Who are the likely starters for 2025? Which QB battles still have to be sorted out?
The calendar has flipped to June.
College football will be here before we know it, and so will Week 1 depth charts. While we wait these final summer months before the sport jumps into full swing, what can we expect at the quarterback position for the Mid-American Conference in 2025?
Here is every MAC team’s current QB situation laid out with a projected starter and potential starting candidates highlighted:
Akron Zips
Jeff Blake-Imagn Images
Projected starter: Ben Finley
Other candidates: N/A
Other quarterbacks: Cibastian Broughton, Brayden Roggow, Johnny Brookhart
There are only three primary starting quarterbacks from 2024 returning to the MAC for 2025, and Ben Finley is one of them, making him the clear-cut starter for 2025. The well-traveled super senior had stints at NC State and Cal, and now is the opportunity to conclude his six-year college career in Akron on a high note. Although 4-8 is nothing to celebrate, 2024 was Akron’s best season since 2018 and Finley’s presence was a major reason why. He delivered 16 touchdowns — the most by any Zip quarterback since 2016 — and only nine interception in a 2,604-yard season. With another year in Joe Moorhead’s system, Finley has All-MAC potential as one of the more veteran passers in the conference.
The remainder of Akron’s QB room are all freshmen without collegiate experience.
Ball State Cardinals
Photo by Jeff Moreland/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Projected starter: Kiael Kelly
Other candidates: Walter Taylor III
Other quarterbacks: Bodie Derrer, Aidan Leffler
Ball State’s quarterback situation is quite complex, but the Cardinals are likely riding with their primary 2023 starter in 2025. How did we get here? Kiael Kelly started six games in 2023 but then entered the transfer portal in April 2024. Kelly ultimately reversed course and remained at Ball State but changed positions to cornerback and then wide receiver to allow Kadin Semonza to operate in the No. 1 QB role. Then, Kelly and Semonza both entered the portal in December 2024. Semonza landed at Tulane while Kelly withdrew again, hoping to have a stranglehold on the starting job after throwing for 577 yards and rushing for 724 in 2023.
Kelly’s main competition is Vanderbilt and Colorado transfer Walter Taylor III, who arrives to Muncie after backing up Shedeur Sanders in Boulder last year. Taylor’s on-field experience is limited to 15 passing attempts and 30 rushing attempts in 2023 at Vanderbilt. Like Kelly, rushing is an integral component of the 6’5”, 236-pound Taylor’s game. Leffler also accumulated some experience during Ball State’s 62-0 and 63-7 non-conference losses last year, but the Cardinals likely ride with Kelly or Taylor — emphasizing mobility in Mike Uremovich’s new-look offense.
Bowling Green Falcons
Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images
Projected starter: Drew Pyne
Other candidates: Lucian Anderson III
Other quarterbacks: Baron May, Hunter Najm, Carsen Melvin
Connor Bazelak provided Bowling Green two years of his services, and it was a fruitful time for the Falcon offense. The former Missouri and Indiana transfer graduated this offseason, and now it’s time for another Missouri transfer to take the reins. Bowling Green landed Drew Pyne in the portal in early April. Starting games at Notre Dame, Arizona State, and Missouri, Pyne enters his new home with 12 starts and an impressive 9-3 record as the No. 1 quarterback. Despite arriving late to the party, Pyne likely takes the starting job in 2025. But that doesn’t mean to divert your attention from Lucian Anderson III.
Anderson frequently appeared in packages as a rushing-oriented quarterback in 2024, taking 19 carries for 67 yards while throwing 12 passes. Even if Anderson doesn’t best Pyne in a competition, there should be a place on the field for him, even with new head coach Eddie George at the helm. Another backup quarterback with experience is Baron May, who threw a 43-yard touchdown in the 68 Ventures Bowl while lining up as the punter on a trick play.
Buffalo Bulls
Photo by Bryan Lynn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Projected starter: Ta’Quan Roberson
Other candidates: Gunnar Gray, Jack Shields
Other quarterbacks: Mason Cumbie, Anthony Policare, Jason Wright
Buffalo loses 2024 starter CJ Ogbonna to graduation, and Ogbonna impressively held down the fort for all 13 games in his lone season as the team’s No. 1 option. That means 2025’s QB room arrives with some chaos. The most experienced name is seventh-year senior Ta’Quan Roberson who spent three years at Penn State, two at UConn, and one at Kansas State, accumulating 10 starts at UConn. Roberson threw for over 2,000 yards, 12 touchdowns, and six interceptions in his lone season as the guy, and he features the most experience of any quarterback on Buffalo’s roster.
