The Big 12 Conference has some of the best passers in the country. Even after losing the likes of Sawyer Robertson, Sam Leavitt, and Josh Hoover to both graduation and the transfer portal, there are some new faces that will shine in 2026, along with some existing proven passers.

Ranking each quarterback is based on opinion. It's hard to fully project what they are going to do in the new season, but when you look at analytics, you might have a better idea of what things could look like.

For this article, we are using Pro Football Focus' 2025 offensive grade for each projected starter in 2026 to see how they stack up.

Ranking each projected Big 12 starter

1. Jaden Craig (TCU) - 91.3 grade
2. Drew Mestemaker (Oklahoma State) - 88.3 grade
3. Noah Fifita (Arizona) - 85.1 grade
4. Devon Dampier (Utah) - 83.1 grade
5. Bear Bachmeier (BYU) - 78.9 grade
6. Will Hammond (Texas Tech) - 78.8 grade
7. Avery Johnson (Kansas State) - 74.8 grade
8. Jaylen Raynor (Iowa State) - 74.5 grade
9. Connor Weigman (Houston) - 74.4 grade
10. Michael Hawkins (West Virginia) - 74.1 grade
11. Julian Lewis (Colorado) - 72.1 grade
12. Alonza Barnett (UCF) - 71.1 grade
13. Chase Jenkins (Presumed Kansas starter) - 67.2 grade
14. DJ Lagway (Baylor) - 66.7 grade
15. JC French (Cincinnati) - 65.4 grade
16. Mikey Keene DNP in 2025 OR Cutter Boley (Arizona State) - 59.4 grade

Immediate takeaways

Inside the top five are two transfers and three returning starters. It's easy to imagine Drew Mestemaker having a breakout season in the Big 12 Conference, traveling to Oklahoma State with his former coach, Eric Morris.

TCU's Jaden Craig was elite at Harvard, but will he put up the same numbers playing against D-1, Big 12 teams? Time will tell. There is also the caveat of playing time from 2025. None of Julian Lewis, Michael Hawkins, and Will Hammond were full-time starters a year ago, so those stats are skewed.

Is Lagway really that low?

As for why you might be reading this article, to see where DJ Lagway ranks as Baylor's new starting quarterback. It's safe to say that PFF was hard on Lagway for his turnover issues, as it should've been. Lagway led the SEC in interceptions and he has to fix that in Waco this season.

It's also safe to say that Lagway is headed into a friendly environment. Not only will he play in Jake Spavital's wide-open offense, but he won't be under the same pressure he faced in Florida. His former head coach, Billy Napier, was under a lot of local and national pressure last season, and while Dave Aranda is also on the hot seat, Lagway won't have as many national eyes on him in 2026.

2025 was a bad season for the former five-star gunslinger, but when 2026 is done and over with, it's hard to imagine Lagway being that low in these same rankings.