On July 4, On3 analyst Pete Nakos released an early projection of who will line up at quarterback for all 16 Big 12 programs when the 2025 season kicks off. The exercise, published just days before Big 12 Media Days, mixes obvious holdovers with a handful of bold transfer-portal picks.

League-wide snapshot

• Returning pillars. Roughly half of the conference is expected to stick with proven starters such as Kansas State’s dual-threat sophomore Avery Johnson, Arizona State field general Sam Leavitt, and Iowa State’s accurate distributor Rocco Becht. Their continuity gives each offense a head start in summer camp.
• Notable battles. Colorado, UCF, BYU and Oklahoma State headline the unsettled situations. In Boulder, Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter is penciled in to replace Shedeur Sanders after a 3,700-total-yard season in Conference USA.
• Portal power. Salter isn’t alone. UCF is tipped to hand the offense to Kent State transfer Jalen McKenzie, while BYU appears ready to roll with Auburn import Hank Brown following Jake Retzlaff’s transfer-portal exit. Oklahoma State’s staff, meanwhile, is leaning toward home-grown sophomore Zane Flores, though early-enrollee Kevin Sperry will get every chance to close the gap.
• Steady hands elsewhere. Utah (Brandon Rose), Texas Tech (Behren Morton), Baylor (Sawyer Robertson) and West Virginia (Garrett Greene) are all projected to stay the course with veterans who seized the job a year ago.

Team-by-team projections

School	Projected 2025 starter	Notes
Arizona	Noah Fifita	Poised for a third season after back-to-back 3,000-yard campaigns
Arizona State	Sam Leavitt	Looked comfortable in Kenny Dillingham’s tempo attack
Baylor	Sawyer Robertson	Staff believes reps last October will pay off
BYU	Hank Brown	Auburn transfer inherits a retooled receiving corps
Cincinnati	Brady Drogosh	Red-shirt sophomore’s mobility separates him from the pack
Colorado	Kaidon Salter	Dual-threat Liberty star steps in for Shedeur Sanders
Houston	Donovan Smith	Sixth-year senior brings 30 career starts
Iowa State	Rocco Becht	League-best 71 % completion rate in 2024
Kansas	Jalon Daniels	Healthy again after sitting most of last year
Kansas State	Avery Johnson	Anonymous league coach calls him a “Heisman-level” talent
Oklahoma State	Zane Flores	Spring MVP but still being pushed by true freshman Kevin Sperry
TCU	Josh Hoover	Aiming to cut down 2024 interception total
Texas Tech	Behren Morton	Third OC in three years yet same quick-strike mentality
UCF	Jalen McKenzie	Kent State grad transfer fits Gus Malzahn’s RPO menu
Utah	Brandon Rose	Held off four-star freshman Isaac Wilson in spring
West Virginia	Garrett Greene	Returns after 37 combined TDs last fall

What’s next?

Coaches will field quarterback questions when Big 12 Media Days begin July 9 in Las Vegas. Depth-chart clarity could emerge, but history suggests several jobs will remain officially “open” until the first week of September. For now, On3’s list offers the clearest snapshot of where the conference’s most important position stands heading into the teeth of the offseason.