Gunnar Gray was Buffalo’s No. 2 QB last year and he possesses the most familiarity with the system. Gray threw 11 passes — all in a 47-3 loss to UConn last September — and he’ll look to increase his role in 2025. There’s also Jack Shields who sat behind Gray on the depth chart last year but started a pair of games at Old Dominion in 2023.
Central Michigan Chippewas
Ron Johnson-Imagn Images
Projected starter: Joe Labas
Other candidates: Jadyn Glasser
Other quarterbacks: Angel Flores, Ethan Lane, Marcus Beamon, Logan Borodychuk
Joe Labas arrived to Mount Pleasant prior to the 2024 season and instantly won the Chippewas’ starting quarterback job. Central Michigan finished 4-8 last season, but the Iowa transfer led the team to a 3-3 record in his six starts. Labas fired for over 300 yards in his Chippewa debut and finished the season with 1,114 passing yards, seven touchdowns, and seven interceptions, but his debut year was cut short due to season-ending arm surgery.
Labas is expected to retain his starting position, but Jadyn Glasser, who started Central Michigan’s final three contests of 2024, is expected to provide some competition. Glasser led the Chippewas’ rivalry upset victory over Western Michigan as a true freshman and delivered a pair of touchdowns in the season finale at Northern Illinois. Other names to watch in the QB room include Angel Flores and Marcus Beamon. An FCS transfer, Flores started three games at Northern Arizona in 2023. Meanwhile, Beamon won NorCal Conference MVP honors at Butte College in the JUCO ranks.
Eastern Michigan Eagles
Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK
Projected starter: Noah Kim
Other candidates: N/A
Other quarterbacks: Cameron Edge, Jackson Holt, Jeremiah Salem, Jace Stuckey, Bryce Button
Eastern Michigan must replace 2024 starter Cole Snyder, and as usual, the Eagles consulted the transfer portal to find someone with experience. They landed Michigan State and Coastal Carolina transfer Noah Kim, who started the first five games for the Spartans in 2023. Kim completed 56.9 percent of passes that season for 1,090 yards with six touchdowns and six interceptions. At Coastal Carolina in 2024, he backed up Ethan Vasko but still appeared as a passer in seven games, going 30-of-56 with four touchdowns. Kim likely regains starting status in this relatively green Eastern Michigan quarterback room.
One other name of intrigue is Maryland transfer Cameron Edge, who threw 17 passes the last two years with the Terrapins. Edge accrued valuable experience in the 2023 Music City Bowl, throwing a touchdown pass in a 31-13 win over Auburn.
Kent State Golden Flashes
Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images
Projected starter: CJ Montes
Other candidates: Devin Kargman
Other quarterbacks: Ruel Tomlinson, Dru DeShields, Jett Hilding
It’s all uphill for Kent State, which is looking to rediscover itself after an 0-12 season with the worst offense in the FBS. The Golden Flashes went portaling this offseason and lured CJ Montes, who posted an eyebrow-raising stat-line of 2,997 passing yards, 26 touchdowns, and one interception in 2023 at Fordham in the FCS. The All-Patriot League quarterback’s follow-up act in 2024 was cut short due to a season-ending lower body injury suffered in September. For a team looking for an offensive spark, Montes — who originated at New Mexico — could be the answer to digging Kent State out of the cellar.
Another option Kent State has is Devin Kargman, who won the Week 1 starting job in 2024. Kargman started the first four games of the year before a gruesome season-ending hip injury suffered Week 4 at Penn State. Despite an 0-4 record, Kargman showed flashes of potential, firing for 181 yards and two touchdowns in the opener at Pittsburgh. He’ll look to recover from surgery and return to starting games this fall. Ruel Tomlinson also accumulated one start in 2024, giving Kent State a wealth of experience entering the new year.
Miami (OH) RedHawks
Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images
Projected starter: Dequan Finn
Other candidates: N/A
Other quarterbacks: Henry Hesson, Thomas Gotkowski, Noah Ehrlich, Joshua Kroenung
Welcome back to the MAC, Dequan Finn! Finn thrived in this league for many years at Toledo, winning the MAC MVP in 2023 and the conference championship in 2022. He ventured off to Baylor last year and was initially the starter, but Sawyer Robertson took over when Finn suffered an early-season injury and never relinquished the spot. That gives Finn a medical hardship redshirt which he used to return to the team that defeated him in his last game at Toledo. The sixth-year senior takes over for former sixth-year senior Brett Gabbert, who is currently vying for an NFL roster spot. Given Finn’s lofty accolades in the conference and vast experience, one can assume he’ll be QB1 when Week 1 rolls around.
Henry Hesson started the 2023 Cure Bowl and saw eight games of action for the RedHawks from 2022-24. He’s thrown 30 collegiate passes and is likely to spot Finn as a veteran backup with a great understanding of the playbook.
