Braden Atkinson of Oregon State leads all qualified FBS passers with 3,148 passing yards in the 2026 college football regular season. See the full top 25 below, or explore the interactive CFB Savant leaderboard with percentiles, filters, and player cards.
Qualification: 14 pass attempts per team game.
What the 2026 QB board shows
Braden Atkinson (Oregon State) leads with 3,148 passing yards. The gap to second is 186.0 passing yards. Drew Mestemaker (Oklahoma State) is second at 2,962, and Tayven Jackson (North Texas) is third at 2,871. This is an in-progress snapshot: percentiles move quickly early in the season, and one big game can swing the order. Use the interactive leaderboard to see each quarterback’s full percentile profile, not just the headline total.
Efficiency and volume do not always agree. Braden Atkinson (Oregon State) leads in passing yards with 3,148 passing yards, but the efficiency leader is Kevin Jennings (SMU) at 9.8 yards per attempt, and the passer-rating leader is Darian Mensah (Miami) at 191.0. Read yards with yards per attempt and rating together: high yards with middling YPA means volume, high YPA with lower yards means efficiency on fewer throws. See the YPA glossary entry and the YPA vs. raw yards breakdown.
| # | Player | GP | Yds | TD | INT | Y/A | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Braden AtkinsonOregon State · Pac-12 | 9 | 3,148 | 25 | 3 | 8.6 | 158.6 |
| 2 | Drew MestemakerOklahoma State · Big 12 | 9 | 2,962 | 29 | 8 | 9.6 | 173.0 |
| 3 | Tayven JacksonNorth Texas · American Athletic | 9 | 2,871 | 23 | 5 | 9.6 | 173.6 |
| 4 | Kevin JenningsSMU · ACC | 9 | 2,783 | 25 | 6 | 9.8 | 181.4 |
| 5 | Noah FifitaArizona · Big 12 | 9 | 2,777 | 21 | 5 | 9.1 | 168.5 |
| 6 | Caden VeltkampFlorida Atlantic · American Athletic | 9 | 2,744 | 27 | 5 | 8.1 | 162.5 |
| 7 | Darian MensahMiami · ACC | 9 | 2,701 | 28 | 2 | 9.8 | 191.0 |
| 8 | Sam LeavittLSU · SEC | 9 | 2,551 | 17 | 9 | 8.4 | 154.3 |
| 9 | Marcus StokesMemphis · American Athletic | 9 | 2,532 | 25 | 6 | 9.8 | 178.5 |
| 10 | Jayden MaiavaUSC · Big Ten | 9 | 2,525 | 20 | 5 | 8.5 | 157.5 |
| 11 | Micah AlejadoHawai'i · Mountain West | 9 | 2,489 | 10 | 7 | 6.6 | 121.0 |
| 12 | Jaden CraigTCU · Big 12 | 9 | 2,439 | 12 | 7 | 7.9 | 139.8 |
| 13 | Ethan GrunkemeyerVirginia Tech · ACC | 9 | 2,431 | 18 | 3 | 8.1 | 157.5 |
| 14 | Trinidad ChamblissOle Miss · SEC | 9 | 2,359 | 18 | 9 | 7.2 | 135.3 |
| 15 | John Alan RichterToledo · Mid-American | 9 | 2,304 | 18 | 3 | 8.3 | 155.4 |
| 16 | Conner WeigmanHouston · Big 12 | 9 | 2,279 | 22 | 2 | 8.9 | 167.3 |
| 17 | Lincoln KienholzLouisville · ACC | 9 | 2,276 | 14 | 3 | 9.8 | 167.1 |
| 18 | Keelon RussellAlabama · SEC | 9 | 2,263 | 18 | 5 | 9.2 | 165.1 |
| 19 | Ryan BrownePurdue · Big Ten | 9 | 2,260 | 11 | 5 | 7.8 | 137.2 |
| 20 | Davis WarrenStanford · ACC | 9 | 2,203 | 14 | 3 | 7.2 | 133.5 |
| 21 | Max JohnsonGeorgia Southern · Sun Belt | 9 | 2,199 | 15 | 2 | 7.2 | 144.0 |
| 22 | Austin SimmonsMissouri · SEC | 9 | 2,187 | 18 | 2 | 7.8 | 146.5 |
| 23 | Giovanni LopezWake Forest · ACC | 9 | 2,176 | 18 | 1 | 9.5 | 172.4 |
| 24 | C.J. CarrNotre Dame · FBS Independents | 9 | 2,168 | 21 | 1 | 8.3 | 162.8 |
| 25 | Deuce BaileyCoastal Carolina · Sun Belt | 9 | 2,168 | 19 | 9 | 8.1 | 139.3 |
How to read these numbers: see the Methodology and Stat Glossary for what each stat measures and how percentiles are calculated, and the CFB Savant Blog for original analysis of the current season.