Rivals Rankings Week: Breaking down the 2025 QBs

NEW POSITION RANKINGS: Pro-Style QB | Dual-Threat QB

The updated 2025 Rivals250 has been released and now it’s time to break down each position. We start with the quarterbacks by looking at four big storylines moving forward.

RIVALS RANKINGS WEEK

Sunday: Who should be No. 1?

Monday: Five-Star Countdown | Meet the new five-stars

Tuesday: New Rivals250 released | Gorney’s thoughts | Biggest risers

Wednesday: Offensive position rankings | Breaking down the QBs | Breaking down the RBs | Breaking down the WRs/TEs | Breaking down the OL

Thursday: Defensive position rankings

Friday: State rankings

Saturday: Rivals Rankings Roundtable

Keelon Russell was already a five-star but now he ranks inside the top five of the Rivals250. The Alabama commit has taken his game to another level this season, already surpassing 3,000 passing yards and 45 touchdown passes with an expected deep playoff run still ahead of him. Improved stats aside, Russell’s abilities as a passer have continued to improve. He has a better command of the offense, is much more comfortable moving in and out of the pocket and is keeping his eyes downfield to deliver passes to his playmakers.

Jaron Sagapolutele, TJ Lateef and Malik Washington each made sizable moves in this update to the Rivals250 as well. Sagapolutele, currently committed to Cal, jumped up 81 spots in the Rivals250 after continuing to build on the momentum he gained during the offseason with an incredible senior campaign in which he became the all-time leading passer in Hawaii high school football history. Lateef saw a move up of 61 spots while Washington reentered the Rivals250 at No. 183.

With this rankings update Tavien St. Clair, Bryce Underwood and Russell now top the Rivals250. There is just one rankings update remaining but if this top three holds steady it will be the first time the Rivals250 has had quarterbacks in each of the top three spots. With quarterbacks earning the three highest rankings in the nation is a direct reflection of the trends observed in the NFL Draft.

There have only been two other classes where the top five of the Rivals250 has featured three quarterbacks in the past but each time it has been in slots No. 1, 2, and 4. In 2023 Arch Manning was the No. 1 player followed by Nico Iamaleava at No. 2 and Dante Moore at No. 4. The 2018 Rivals250 featured Trevor Lawrence at No. 1, Justin Fields at No. 2 and JT Daniels at No. 4.

This quarterback class isn’t just great at the top, there is plenty of depth as well. In fact, there are now 12 quarterbacks in the top 100 of the Rivals250, which will be the most ever if the cycle finishes this way. The 2004, 2018 and 2021 classes each had 11 quarterbacks in the top 100 but this 2025 crop appears to be even deeper.

Rounding out this elite class of quarterbacks Julian Lewis (uncommitted), Deuce Knight (Auburn), Tramell Jones (Florida), Ryan Montgomery (Georgia), KJ Lacey (Texas), Bryce Baker (North Carolina), Husan Longstreet (USC), Jaron Sagapolutele (Cal) and Carter Smith (uncommitted). The move up by Sagapolutele certainly helped push this class into record-breaking territory but many of these quarterbacks have been ranked highly since early in the cycle.

Underwood has ranked inside the top three since the initial 2025 top 100 watch list in September 2022. Montgomery was also included on that list. Lacey and Knight have been in the Rivals250 since March of 2023. The release of the June 2023 Rivals250 brought the additions of St. Clair, Russell, Jones, Baker and Longstreet to the list. Smith joined the Rivals250 during the update in December of 2023. Lewis was originally No. 1 overall in the 2026 class when the initial top 100 watch list was released in September of 2023. He reclassified to the 2025 class in January of 2024, maintaining his five-star rating through that transition.

There are now 20 quarterbacks in the Rivals250, which is the most since 2021. Of those 20 quarterbacks, 15 of them are committed to either the SEC or Big Ten, leaving just five who are uncommitted (Julian Lewis and Carter Smith) or committed to an ACC program (Ty Hawkins, Bryce Baker, and Jaron Sagapolutele).

Conference realignment is to blame for this consolidation. Six of those 15 quarterbacks pledged to either the SEC or Big Ten would be headed to the Big 12 or what was the Pac-12. Texas, Oklahoma, USC, Cal, Oregon and UCLA all hold commitments from Rivals250 quarterbacks and each of them are in new conferences this season. SMU, which is in its first season in the ACC, is also set to sign a Rivals250 quarterback in Hawkins.