Just 2 QBs crack rankings of college football’s top returners in 2026

It's the same thing every year. In the college football offseason, a lot of time and energy is spent focused on the quarterback class, generally touting how good the overall group is, and questioning which player will be at the top of NFL draft boards the following spring.

That is especially the case going into 2026, considering there are names like Arch Manning, Dante Moore, and Julian Sayin, among many others, on that list of QBs likely entering their final season of college ball, but when you look at the landscape of veteran players across the nation, it's fair to argue that the season, at large, is going to be defined by non-passers.

The quarterbacks garner the attention, but the other guys make the biggest difference.

Over the weekend, On3 released its ranking of the top 10 returning players across college football going into this season, and it was relatively surprising to see that just two QBs — Manning and Moore — made the list, and were low in the rankings, on top of that.

Here's the full breakdown from On3:

1. WR Jeremiah Smith — Ohio State
2. CB Leonard Moore — Notre Dame Fighting Irish
3. WR Malachi Toney — Miami Hurricanes
4. EDGE Colin Simmons — Texas Longhorns
5. EDGE Dylan Stewart — South Carolina Gamecocks