Northern Illinois Huskies
Photo by Loren Orr/Getty Images
Projected starter: Josh Holst
Other candidates:
Other quarterbacks: Jalen Macon, Brady Davidson
Northern Illinois must find a new primary quarterback for its final MAC season after 2024 starter Ethan Hampton departed for Illinois. Enter Josh Holst. Holst is already a bowl game MVP, winning the honors at the 2024 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl for leading a double-digit second half comeback to stun Fresno State in double-overtime. Holst showcased dual-threat abilities that game with 182 passing yards, two touchdowns, and 65 rushing yards, fitting the dual-type QB archetype NIU has looked for in roughly every starter since Jordan Lynch. Holst started a total of three games in 2024 and should be the guy Week 1 vs. Holy Cross of the FCS.
NIU only lists three quarterbacks on its current roster. Jalen Macon is an experienced transfer from Arkansas-Pine Bluff of the FCS while Brady Davidson is a true freshman from Columbia, MO.
Ohio Bobcats
Photo by Mike Mulholland/Getty Images
Projected starter: Parker Navarro
Other candidates: N/A
Other quarterbacks: Nick Poulos, Jacob Winters, Matthew Papas
Parker Navarro needs no introduction. He enters the 2025 season wielding hardware that every MAC quarterback wants after leading a dominant 38-3 victory in the 2024 MAC Championship Game. Navarro then guided a Cure Bowl victory where he won MVP honors, capping a Second Team All-MAC season as his Ohio Bobcats reached a program-record 11 wins. Navarro waited his turn several years behind Kurtis Rourke and now he’s the face of the league, throwing for 2,423 yards and 13 touchdowns while rushing for 1,046 and 18 in 2024. He threw for over 200 yards six times in 2024 and he rushed for over 100 six times as well.
Navarro only missed one game in 2024, and that gave Nick Poulos a start under his belt. Poulos likely enters the year as the No. 2 for the reigning MAC champs.
Toledo Rockets
Photo by Mike Mulholland/Getty Images
Projected starter: Tucker Gleason
Other candidates: N/A
Other quarterbacks: John Alan Richter, Kalieb Osborne, Jake DeHaan, Trey Whirley, Walter Moses
Toledo enters 2025 with a good quarterback situation, touting one of the most experienced starters in the conference as well as one of the most experienced backups. Tucker Gleason returns for his fifth year with the program and his second as the primary starter, delivering 2,808 passing yards, 24 passing touchdowns, 364 rushing yards, and seven rushing touchdowns in 2024. He ranks first among all returning MAC quarterbacks in passing yards and touchdowns last year, and his mobility is well-documented. Gleason’s presence in the offense should vault Toledo into its usual contender status.
John Alan Richter is an excellent backup behind Gleason. Richter earned his first start last year and shined in every opportunity he was thrust in. He completed 43-of-67 passes for for 497 yards and four touchdowns, winning his lone start.
UMass Minutemen
Projected starter: Brandon Rose
Other candidates: Grant Jordan, AJ Hairston
Other quarterbacks: Will Perry, Zach Lawrence
UMass debuts a new head coach in 2025 in Joe Harasymiak, and the QB room also gets a nice reset as well. There are three legitimate candidates which could challenge for the Minutemen starting role. One is Utah transfer Brandon Rose, who started and nearly led a massive upset over BYU last November. Rose suffered a season-ending injury that night, preventing his starting sample size from growing, but he thrived with 112 passing yards, two touchdowns, and 55 rushing yards against the Cougars.
AJ Hairston was UMass’ primary quarterback last November and he executed in the role with 480 yards passing and five touchdowns across four games — all without an interception. The other option is 2024 Yale starter Grant Jordan, who delivered 1,938 passing yards, 22 touchdowns, and three interceptions at the FCS level.
Western Michigan Broncos
Photo by Joseph Weiser/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Projected starter: Broc Lowry
Other candidates: Brady Jones
Other quarterbacks: Larry Robinson, Mason Reynolds, Brady Jones, Mark Konecny
2024 starter Hayden Wolff graduated, so Lance Taylor and staff must find a new quarterback to return to bowl season in 2025. Broc Lowry is the member of the group with the most FBS experience, and he’s thrown nine passes. Lowry saw limited action at Indiana in 2023 before transferring to Western Michigan for 2024. Last season, he was primarily inserted for certain packages as the Broncos’ most mobile quarterback. Lowry took advantage of those packages with 133 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 25 attempts (5.3 average), but now he is required to step up as a passer as well.
Larry Robinson threw six passes and rushed for 80 yards as an Army backup in 2023, while Brady Jones shined at the community college level. At Riverside CC in 2024, Jones racked up 4,456 yards and 44 touchdowns on a 64 percent completion clip and could challenge for the starting job with his aerial experience.