CBS Sports updates Top 10 Quarterback Power Rankings ahead of Week 4
After three full weeks of college football, CBS Sports has revisited its quarterback power rankings.
As part of their adjustments this week, CBS Sports has turned over the top spot and shifted quite a few quarterbacks around. USC‘s Caleb Williams takes back over the top spot after Texas‘ Quinn Ewers tumbles following a so-so outing in a win over Wyoming.
Let’s take a look at the rest of the CBS Sports quarterback power rankings entering Week 4.
1. Caleb Williams, USC
Williams retaking the top spot might be more about Ewers’ struggles than Williams doing anything over the top. After all, USC was on a bye last week. But make no mistake about it, Caleb Williams has once again been absolutely excellent through the first three weeks of the season.
The USC gunslinger has thrown for 878 yards and 12 touchdowns. He’s done that without throwing an interception and while maintaining a 78.6% completion percentage, an absurdly high connection rate. Next up for Williams is a road trip to Arizona State.
2. Sam Hartman, Notre Dame
Notre Dame was in action over the weekend against Central Michigan and Hartman turned in his most productive game to date. He accounted for four total touchdowns and threw for 330 yards and three scores against the Chippewas.
On the season Hartman has thrown for a nation-leading 13 touchdowns, to go along with 1,061 yards. He’s run for two scores as well. He’ll get a chance to show what he can do on a big stage this weekend when Notre Dame hosts Ohio State.
3. Shedeuer Sanders, Colorado
On paper Sanders turned in his least statistically productive outing against Colorado State, but it was how he did it that really told the story. Sanders battled throughout and guided his team in crunch time to an overtime win over the Rams, throwing for 348 yards and four touchdowns in the process.
Sanders is putting up absurd numbers this season, already at 1,251 yards and 10 touchdowns through three games. He has thrown just one interception. The real tests for Colorado, though, begin this weekend with a road trip to Oregon.
4. Michael Penix Jr., Washington
Penix turned in his most explosive numbers of the season in a win over Michigan State over the weekend. For the third straight week he topped the 400-yard mark, throwing for 473 yards and four touchdowns. The Washington passing attack has been unstoppable.
For his part, Penix has accounted for 1,332 yards passing and 12 touchdowns, against just one interception. He’s not much of a rushing threat, but he really hasn’t needed to be as good as Washington’s passing game has been.
5. Quinn Ewers, Texas
All of the previous four quarterbacks in the CBS Sports quarterback power rankings moved up by virtue of Ewers’ drop from No. 1 to No. 5. That came after a lackluster showing against Wyoming over the weekend.
Ewers went just 11-of-21 passing for 131 yards and two touchdowns, but he did heat up after halftime. He also ran for a score in the game. On the season, Ewers has thrown for 740 yards and eight touchdowns without an interception. Production wise he doesn’t quite stand up to many of his peers on this list.
6. Bo Nix, Oregon
Nix has very quietly been excellent all season, and he put together another superb performance against Hawaii over the weekend. Nix went 21-of-27 passing for 247 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. He also ran for 14 yards.
In fact, it’s been at least mildly surprising that Nix hasn’t done more damage with his legs early on. That’s probably somewhat Oregon protecting him and him not needing to against inferior opponents. In any case, Nix will have a showcase game this weekend against Sanders and Colorado.
7. Dillon Gabriel, Oklahoma
Gabriel put up huge numbers in a win over Tulsa this weekend, going 28-of-31 passing for 421 yards with five touchdowns and an interception. That was Gabriel’s second game with at least 300 yards passing and his second game with at least four touchdown passes.
On the season Gabriel hasn’t faced elite competition just yet but has thrown for 905 yards and 11 touchdowns, against one interception. Oklahoma will get a little tougher test this weekend with a road trip to Cincinnati.
8. Drake Maye, North Carolina
Maye hasn’t quite gotten off to the start to the 2023 season that he probably envisioned, though the schedule has been reasonably difficult to start. Interceptions have been an issue, and Maye threw two more in a win over Minnesota.
The good news is Maye also threw for 414 yards and two touchdowns in a comfortable 31-13 win. On the season Maye has thrown for 891 yards, with four touchdowns and four interceptions. He’s also run for 116 yards and a touchdown.
9. Jordan Travis, Florida State
The completion percentage has left a bit to be desired the past two weeks for Travis, but he did what he needed to when the game unexpectedly pulled close late against Boston College. Travis finished 15-of-24 passing for 222 yards and two touchdowns, without an interception.
On the season Travis has been fairly consistent, throwing for 739 yards and eight touchdowns with just one interception. He’s also run for 96 yards and a score and is a constant threat to convert first downs with his legs.
10. Darren Grainger, Georgia State
Grainger didn’t top 200 yards passing in either of the first two weeks but absolutely exploded onto the scene in Week 3 with a big win over Charlotte. Grainger threw for 466 yards and three touchdowns without an interception, while also rushing for 23 yards and a score.
One of the better dual-threat quarterbacks in the country, Grainger has run for 216 yards and two touchdowns in the first three games. He’s also thrown for 803 yards and six touchdowns and makes his debut on the CBS Sports quarterback power rankings this week.
Honorable Mention
Jalon Daniels, Kansas
Kyle McCord, Ohio State
Dante Moore, UCLA
Tyler Van Dyke, Miami
Cam Ward, Washington State
Among the honorable mention list, Van Dyke dropped from the previous week’s quarterback power rankings top 10. Given he had a solid performance against Bethune-Cookman, that’s probably more a product of other players impressing. In any case, you have a good list of guys to keep an eye on to potentially crack next week’s ranking from CBS Sports.