The Davey O’Brien Foundation has revealed the Davey O’Brien QB Class of 2024. Six of the 35 quarterbacks named to the prestigious list hail from the Big Ten Conference. Each member of the group is now officially a candidate to win the 2024 Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award. This group of 35 will be whittled down to 16 semifinalists via a vote from social media and the Davey O’Brien National Selection Committee in the coming weeks. On November 12, those semifinalists will be revealed. Three finalists will be announced on November 26 and the winner will be announced on December 12.
The top quarterback of each season has been awarded since 1981. Eight winners have come from the current 18-team roster of the Big Ten. Before the season, only four Big Ten quarterbacks made the preseason watchlist.
Six Big Ten Quarterbacks Make 2024 Davey O’Brien Award List
Drew Allar (Penn State)
The Penn State Nittany Lions are heading into November ranked third in the nation. Drew Allar has led his team to its highest AP Poll ranking since October 28, 2017, when the Nittany Lions were second. The second-year starter in Happy Valley has taken a massive stride and has started to look like that program-leading quarterback he was expected to be.
Through seven games, Allar has thrown for 1,640 yards and 12 touchdowns while completing 71.3 percent of his passes. He has two 300+-yard games and has taken care of the football with just four interceptions (given, three were in one game). Allar is the only Big Ten quarterback on the list not to be a transfer.
Allar is looking to be the third Penn State signal-caller to win the prestigious award (Todd Blackledge, 1982; Kerry Collins, 1994).
Luke Altmyer (Illinois)
Illinois is 6-2 through eight games thanks in part to Ole Miss transfer, Luke Altmyer. It’s the seventh time since 2007 (Rose Bowl loss vs. USC) that the Fighting Illini have attained bowl eligibility.
Altmyer is in his second season as the starting quarterback for the Illini. He’s on pace to set a new career high in every statistical category within a game or two. Through eight games, Altmyer has thrown for 1,667 yards and 15 touchdowns (with three interceptions) while completing 63.1 percent of his passes. On the ground, he’s run the ball 67 times for 136 yards and two scores.
Altmyer is looking to be the first Illinois quarterback to win the Davey O’Brien Award.
Max Brosmer (Minnesota)
Max Brosmer was an accomplished quarterback at the FCS level before making his way to Minnesota. Last year, he led the FCS in passing yards and transferred to Minnesota to “Row The Boat.”
With the Golden Gophers, Brosmer has made eight starts. In total, while completing 69.5 percent, Brosmer has passed for 1,776 yards and 12 touchdowns. The Minnesota quarterback has four games of at least 200 yards. He is coming off his greatest game with the Golden Gophers in a 320-yard, four-touchdown win over Maryland.
Minnesota has yet to have a Davey O’Brien Award winner and Brosmer is building his case.
Dillon Gabriel (Oregon)
The quarterback with the second-most passing yards and touchdowns all-time has a chance to take hold of the top spot. Dillon Gabriel has been fantastic for Oregon this year and has been putting together a season where winning the Davey O’Brien Award could be the least of his concerns.
As it stands, Gabriel is 1,981 yards and 12 touchdowns away from the all-time marks. The former UCF and Oklahoma southpaw leads the Big Ten with 2,371 yards and 18 touchdowns. Additionally, he leads the nation while completing 76.2 percent of his passes.
Marcus Mariota is the only Duck to win the award (2014). With a strong finish to the season, Gabriel could join him.
Will Howard (Ohio State)
There are concerns with the 6-1 Ohio State Buckeyes but Will Howard is not among them. The senior Kansas State transfer has been uber-efficient and the ideal game manager for the Buckeyes’ offense.
Prior to this season, Howard’s career high was 61.3 percent of passes completed (with a four-year mark of 58.8 percent). Through seven games, Howard is sitting at 74 percent with 1,795 yards and 17 touchdowns. In four of his last games, Howard has completed at least 80 percent of passes with multiple touchdowns.
If he wins it, Howard would be the second Ohio State quarterback to win the Davey O’Brien Award (Troy Smith, 2006).
Kurtis Rourke (Indiana)
Indiana is 8-0. Seven of those wins were due in large part to Ohio transfer, Kurtis Rourke. The Maple Missile came to Indiana after lighting up the MAC and winning the conference MVP in 2022. Despite suffering a hand injury, he looks to close out this historic season for the Hoosiers.
Rourke has been on a tear this season. In seven starts, he has completed a career-high 74.6 percent of passes for 1,941 yards and 15 touchdowns. Three of those starts featured games where Rourke passed for at least 300 yards.
If he continues to play at a high level, Rourke can become the first Indiana quarterback to win the award.
The Rest of the Field
- Rocco Becht (Iowa State)
- Carson Beck (Georgia)
- Bryson Daily (Army West Point)
- Jaxson Dart (Ole Miss)
- Kyron Drones (Virginia Tech)
- Quinn Ewers (Texas)
- Eli Holstein (Pitt)
- Josh Hoover (TCU)
- Blake Horvath (Navy)
- Kevin Jennings (SMU)
- Avery Johnson (Kansas State)
- Cade Klubnik (Clemson)
- Riley Leonard (Notre Dame)
- Maddux Madsen (Boise State)
- John Mateer (Washington State)
- Jordan McCloud (Texas State)
- Kyle McCord (Syracuse)
- Jalen Milroe (Alabama)
- Chandler Morris (North Texas)
- Garrett Nussmeier (LSU)
- Diego Pavia (Vanderbilt)
- Jake Retzlaff (BYU)
- Shedeur Sanders (Colorado)
- Tyler Shough (Louisville)
- Brendan Sorsby (Cincinnati)
- Caden Veltkamp (Western Kentucky)
- Cam Ward (Miami)
- Hajj-Malik Williams (UNLV)
- Ben Wooldridge (Louisiana)
