Way-too-early ACC quarterback rankings heading into the 2026 season: Where is Beau Pribula?

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Now that more activities are going to start ramping up for college football, it seems like a good time to drop our way-too-early positional rankings for the upcoming season, starting with the quarterback position. Though everyone already knows that Miami's Darian Mensah is at the top, how things shake out behind him is relatively unknown.

Let's dive right into it!

Way-too-early ACC QB rankings for 2026

1. Darian Mensah, Miami

There's not much to say here, Mensah is one of the top quarterbacks in all of college football, and that shouldn't change at Miami in 2026.

2. C.J. Bailey, North Carolina State

Bailey is an incredibly intriguing athlete at the quarterback position, and his passing ability has improved over the past two seasons as well. He's in line to have a massive year, and the 6'6" quarterback could begin to skyrocket up 2027 NFL Draft boards by the end of the 2026 season.

3. Kevin Jennings, SMU

Jennings has great vision and mechanics, showing off his ability to layer the football beautifully in a lot of different spots. His biggest downside has been his turnover problem (24 INTs over the past two seasons), but if he can get that under control in 2026, the sky is the limit for Jennings and SMU this year.

4. Jaron Keawe-Sagapolutele, California

"JKS" looked excellent in 2025, showing off his above-average accuracy in the intermediate area of the field and top-notch pocket movement for a true freshman. He undoubtedly lived up to his recruiting hype in year one; now let's see if he can cut down on the interceptions (9) in year two.

5. Mason Heintschel, Pittsburgh

Heintschel was inconsistent at times as a freshman, but when he flashed, he FLASHED. He led the Panthers to a 6-3 record after taking over the starting job from Eli Holstein, and absolutely dominated North Carolina State and Georgia Tech last year. He should be one of the better sophomore signal-callers in college football in 2026.

6. Steve Angeli, Syracuse

Before he tore his Achilles last season, Angeli was undoubtedly performing like one of the best quarterbacks in the conference, throwing for 1,317 passing yards, 10 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions while completing 62.8% of his passes throughout the first four games of the year. We should see more of the same in 2026.

7. Ethan Grunkemeyer, Virginia Tech

Grunkemeyer was pretty good for Penn State in 2025 before following James Franklin to Virginia Tech this offseason. Though his first two starts were rough last year, he led the Nittany Lions to four straight wins to close out the season. He completed 73.8% of his passes in that final stretch as well.

8. Lincoln Kienholz, Louisville

This is more of a projection, but Kienholz has undoubtedly shown the potential to succeed as a full-time starter at the FBS level. He has underrated movement skills and could be a guy who rattles off some explosive runs in 2026 on top of being a pretty decent passer. Can Jeff Brohm unlock his full potential at Louisville? Stay tuned.

9. Beau Pribula, Virginia

Pribula is already an excellent runner, but Tony Elliott and Co. need him to be a refined passer in 2026 as well. If the Cavaliers' run game can be successful again this season and can help limit what Pribula has to do through the air, the former Mizzou quarterback could end up having an incredibly efficient and exciting season for UVA.

10. Walker Eget, Duke

Eget is a really intriguing ACC quarterback heading into 2026 at Duke. He showed the ability to make some really nice throws for a pass-heavy San Jose State team last year, and he should have better weapons with the Blue Devils. Duke's offense is obviously going to feel the effects of losing Darian Mensah, but Eget could end up being fairly good for them this year.

11. Christopher Vizzina, Clemson

One of the ACC's hottest topics this offseason has been why Clemson didn't go out and bring in another starting-caliber quarterback via the transfer portal. Though Vizzina performed pretty well against SMU in his lone start of 2025, he's been fairly underwhelming besides that outing. He hasn't gotten much hype from the Clemson faithful either, based on practice reports and/or spring game fallout.

12. Gio Lopez, Wake Forest

Yes, Lopez looked bad at UNC, but there were definitely some things going on behind the scenes with him and Bill Belichick. The redshirt junior quarterback looked great at South Alabama in 2024, and hopefully he'll be able to get back on track with a fresh start at Wake Forest in 2026.

13. Billy Edwards Jr., North Carolina

Edwards Jr. was silently one of the more impressive quarterbacks in the Big Ten at Maryland in 2024 when it comes to sheer arm talent. Though he was injured in week one of the 2025 season at Wisconsin and basically never played again, he has the potential to blow up at UNC in 2026. He undoubtedly has one of the strongest arms in the ACC right now.

14. Ashton Daniels, Florida State

Daniels has been fairly underwhelming when on the field over the past two seasons, but Mike Norvell and Co. are hoping that they can "fix" him in 2026. He's always been an exciting runner, he just hasn't been able to put it together as a passer, which is why he didn't have many suitors in the transfer portal. It'll be interesting to see how he looks in a Florida State offense that could use his skillset to their advantage this year in the QB run game.

15. Alberto Mendoza, Georgia Tech

Mendoza is a huge unknown heading into the 2026 season, but it sounds like he's got the starting job locked up right now, at least to begin the year. He did a good job in garbage time at Indiana in 2025 both as a passer and runner, but let's see if he can replicate that success as a full-time starter for Georgia Tech this season.

16. Mason McKenzie, Boston College

McKenzie, an incoming transfer from Saginaw Valley State (D2), was the 2025 GLIAC Conference Player of the Year as a redshirt sophomore. He completed 59.8% of his passes for 2,086 passing yards, 17 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions while rushing for 942 yards and 10 touchdowns. He's definitely an intriguing player at quarterback for Bill O'Brien, and it'll be interesting to see if he can mold him into a more efficient passer while using him as an effective runner as well in 2026.

17. Davis Warren, Stanford

Like FSU's Ashton Daniels, Warren's been pretty uninspiring whenever he's at quarterback, but maybe new Stanford HC Tavita Pritchard can change that this year. The last time Warren was a full-time starter, he threw more interceptions than touchdowns at Michigan. Though he looks to be the starter right now, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Cardinal turn to backup QB Dylan Rizk at some point throughout the year.

This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/virginia as Way-too-early ACC quarterback rankings heading into the 2026 season: Where is Beau Pribula?.

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