One of the reasons for Indiana's defensive success last year was the Hoosiers' defenders ability to finish the job when creating early contact against the run.

Wake Forest's run defense was a significant factor in its surprising 9-win season in Jake Dickert's first year in Winston-Salem.

Jackson Harris was a big-play threat at Hawaii last season. He'll try to replicate these numbers for Lane Kiffin at LSU this year.

Aidan Chiles never lived up to the hype at Michigan State, but he'll get another chance to prove himself in the Big Ten at Northwestern this fall. #cfbqbs26

After a forgettable tenure at UVA, Anthony Colandrea thrived at UNLV last fall. He'll try again at the P4 level this year with Cornhuskers. #cfbqbs26

Oklahoma advanced to the playoff last year, but John Mateer's performance fell far short of expectations. For the Sooners to get back in the postseason, a healthy Mateer likely needs to improve dramatically on these numbers. #cfbqbs26

Lance Heard was effective in pass protection last season at Tennessee and transferred within the conference to Kentucky this offseason. His blown-block rate for traditional dropbacks was the 7th lowest in the SEC among 33 qualified offensive tackles.

Stanford's first-year head coach Tavita Pritchard is handing his offense over to Davis Warren. Here's a look at Warren's numbers from his season as Michigan's starter in 2024. #cfbqbs26

Jayce Brown has big-play ability but was unreliable as a pass-catcher at Kansas State last year. He'll compete for targets on a crowded and talented depth chart at LSU this season.

Kevin Jennings is back for another year at SMU. After leading SMU to the playoff in 2024, he struggled to generate as many big plays for the Mustangs offense last season. #cfbqbs26

Mason Heintschel made a strong impression in his debut season at Pitt. #cfbqbs26

Danny Scudero led the FBS in receiving yards last year and landed at Colorado this offseason. Though his raw numbers were impressive there wasn't much substance to his performance.

NC State is hoping CJ Bailey takes the next step to elevate the program in his third year as the starter. #cfbqbs26

Vanderbilt lost a lot of talent off last year's squad, but Miles Capers returns to lead the pass-rush unit.

Will Hammond started two games for Texas Tech last year and saw significant action in a few others. His performance was chaotic, but he flashed some potential as a passer and runner. #cfbqbs26

Byrum Brown was electric at USF last season and followed his head coach to Auburn this offseason. Can he replicate that success in the SEC? #cfbqbs26

Ashton Daniels is a good athlete but has never been effective as a passer during his time at Stanford and a brief 2025 stint at Auburn. He'll try to revive Mike Norvell's squad at Florida State this fall. #cfbqbs26

A chance of scenery to the West Coast did not help Nico Iamaleava last year. In his first year at UCLA, Iamaleava led one of the nation's least explosive passing attacks and was one of the worst downfield passers in recent years. #cfbqbs26

Walker Eget thrived as an efficient pocket passer in an aggressive downfield attack at San Jose State. He'll take over at Duke this fall. #cfbqbs26

Julian Lewis struggled with his decision-making skills as a freshman, but flashed elite potential due to his accuracy as a passer. #cfbqbs26

Bill Belichick is handing his offense over to Billy Edwards Jr., who has been moderately successful as a game-manager who can avoid negative plays. He missed all but two games due to injury at Wisconsin last year, so these stats are from his 2024 season at Maryland. #cfbqbs26

Jeremiah Smith wasn't much of a threat after the catch last year, but he caught everything thrown his way.

After stops at Alabama and BC, Dylan Lonergan is competing for the starting gig at Rutgers. He was an effective game-manager at BC, but didn't test out his arm downfield often due to BC's conservative approach #cfbqbs26

Josh Hoover led the Big 12 in completion rate at 15+ yards downfield last year. Now he gets to throw to Charlie Becker and Nick Marsh.

Bryce Underwood handled pressure relatively well for a true freshman last year, but he'll need to improve as a downfield passer. #cfbqbs26

Jordan Marshall was elite at avoiding negative plays out of the Michigan backfield last season

Devon Dampier is back for another year at Utah. He excelled at avoiding negative plays last season, but needs to improve as a downfield passer. #cfbqbs26

What on earth happened to Utah's run defense last year?

Auburn will have a ton of new faces on offense this year, but Jeremiah Cobb returns to lead the backfield.

Alonza Barnett II is stepping up a level in competition this year, going from James Madison to UCF. Barnett is a dynamic runner but was one of the nation's worst downfield passers last season. #cfbqbs26