With transfer Mikey Keene now in the mix with Bryce Underwood, questions are starting to arise surrounding #Michigan’s starting quarterback in 2025. We looked at five true freshmen around college football who played/started this season and how they fared:
The Michigan Wolverines’ quarterback room is finally coming together, as head coach Sherrone Moore landed Fresno State quarterback Mikey Keene in the transfer portal. He will join the No. 1 ranked player in the 2025 recruiting class, Bryce Underwood, and the No. 9 ranked quarterback in the 2024 recruiting class, Jadyn Davis.
There are already a ton of debates swirling over whether Underwood should start for the Wolverines as a true freshman, so we took the opportunity to analyze the quarterback battles from the 2024 season that included freshman quarterbacks to see what their coach decided to do with the predicament.
The Wolverines have historically not promised a single player a starting job, and it is hard to believe Underwood is any different. Five freshmen saw meaningful game action in 2024, but they all took different paths to the starting job:
Nebraska Cornhuskers
: Dylan Raiola
(Freshman) vs. Heinrich Haarberg (Junior)
Dylan Raiola garnered a ton of attention from the media before he even played a snap in Lincoln, Nebraska. There was a small competition between Raiola and Heinrich Haarberg, who returned to the Cornhuskers as the lone holdover from the previous season’s quarterback room, but Raiola won the starting job.
Raiola led Nebraska to a bowl-eligible 6-6 record while throwing for 2,595 yards, 12 touchdowns and 10 interceptions with a 66.6 percent completion percentage. Head coach Matt Rhule had a disappointing season, as there was a steep learning curve for the former five-star. But the trajectory of the program appears to be headed in the right direction in large part due to Raiola.
Florida Gators: DJ Lagway
(Freshman) vs. Graham Mertz (RS Senior)
While Raiola was the first freshman to start, DJ Lagway may have been the most impressive in 2024. After losing the quarterback battle to Graham Mertz, Lagway sat and learned. In a season and a half, Mertz threw 26 touchdown passes, and he broke Florida’s single-season completion percentage record (72.9) in 2023. However, Mertz dealt with a concussion early in 2024 and head coach Billy Napier turned to Lagway in Week 2 against Samford.
As the No. 7 ranked quarterback in the class, Lagway showed out in his first career start, breaking a Florida true freshman record with 456 passing yards. Mertz came back after the injury, but then tore his ACL a few weeks later. Lagway has started every game since.
Lagway finished the season with 1,915 passing yards, 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions, leading the Gators to a bowl win over Tulane. There were a lot of growing pains as well, as Lagway posted a 59.9 completion percentage and finished with a quarterback rating of 57.6. Nonetheless, he has a strong foundation to lead Florida next season.
Utah Utes: Isaac Wilson
(Freshman) vs. Cam Rising (RS Senior)
Utah has stuck behind its seventh-year quarterback Cam Rising for a long time. However, season-ending injuries have continuously been the thorn in Rising’s side, and a lower leg injury was the latest hurdle. Isaac Wilson was the starter the rest of the way.
Wilson was the No. 18 quarterback and the No. 280 overall player in the 2024 class, and his inexperience showed in his eight starts. Wilson went 2-6 as a starter, throwing for 1,436 passing yards, nine touchdowns and nine interceptions (two more as a backup). He also carried a 56.4 percent completion rate and a 31.0 quarterback rating.
This is a good example of what most true freshmen quarterbacks look like if they are thrust into action. Most true freshmen simply aren’t ready for the next level of competition and need a year or two of seasoning before being ready to roll. Perhaps Wilson can bounce back next year with more than half a season of experience already under his belt.
NC State Wolfpack: CJ Bailey
(freshman) vs. Grayson McCall (RS Senior)
Similar to Wilson, NC State had high expectations with veteran quarterback Grayson McCall to start the season. The Wolfpack were ranked 22nd in the preseason AP Poll, but they were blown out, 51-10, to Tennessee in Week 2, and NC State lost McCall to a career-ending injury a week later.
Three games in, the Wolfpack turned to CJ Bailey. He was the No. 29 quarterback and the No. 432 overall recruit in the 2024 class. He completed 64 percent of his passes this season for 2,183 yards, 14 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also ran 88 times for 255 rushing yards and had five scores.
Going 5-4 as a starter, Bailey helped NC State get to a bowl game, and he will look to build off that in 2025.
San Diego State Aztecs: Danny O’Neil
(Freshman) vs. AJ Duffy (Sophomore)
While many believed Raiola was the only true freshman quarterback to start the entire season, Danny O’Neil out of San Diego State also conquered the feat. As the No. 45 quarterback and No. 680 overall recruit, O’Neil was committed to Deion Sanders and Colorado, but he ended up signing with the Aztecs after San Diego State hired former Buffaloes offensive coordinator Sean Lewis as their head coach.
In a tight battle with Florida State transfer AJ Duffy, O’Neil surprisingly won the starting role during training camp. It was a rough year for O’Neil, as he went 3-8, including a six-game losing streak to finish the season. O’Neil completed 63 percent of his passes for 2,181 yards, 12 touchdowns and six interceptions, and he was sacked a whopping 26 times in 11 games. His 33.3 quarterback rating was one of the lowest among starting quarterbacks. After one season, O’Neil entered the transfer portal and has since committed to Wisconsin to compete with incoming freshman Carter Smith for the starting job in Madison.
What We Learned
Out of the five freshmen quarterbacks that saw meaningful snaps, two didn’t post a winning record, and the other three led their team to a 6-6 record. There is always a big learning curve for high school quarterbacks coming to the college level, so nothing is guaranteed to work right away.
Notable top quarterbacks that sat on the bench for most or all of the 2024 season included Ohio State ’s Julian Sayin (No. 1) and Air Noland (No. 4), Florida State’s Luke Kromenhoek (No. 5), Notre Dame’ s CJ Carr (No. 6), Penn State’s Ethan Grunkemeyer (No. 7), Auburn’s Walker White (No. 8) and Georgia’s Ryan Puglisi (No. 10).
Moore will have to make a tough decision about Underwood, Keene, Davis, or someone else, and comparing freshmen’s success at other programs will be one piece of the puzzle.