Greg McElroy pushes back on the Big Ten having the best quarterbacks in college football in 2025

The Big Ten boasts a boatload of talent at quarterback entering the 2025 campaign. However, ESPN’s Greg McElroy isn’t convinced the conference will have the best QBs in the country next season. Last week, McElroy explained his hesitation to name the Big Ten the conference of the QB in the upcoming season.

“I like the potential at a few places for sure,” McElroy said. “We’re kind of hinging our expectations on the potential of a handful of guys like Dante Moore at Oregon. Obviously, really highly-regarded, highly-touted player, but you don’t know for sure until they run out there and take the first snap.

“You don’t really know what you have until the guy goes out there and passes that test. The same can be said with Julian Sayin, assuming he gets the job at Ohio State. I think he’s probably the guy to beat, really highly-touted guy, clearly incredible skill set, great potential, but we don’t know just yet.”

Moore and Sayin are far from the only pieces in the Big Ten that McElroy isn’t all in on yet. While Michigan‘s Bryce Underwood was the No. 1 player in the 2025 recruiting cycle, there’s no way to know for sure how he will perform against collegiate competition until the season begins.

McElroy really likes pre-existing standouts like Penn State‘s Drew Allar and Illinois‘ Luke Altmyer, but he also needs to see them to continue to progress next season. McElroy is more than willing to admit the Big Ten could ultimately have the best quarterbacks, but he wouldn’t bet on it going into the season.

“I can’t, at this point, tell you that without a shadow of a doubt it’s the best group collectively,” McElroy said. “Are we going based on what they’ve done at the college level so far? Are we going based on upside? Because I gave you the three big names that could really alter the perception of the quarterback position in the Big Ten.

“That’s Dante Moore, Julian Sayin and Bryce Underwood. Those three guys all knock it out of the park, completely different conversation. But at this point, there’s a few more known commodities in other places.”

McElroy believes the Big 12 might have the best claim for quarterback talent ahead of the 2025 campaign. With Arizona State‘s Sam Leavitt, Baylor‘s Sawyer Robertson, TCU‘s Josh Hoover and other returning starters taking the stage, the Big 12 will have a loaded slate of talent behind center next season.

McElroy also mentioned the ACC and the SEC as potentially having better QB rosters than the Big Ten. Fans won’t have to wait long to see which quarterbacks step up this fall. College football kickoff is officially just over a month away, and McElroy can’t wait to see how the season pans out.