Julian Lewis named among top breakout quarterbacks for 2026
· Yahoo Sports
Colorado enters the 2026 college football season with a cleaner plan at quarterback, with redshirt freshman Julian Lewis the projected starter and Utah transfer Isaac Wilson a competent backup to apply some pressure.
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Lewis has a ton of potential, and with Brennan Marion now running the offense, the odds of him reaching that potential significantly increase. The Athletic recently named the Colorado quarterback to its list of ten rising quarterbacks who could make a jump this year.
To qualify for the list, all players could not be in the first three tiers of our ranking; Lewis was placed in the fifth tier (No. 49 overall) and was not on last year's list.
Lewis is joined on the list by several Big 12 quarterbacks, including Texas Tech's Will Hammond (No. 2), Arizona State's (No. 3) and West Virginia's Michael Hawkins (No. 9). Georgia Tech starting quarterback Alberto Mendoza, who the Buffs will see in Week 1, also made the list.
Here's what The Athletic had to say about Lewis entering 2026:
The former blue-chip pocket passer from Georgia appears ready to shine in the Go-Go offense run by new coordinator Brennan Marion, whose most notable pupil is current USC standout Jayden Maiava. The 6-1, 190-pound Lewis isn’t as mobile as some of Marion’s other QBs, but at least he is actually reading defenses now. Lewis admitted at Big 12 media days earlier this month he was “high school free balling” when he was on the field last season. - Manny Navarro, The Athletic
The offense should be much improved this year not only from a production standpoint, but also schematically. Combine the new offense with the experienced offensive line and wide receiver transfers Colorado brought in, and Lewis is in prime position to at the very least have a solid season if not a full-blown breakout.
Other signal callers who are potential breakouts are Florida's Aaron Philo, Virginia Tech's Ethan Grunkemeyer, Mississippi State's Mamario Taylor, Vanderbilt's Jared Curtis, and South Florida's Michael Van Buren.
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This article originally appeared on Buffaloes Wire: Julian Lewis named among top breakout quarterbacks for 2026