Getty Image / Kevin C. Cox
Football is a team sport to be sure, but no player on the field has more of an impact on every play than the quarterback.
With some stars emerging in the 2025 College Football season it seemed like the perfect opportunity to look back at the best seasons by College Football quarterbacks since 2004. Why 2004? Well, that’s the year ESPN introduced their total QBR rating which is a more comprehensive rating of a QB’s contributions in the game compared to traditional Passer Rating.
The 15 Best Seasons By College Football Quarterbacks Since 2004
For this ranking of the best seasons by College Football Quarterbacks since 2004, I have only included full seasons. If we were to include partial data then we would see USC’s Jayden Maiava at #6 with a 94.8 QBR and we would see Arkansas Razorbacks QB Taylen Green at #9. But they have only played 3 games each so far this season so including them would not be fair to the legends on this lis.
To the haters who say QBR is not the best measure of a quarterback, I hear you. The fact that ESPN has never released its formula for QBR is concerning. But here is their definition of the metric: “all of a quarterback’s contributions to winning, including how he impacts the game on passes, rushes, turnovers, and penalties. Since QBR is built from the play level, it accounts for a team’s level of success or failure on every play to provide the proper context, then allocates credit to the quarterback and his teammates to produce a clearer measure of quarterback efficiency.”
With that said, let’s admire how some schools continuously pump out top college quarterbacks.
15. C.J. Stroud: 2021
With a 91.6 QBR in 2021, current Houston Texans QB C.J. Stroud just edged out Johnny Manziel’s 2012 season and Marcu Mariota’s 2014 season for 15th on the list.
In 2021, C.J. Stroud threw for 4,435 yards for the Ohio State Buckeyes. He threw for 44 touchdowns and only coughed up 6 interceptions and gave up 13 total sacks. Stroud did have a sick squad to throw behind and a brick of an offensive line as the successor to the next person below on this list.
14. Justin Fields: 2020
If there’s one thing I know it is the Ohio State Buckeyes have experienced an embarrassment of riches at the quarterback position over the years. In reality, they deserve all the credit for recruitment and QB development but they’re the Green Bay Packers of College Football in that they ALWAYS have a stud throwing the ball.
In his second (and final) season at Ohio State, Justin Fields threw for 2,100 yards in 2020. He had a QBR of 91.7. Fields had a 22-6 TD-INT split and also rushed for 383 yards with another 5 touchdowns on the ground.
13. Baker Mayfield: 2016
2017 Heisman Award recipient Baker Mayfield was one of the most electric quarterbacks the Oklahoma Sooners had ever seen. So much so that he actually appears on this list twice! His 2016 season finished with a 91.8 QBR.
In his 2016 season, the ‘Bake Show’ threw for 3,965 yards, 40 touchdowns, and just 8 interceptions. He also rushed for another 6 TDs and 177 yards. It wasn’t even his best season as a Sooner!
12. Sam Bradford: 2008
Another Oklahoma Sooner on the list, Sam Bradford had a 91.9 QBR in 2008, just 0.1 better than Baker’s 2016 season. Sam Bradford was a passer through and through. The run game was not in his playbook.
In 2008, he threw for a ridiculous 4,720 passing yards and had 50 passing touchdowns to just 8 interceptions. He was averaging 9.8 yards/attempt which breaks my brain.
11. Khalil Tate: 2017
With a QBR of 92.0, Khalil Tate has the 11th best QBR season of any college football quarterback since 2004. And he did it with the Arizona Wildcats and not in the SEC with all future NFL wide receivers catching the ball.
In 2017, he threw for 1,591 passing yards, 14 touchdowns, and had 9 interceptions. Those numbers are so-so, right? But the QBR is a measure of total contributions to winning… Khalil Tate also rushed the ball for 1,411 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground that season.
10. Justin Fields: 2019
Back on the list again is Justin Fields. His 2019 season was the 10th best of any college football quarterback since 2004 with a 92.1 QBR.
In 2019, Fields threw the ball for 3,273 passing yards, had 41 touchdowns through the air to just 3 interceptions. That’s right, THREE INTs to 51 TDs. He also ran the ball into the end zone 10 times and chalked up 484 yards on the ground.
9. Baker Mayfield: 2017
In his Heisman Award winning season, Baker Mayfield had the 9th best season of any college football quarterback since 2004 with a QBR of 92.3.
This was his final year at Oklahoma and Baker threw the ball for 4,627 passing yards and 43 touchdowns through the air. He only had 6 interceptions on the season. In fact, Baker only had 30 INTs in 4 years of college football, three at Oklahoma and one at Texas Tech. Baker also ran the ball into the end zone 6 times for a total TD contribution of 49 that year.
