Miami's 2026 schedule features plenty of talented arms, but narrowing them to the four that matter most wasn't as simple as running down last year's stat sheets. Two of these picks were obvious with no debate necessary. The other two came down to where a quarterback is trending and what's around him, not just what he's already done.
The rest of the QB field
Miami's schedule is full of proven mediocrity and open uncertainty. Duke's Walker Eget and Wake Forest's Gio Lopez both have starting experience, but neither has shown enough to project a leap in 2026.
Eget played all of 2025 on a torn ACL and completed under 60% of his throws, while Lopez is already on his third school in four years after a rocky stop at North Carolina. Both players have talent, but just not enough to crack the top four without seeing more.
Florida State's Ashton Daniels has thrown nearly as many interceptions as touchdowns across four years as a starter and only just won a battle with a redshirt freshman. Boston College and North Carolina both enter fall camp without a clearly settled starter, and Stanford is breaking in a Michigan transfer on a team that went 4-8 a year ago.
4. Christopher Vizzina, Clemson (Oct. 3)
Vizzina is the definition of a projection when it comes to a list like this. He has one career start in three years behind Cade Klubnik, but it was a genuinely good one: 317 yards and three touchdowns at home against SMU, with no interceptions.
He arrived at Clemson as a four-star recruit who picked the Tigers over Georgia, Ohio State and Notre Dame, and passed for over 5,000 yards in high school. Fans are right to be skeptical about Vizzina, but a new offensive coordinator in Chad Morris and a full offseason as the unquestioned starter give him a chance to outplay where he's currently rated by the time Miami sees him in Week 5.
3. Ethan Grunkemeyer, Virginia Tech (Nov. 20)
Grunkemeyer only had 11 career pass attempts before Penn State's Drew Allar broke his ankle in Week 6 last season. But he made the most of his starting opportunity, completing 69% of his passes and saving his best game for last: a career-high 260 yards and two touchdowns against Clemson in the Pinstripe Bowl.
He followed his coach, James Franklin, from Penn State to Virginia Tech this offseason, and Franklin brought a wave of transfers and commits with him. A quarterback who performed well in a crisis now gets a full offseason to run his own offense with some nice pieces around him.
2. Mason Heintschel, Pittsburgh (Oct. 24)
Heintschel took over Pitt's starting job four games into his true freshman season and was one of the more talented young arms in the country, averaging 302 passing yards a game and going 5-0 as a starter to open his career.
He cooled off considerably down the stretch, dropping to 202 yards a game over his final four starts, but the flashes of arm talent are there, he now has a full offseason in coordinator Kade Bell's system, and a sophomore breakout is well within reach by the time he gets to Hard Rock Stadium.
1. CJ Carr, Notre Dame (Nov. 7)
This isn't close. Carr threw for 2,741 yards, 24 touchdowns and just six interceptions in his first year as Notre Dame's starter, and he enters 2026 with some of the best Heisman odds in the country, ahead of names like Arch Manning and Miami's own Darian Mensah.
He's the only quarterback on Miami's schedule anyone is seriously talking about as a national award candidate, and he's doing it behind a Notre Dame roster that returns a ton of production. Miami's 27-24 win over Notre Dame last August decided its playoff fate in December. This rematch in South Bend, with Miami's defense still replacing first-round pass rushers Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor, should carry just as much weight for both teams.
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