pick during his four years at Duke. Waived by the Giants late last season, he spent a short time with the Minnesota Vikings before signing a one-year contract with the Indianapolis Colts as a free agent in March.
Rodgers, 41, a first-team All-Pac-10 selection at Cal way back in 2004, spent the past two years with the New York Jets after his record-setting 18-year career with the Green Bay Packers. He signed a one-year contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers as a free agent in June.
Wilson, 36, started all 174 games (including the playoffs) he participated in during his 10-year tenure with the Seattle Seahawks, then served as the starter for the Denver Broncos (2022 and 2023) and the Pittsburgh Steelers (2024) over the past three seasons. He signed a one-year contract with the Giants as a free agent in March.
Many other former ACC quarterbacks, including two more from UNC, are considered “one play away” from becoming NFL starters at some point this season, too.
Among the projected second-teamers heading into the 2025 regular season are Arizona Cardinals QB Jacoby Brissett (NC State), Detroit Lions QB Hendon Hooker (Virginia Tech), Minnesota Vikings QB Sam Howell (UNC), Philadelphia Eagles QB Tanner McKee^ (Stanford), Cleveland Browns QB Kenny Pickett (Pitt), New Orleans Saints QB Tyler Shough (Louisville), New York Jets QB Tyrod Taylor (Virginia Tech), Buffalo Bills QB Mitch Trubisky (UNC) and New York Giants QB Jameis Winston (Florida State).
Pickett, 27, is in his fourth NFL season. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ primary starting QB in 2022 and 2023, he’s battling 40-year-old veteran Joe Flacco and high-profile rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders for the top spot on the Browns’ depth chart this year.
Shough, 25, blossomed into a high draft pick during his single season at Louisville, after three years at Oregon and three at Texas Tech. New Orleans selected him in the second round, 40th overall, and he’s battling second-year pro Spencer Rattler (who went 0-6 as the team’s QB1 a year ago) for the Saints’ starting job.
The ACC will offer another exciting crop of quarterbacks this season, including Clemson senior Cade Klubnik, Miami sixth-year senior Carson Beck (a Georgia transfer), Georgia Tech sixth-year senior Haynes King, Virginia sixth-year senior Chandler Morris (a North Texas transfer), Louisville redshirt senior Miller Moss (a Southern Cal transfer), Virginia Tech redshirt senior Kyron Drones, SMU redshirt junior Kevin Jennings, Duke redshirt sophomore Darian Mensah (a Tulane transfer), Pitt redshirt sophomore Eli Holstein, UNC redshirt sophomore Gio Lopez (a South Alabama transfer) and NC State sophomore CJ Bailey.
