The top three quarterbacks in the Big 12 entering Week 5

Just like the quarterback position is pivotal on the gridiron, statistics have become a massive component in tracking players’ progress as the season unfolds. 

While they do not always tell the whole story, ESPN’s total quarterback rating (QBR), which has been a standard since 2011, has been beneficial in measuring a player’s effectiveness at this position and his in-game decision-making. 

So which three players are sitting on top of the Big 12 in this rating headed into Week 5?

1. Josh Hoover, TCU, 84.9 QBR

Despite the Horned Frogs’ difficulties getting off to the start they wanted, it seemingly has little to do with the impressive gameplay of the man under center. Across their shaky 2-2 start, sophomore Josh Hoover has a completion percentage of 68.5, going 111–of-162 on pass attempts.

Even with the smaller sample size, 2024 has seen his completion rate increase by roughly six percent, and he’s thrown for 1,418 yards – over half of his total from his 10 starts in the 2023 season. 

While he might still have a ways to go before he has the infectious “can’t lose” spirit of recent Horned Frog legend Max Duggan, Hoover has TCU trending in the right direction this year.

2. Brendan Sorsby, Cincinnati, 79.1 QBR

Sophomore Sorsby is 77-of-118 for a 65.3% completion rate in the 2024 season. Barring a head-scratching drop to Pitt, which bounced back from a considerable deficit to give the Bearcats their only loss, Cincinnati has been relatively dominant across its first third of the season. 

The QBR does factor in the strength of the opponent, and even with the only Big 12 victory coming against the questionable Houston Cougars, the actual road test for Sorsby comes this weekend in a primetime matchup against a Texas Tech Red Raider team gaining momentum. 

Head coach Scott Satterfield has believed in Sorsby since the first snap, stating (via Sports Illustrated), “I think [Sorsby] gives us a great situation as far as running the quarterback, as well as throwing the ball. So I think he’s got a good command of what we’re trying to do.”

3. Garrett Greene, West Virginia, 77.3 QBR

While Sorsby has been known to take some designed runs from the backfield, a considerable piece of senior Garrett Greene’s offensive strategy is making plays with his legs and scrambling for necessary yardage. In this sample of the 2024 season, Greene already has over 200 yards on the ground to combine with his 902 passing yards. 

Effectively finding openings in tight coverage by a seasoned Kansas defense and the primarily dominant performance against Pitt in Week 3 improved Greene’s QBR to make him a top performer in the league. 

When head coach Neal Brown was asked how the squad came from behind and overtook Kansas at the end of last week’s game, he responded (via Sports Illustrated), “We’ve got Garrett Greene, and they don’t. I’m serious. He’s got a special quality.”