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The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/chemistrybonanza on 2025-01-12 19:20:42+00:00.
I was simply curious how often QBs who played in and won the national championship game in college amounted to anything in the NFL, my intuition was not much. I decided to include QBs who played for a team that won the national championship by some random poll or computer (shown in the chart).
| Season | Quarterback | College | BCS/CFP Champion? | Random Poll Champion? | Heisman Winner? | College HOF | NFL Draft Status | NFL Career Length (in Years) | Pro-Bowls | All-Pros | MVPs | Super Bowl Championships |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Tee Martin | Tennessee | Yes | 5th rd | 2 | |||||||
| 1999 | Chris Weinke | Florida State | Yes | Yes | 4th rd | 5 | ||||||
| 2000/2001 | Ken Dorsey | Miami | No/Yes | NYT(2000) | 7th rd | 4 | ||||||
| 2000 | Josh Heupel | Oklahoma | Yes | 6th rd | 0 | |||||||
| 2002 | Craig Krenzel | Ohio State | Yes | 5th rd | 1 | |||||||
| 2002 | Carson Palmer | USC | No | DuS, MGR, SR | Yes | Yes | 1st Overall | 14 | 3 | |||
| 2003 | Matt Mauck | LSU | Yes | 7th rd | 1 | |||||||
| 2003 | Matt Leinart | USC | No | AP | Yes | Yes | 1st rd | 6 | ||||
| 2003 | Jason White | Oklahoma | No | B(QPRS) | Yes | XXX | 0 | |||||
| 2004 | VACATED | |||||||||||
| 2005 | Vince Young | Texas | Yes | Yes | 1st Rd | 6 | 2 | |||||
| 2006 | Chris Leak | Florida | Yes | XXX | 0 | |||||||
| 2006 | Troy Smith | Ohio State | No | DeS, R(FACT) | Yes | 5th rd | 4 | |||||
| 2007 | Matt Flynn | LSU | Yes | 7th rd | 7 | 1 | ||||||
| 2007 | Chase Daniel | Missouri | No | A&H | XXX | 13 | ||||||
| 2007 | John David Booty | USC | No | DuS | 5th rd | 0 | ||||||
| 2008 | Tim Tebow | Florida | Yes | Yes | Yes | 1st rd | 3 | |||||
| 2008 | Brian Johnson | Utah | No | A&H. W | XXX | 0 | ||||||
| 2009 | Greg McElroy | Alabama | Yes | 7th rd | 1 | |||||||
| 2010 | Cam Newton | Auburn | Yes | Yes | 1st Overall | 11 | 3 | 1 | 1 | |||
| 2010 | Andy Dalton | TCU | No | CCR | 2nd rd | 14* | 3 | |||||
| 2011/2012 | AJ McCarron | Alabama | Yes/Yes | 5th rd | 7 | |||||||
| 2011^ | Jarrett Lee | LSU | No | A&H, CCR | XXX | 0 | ||||||
| 2011^ | Jordan Jefferson | LSU | No | A&H, CCR | XXX | 0 | ||||||
| 2011 | Brandon Weeden | Oklahoma State | No | CM | 1st rd | 5 | ||||||
| 2012 | Everett Golson | Notre Dame | No | CM | XXX | 0 | ||||||
| 2013 | Jameis Winston | Florida State | Yes | Yes | 1st Overall | 10* | 1 | |||||
| 2014 | JT Barrett^^ | Ohio State | Yes | XXX | 0 | |||||||
| 2014 | Cardale Jones^^ | Ohio State | Yes | 4th rd | 1 | |||||||
| 2015 | Jake Coker | Alabama | Yes | XXX | 0 | |||||||
| 2016 | Deshaun Watson | Clemson | Yes | 1st rd | 7* | 3 | ||||||
| 2016/2017 | Jalen Hurts | Alabama | No/Yes | CM(2016) | 2nd rd | 5* | ||||||
| 2017 | Tua Tagovailoa | Alabama | Yes | 1st rd | 5* | 1 | ||||||
| 2017 | McKenzie Milton | UCF | No | CM | XXX | 0 | ||||||
| 2018 | Trevor Lawrence | Clemson | Yes | 1st Overall | 4* | 1 | ||||||
| 2019 | Joe Burrow | LSU | Yes | Yes | 1st Overall | 5* | 2 | |||||
| 2020 | Mac Jones | Alabama | Yes | 1st rd | 4* | 1 | ||||||
| 2021/2022 | Stetson Bennett | Georgia | Yes/Yes | 4th rd | 2** | |||||||
| 2023 | JJ McCarthy | Michigan | Yes | 1st rd | 1** | |||||||
| 2024 | ??? | ??? | ??? | ??? | ??? |
^Jarett Lee and Jordan Jefferson shared duties in 2011 for LSU. Lee was used the most, while Jefferson played in the BCSNCG, so was included. Thanks to u/Kinder22 for correcting me.
^^JT Barrett was injured for the BCSNCG; Cardale Jones played in the NCG, so was included. Thanks to u/LittleTension8765 for bringing attention to the asterisk I included on Cardale Jones, which was originally put in to indicate what is now in this place.
*Currently on an NFL roster
**Currently on an NFL roster but has not played a snap
By my account, there are 38 different quarterbacks (title says 37 but I originally missed Jordan Jefferson) who have won a national championship by winning the BCSNCG, CFP, or some end-of-the-year poll since the beginning of the BCS era.
Of those 38 QBs, 9 of them won a Heisman trophy, 4 have been enshrined in the CFB HOF, 10 have had at least one NFL Pro-Bowl appearance with 15 total instances, 1 player has made an All-Pro team (once, Cam Newton), 1 player has won the MVP (once, Cam Newton), 1 player has won a Super Bowl ( Matt Flynn as a backup), 2 players won rookie of the year (Vince Young & Cam Newton), and 2 players have won comeback player of the year (Vince Young, Joe Burrow). Thanks to u/StreetReporter and u/KerryonsCrayons for corrections on Cam Newton winning rookie of the year and spelling of Auburn (my in-laws will kill me)
Of these 38 QBs, they averaged being drafted in the 4th rd (including undrafted players, which I counted as being drafted in a hypothetical 8th round). There were 13 players drafted in the first round, with 5 players being drafted 1st overall. 10 players went undrafted, but 11 players never played in the NFL (JJ McCarthy and Stetson Bennett not included). The average career length is 3.8 years.
I don’t know how the polls will shake out this year (if they update after ND/OSU play each other or not), but make your own conclusions/predictions about Riley Leonard/Will Howard/Dillon Gabriel, etc with these data.
I don’t know how I missed the data on Tee Martin’s playing time in the NFL, but he did play for two seasons. I think I saw no stats in the first season and moved on, my bad. It’s been corrected thanks to u/LittleTension8765