CBS Sports shakes up Top 10 QB Power Rankings following Week 12 of college football

CBS Sports analyst Tom Fornelli shook things up with his latest list of college football’s Top 10 quarterbacks, including crowning a new No. 1 QB that many project to the first player taken in the 2025 NFL Draft — Colorado‘s Shedeur Sanders.

A key point of context before delving into Fornelli’s list: he doesn’t rank any quarterback the week after a loss or if they’re injured.

“You could be the greatest QB of all time, but if you lose on Saturday, you won’t be here,” Fornelli wrote.

Another vital point is Fornelli’s rankings aren’t based on any specific statistical formula or how he thinks they might be drafted in the upcoming NFL Draft. The ranking is purely based on the “juice” they’re creating at the moment — an arbitrary evaluation of how well they’re playing, what they’ve already accomplished and projections of what they might accomplish in the near future.

“If you believe a QB I haven’t listed should be listed, I only kept them off the list because I don’t like you,” Fornelli joked.

1. Shedeur Sanders, Colorado (+3)

Fornelli: “No QB in the country has done more to improve their draft stock this season than Shedeur. There’s a long time between now and the NFL Draft, but nearly everyone has Sanders atop their board right now. This wasn’t the case three months ago.”

Along with boosting his personal draft stock, the younger Sanders continues to turn heads and open eyes all across college football, and rose to No. 1 in Fornelli’s list due thanks his strong play against Utah, throwing for 340 yards and three touchdowns last Saturday. Sanders leads all Big 12 QBs with 27 passing touchdowns and 3,222 yards on a conference-best 72.9-percent passing this season.

2. Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss (-1)

Fornelli: “The win over Georgia was great, but Dart didn’t have superlative numbers in the game. Still it felt wrong to drop him more than one spot during a bye when nobody else directly below him did enough to move up.”

Dart remains one of college football’s most exciting quarterbacks with a SEC-leading 3,409 yards, 22 touchdowns and 70.8 completion percentage, and could become a difference-maker should the Rebels ultimately make the 12-team College Football Playoff field.

3. Jalen Milroe, Alabama

Fornelli: “You didn’t watch it, and neither did I, but Jalen had an excellent practice against Mercer. He finished with 229 total yards and three touchdowns as Alabama cruised to a win.”

Milroe continues to open eyes as a true dual-threat talent, leading the SEC with 32 total touchdowns, including ranking second in the league with 17 rushing scores — behind only Tennessee’s Dylan Sampson (21) on the ground.

4. Dillon Gabriel, Oregon (-2)

Fornelli: “It’s hard to argue with the fact that Gabriel played the worst game of the season against Wisconsin. He finished with a high completion rate but threw for only 218 yards, averaged 7.0 yards per attempt and threw an interception in the red zone.”

Gabriel continues to make an outside case to be a Heisman Trophy finalist much like his predecessor Bo Nix, leading the Big Ten with 3,066 passing yards and 28 total touchdowns while guiding the Ducks to the conference championship game in three weeks.

5. LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina (+1)

Fornelli: “After the big performance against Vanderbilt last week, I wrote that if Sellers developed into an efficient passer, the SEC was in a lot of trouble. Well, against Missouri, he completed 70-percent of his passes for 353 yards and five touchdowns. He averaged 11.8 yards per attempt! On 30 attempts!”

Sellers has been electric during South Carolina’s four-game SEC win streak, combining for 11 total touchdowns (10 passing) and 1,227 total yards in that stretch.

6. Will Howard, Ohio State (-1)

Fornelli: “Will Howard spent his Saturday playing football in a baseball stadium and making sure he didn’t lead any of his receivers into a brick wall. He finished with 247 yards and two touchdowns as Ohio State overcame a slow start to cruise past Northwestern.”

Despite a somewhat slow start to his Buckeye career, Howard has become a guiding force in Ohio State’s success with a 10-to-2 touchdown-to-intereception ratio during its current 4-game win streak ahead of Saturday’s showdown with Indiana.

7. Kurtis Rourke, Indiana (+1)

Fornelli: “The Hoosiers had a bye last week to help prepare for this week’s ginormous game against Will Howard and the Buckeyes. That means only one of these two will be here next week. Which one will it be?”

The Indiana senior QB has led college football’s own Cinderella to an undefeated season through the first 10 weeks with his consistency, ranking third in the Big Ten with 21 touchdowns and more than 2,400 passing yards.

8. Sam Leavitt, Arizona State (NR)

Fornelli: “Sam Leavitt and Arizona State showed up at Kansas State’s house, did not wipe their feet, went directly to the fridge, grabbed what they wanted, picked up the remote and settled into Kansas State‘s favorite chair without giving the slightest of damns.”

Leavitt combined for 317 total yards and three touchdowns to help the Sun Devils establish themselves as serious Big 12 contenders.

9. Cade Klubnik, Clemson (NR)

Fornelli: “I rest my case.”

Klubnik more than made his own case for inclusion on this list when he combined for 329 total yards and three touchdowns in a 24-20 win over Pitt, including the game-winning 50-yard touchdown run with 1:16 remaining in the game.

10. Sawyer Robertson, Baylor (NR)

Fornelli: “I’ve been a big Sawyer Robertson believer for a while now, as he’s been a huge reason for Baylor’s turnaround and Dave Aranda‘s continued employment in Waco, Texas.”

Robertson climbs into CBS Sports’ Top 10 QB ranking after throwing for 324 yards and three touchdowns in last Saturday’s win over West Virginia, a victory that cemented Aranda’s place as the Bears’ head coach for another season.

Honorable mention: Drew Allar, Penn State; Carson Beck, Georgia; Devon Dampier, New Mexico; Jordan McCloud, Texas State; Parker Navarro, Ohio.