Eleven Big 12 quarterbacks were named to the 2024 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award nominee list released Wednesday.
Last year, the award was given to LSU star Jayden Daniels. The award is given to the best quarterback of his class who is a senior or higher graduating.
Big 12 quarterbacks on the list of 63 included Oklahoma State’s Alan Bowman, Iowa State’s Rocco Becht, Kansas’ Jalon Daniels, Arizona’s Noah Fifita, Baylor’s Dequan Finn, West Virginia’s Garrett Greene, UCF’s KJ Jefferson, Texas Tech’s Behren Morton, Utah’s Cameron Rising, Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, Houston’s Donovan Smith and Cincinnati’s Brendan Sorsby.
Sanders was named All-Big 12 quarterback in the preseason. He threw for 3,230 yards with 27 touchdowns and only three interceptions. The Buffs are part of the Big 12 this season, along with Arizona, Arizona State and Utah.
Jefferson, who transferred to UCF from Arkansas in the offseason, was named the conference’s Newcomer of the Year and has thrown for nearly 8,000 yards in three college seasons.
Bowman helped the Cowboys reach the Big 12 Championship Game last season, where they lost to Texas. He is back for a seventh season of college football. Daniels missed most of last season with injury, but the Jayhawks are ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 for the first time in over a decade.
Greene was WVU’s starter last year and helped the Mountaineers to nine wins, while Morton is hoping for a better season as the Red Raiders look to make at least a third straight bowl appearance under coach Joey McGuire. Smith was Houston’s starter last year and stayed with the team when they switched to new coach Willie Fritz.
Fifita, Finn, Rising and Sorsby, as well as Jefferson and Sanders, are newcomers to the conference.
2024 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Watchlist
Joey Aguilar, App State
Drew Allar, Penn State
Luke Altmyer, Illinois
Rocco Becht, Iowa State
Carson Beck, Georgia
Alan Bowman, Oklahoma State
Max Brosmer, Minnesota
Byrum Brown, South Florida
Hudson Map, Purdue
Thomas Castellanos, Boston College
Brady Cook, Missouri
Jalon Daniels, Kansas
Ashton Daniels, Stanford
Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss
Kyron drones, Virginia Tech
Billy Edwards Jr., Maryland
Quinn Ewers, Texas
Noah Fifita, Arizona
TJ Finley, Western Kentucky
Dequan Finn, Baylor
Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, State of Colorado
Brett Gabbert, Miami (OH)
Dillon Gabriel, Oregon
Ethan Garbers, UCLA
Garrett Greene, West Virginia
Seth Henigan, Memphis
Will Howard, Ohio State
KJ Jefferson, UCF
Athan Kaliakmanis, Rutgers
Mikey Keene, Fresno State
Haynes King, Georgia Tech
Cade Klubnik, Clemson
Riley Leonard, Notre Dame
Grayson McCall, NC State
Kyle McCord, Syracuse
Cade McNamara, Iowa
Fernando Mendoza, California
Graham Mertz, Florida
Jalen Milroe, Alabama
Behren Morton, Texas Tech
Garrett Nussmeier, LSU
Andrew Peasley, Wyoming
Cameron Rising, Utah
Will Rogers, Washington
Kurtis Rourke, Indiana
Kaidon Salter, Liberty
Shedeur Sanders, Colorado
Brayden Schager, Hawaii
Blake Shapen, Mississippi State
Tyler Shough, Louisville
Donovan Smith, Houston
Brendan Sorsby, Cincinnati
Preston Stone, SMU
Payton Thorne, Auburn
DJ Uiagalelei, Florida State
Tyler Van Dyke, Wisconsin
Brock Vandagriff, Kentucky
Nicholas Vattiato, Middle Tennessee
Cam Ward, Miami
Conner Weigman, Texas A&M
Hayden Wolff, West Michigan
Nate Yarnell, Pittsburgh
Jacob Zeno, UAB