8. Tua Tagovailoa: 2018
The first Nick Saban acolyte on this list but not the last, former University of Alabama quarterback Tua Tagolvailoa’s 2018 season ranks 8th with a QBR of 93.1. This also wasn’t his best season at Alabama!
In 2018, Tua threw for 3,966 passing yards, 43 touchdowns, and just 6 interceptions. He also had 5 rushing touchdowns on just 190 yards. He was a touchdown machine.
7. Andrew Luck: 2010
With the 7th best season by a College Football quarterback in the past 21 years is former Stanford and Indianapolis Colts QB Andrew Luck who was a superhuman during his days at Stanford. So much so that he actually Stanford relevant in the College Football landscape for a while and had a 93.8 QBR in 2010
Luck was the Heisman runner-up two seasons in a row, but in 2010 he should’ve won it. He threw for 3,338 yards, averaging 9.0 yards/attempt. Luck had 32 touchdowns through the air with 8 interceptions and he also scrambled for 453 yards with another 3 TDs on the ground.
6. Russell Wilson: 2011
Before he won a Super Bowl in 2014 with Seattle or got married to Ciara, Russell Wilson was a stud at Wisconsin. He had the 6th best season since 2004 with a 94.1 QBR that year.
In 2011 for the Badgers, Russ threw for 3,175 passing yards, 33 touchdowns (10.3 yards/att), and only coughed up 4 interceptions. He also had 6 rushing TDs and scrambled for 338 yards in his lone season with Wisconsin after starting the three years prior at NC State. Wisconsin finished that season ranked 16th overall after going 9-2, winning the Big Ten Championship Game, and winning the Rose Bowl against Oregon.
5. Tua Tagovailoa: 2019
Back on the list for a second time is former Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa with the 5th best QBR season of any college football quarterback since 2004 with a 94.1 QBR in 2019.
In his final season at Alabama, Tua was clinical. He threw for 2,840 passing yards, 33 touchdowns, just 3 interceptions, and had 2 more rushing touchdowns. Tua averaged 11.3 yards/attempt when passing the ball.
4. Joe Burrow: 2019
Tua’s 2019 season would have been epic if it wasn’t for Joey B’s 2019 season with LSU. Burrow’s 2019 season was the 4th best QBR in College Football since the stat has existed, with a 94.9 QBR.
Burrow won the Heisman Trophy that season and the National Championship with LSU. It was his 4th and final season in college, 2 with Ohio State and 2 with LSU. Burrow threw for 5,671 passing yards that season… Let that sink in. He had 60 passing touchdowns and just 6 interceptions. He also ran the ball into the end zone for 5 rushing TDs and 368 yards. Truly unreal stats through the air.
3. Kyler Murray: 2018
Going back in time a year before Burrow and Tua we have Kyler Murray’s 2018 season with the 3rd best QBR in College Football since 2004 with a 95.4 rating. Kyler spent his first year at TAMU and his final two seasons at Oklahoma and 2018 was his senior season but his senior year was really his only true time as a starter before the NFL.
During his 2018 season, Kyler Murray won the Heisman Trophy and threw for a ridiculous 4,361 yards. He had 42 passing touchdowns and 7 interceptions. Those are incredible numbers! But Kyler Murray also ran the ball like a maniac. He had 1,001 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground for a total TD contribution of 54 that season.
2. Jayden Daniels: 2023
Down to the final two. Jayden Daniels has the second best of all college football quarterback seasons in the past 21 years according to his 95.7 QBR.
In his second and final season with LSU before being picked #2 overall by the Washington Commanders, Jayden threw for 3,812 yards. That’s 11.7 yards/attempt. He had 40 touchdowns through the air to just 4 interceptions. And he was equally as dangerous with the running game, rushing for 1,134 yards and 10 touchdowns. The dude was unstoppable with LSU.
1. Mac Jones: 2020
And with the highest season-long QBR since the stat has existed is former Alabama QB Mac Jones who had a 96.1 QBR in 2020. It is pretty wild that Mac Jones is the man who holds the QBR record but his season was next level.
In 2020, Mac Jones threw the ball for 4,500 yards. He had 41 passing touchdowns, just 4 interceptions, and averaged 11.2 yards/attempt. He didn’t bother running the ball because he was so clinical through the air under Nick Saban and finished 2020 with a 77.4 completion percentage. Mac led Alabama to an undefeated 13-0 season and a national championship before being drafted 15th overall by New England. And there you have it!
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