If you’re starting your Road to Glory journey in EA Sports College Football 26 or playing Dynasty mode and are looking for your next stud player, you will want to get familiar with this year’s archetypes. There are a variety of archetype options for each position in the game, but today we’ll focus on the most critical position in football and hone in on the best quarterback archetypes in the game.
There are four different QB archetypes in this year’s iteration of the game; every eligible QB in the game is categorized amongst one of these four. There is a backfield creator, dual threat, pocket passer, and pure runner archetype. There is also a gadget receiver archetype, which has some quarterback traits and skills, but will not be part of this article, as this is just about the QBs. Each archetype has a different set of abilities and starting traits/attributes.
Top Five Active Players in Each Archetype
While pocket passers have the best accuracy and typically throw the ball from set feet without much scrambling and movement, the pure runner archetype is its polar opposite. The pure runner has a weaker arm and a lot more speed; these QBs don’t tend to throw the ball more than a dozen times a game and are usually utilized through designed runs and options.
The dual-threat QB is a hybrid of the two different styles of play, allowing players to have more opportunities to create plays with both their legs and arms. Finally, we have the backfield creator, which is similar to dual threat, but typically they don’t run much past the line of scrimmage. Their speed and athleticism are used to create space for them to find targets downfield. Backfield creators usually have the best throw on the run and throw under pressure of any of the archetype QBs.
Backfield Creator:
- Rocco Becht, 88 OVR, Iowa State
- Dylan Raiola, 87 OVR, Nebraska
- Noah Fifita, 87 OVR, Arizona
- Jayden Maiava, 86 OVR, USC
- Adam Matthews, 83 OVR, San Jose State
Dual Threat:
- LaNorris Sellers, 91 OVR, South Carolina
- John Mateer, 91 OVR, Oklahoma
- D.J. Lagway, 90 OVR, Florida
- Kevin Jennings, 89 OVR, SMU
- Avery Johnson, 89 OVR, Kansas State
Pocket Passer:
- Drew Allar, 92 OVR, Penn State
- Garrett Nussmeier, 92 OVR, LSU
- Cade Klubnik, 92 OVR, Clemson
- Carson Beck, 91 OVR, Miami
- Sam Leavitt, 91 OVR, Arizona State
Pure Runner:
- Blake Horvath, 90 OVR, Navy
- Devon Dampier, 87 OVR, Utah
- Tommy Castellanos, 83 OVR, Florida State
- Matthew Sluka, 82 OVR, James Madison
- Gavin Wimsatt, 80 OVR, Jacksonville State
Physical Traits for Each Archetype
Backfield Creator:
Off Platform — Accuracy boost on throws across the body or off the back foot
Pull Down — Improved ball security on sacks
On Time — Increased accuracy when throwing before the receiver makes the cut on the route
Sleight of Hand — Improved ability to fake defenders with PA on 1st down or less than three yards to go
Mobile deadeye — Accuracy boost on throws on the run outside the pocket
Dual Threat:
Downhill — Increased ability to break tackles at high speed
Extender — Improved ability to break sacks
Dot — Accuracy boost with set feet in a clean pocket to open receivers
Option King — Boost to pitch accuracy, speed, and wear and tear on pitch plays
Mobile Resistance — Improved ability to resist pressure on the run
Pocket Passer:
Resistance — Increased protection from pressure in the pocket
Step Up — Improved accuracy when stepping out of pressure in the pocket
Pull Down — Improved ball security on sacks
Dot — Accuracy boost with set feet in a clean pocket to open receivers
On Time — Increased accuracy when throwing before the receiver makes the cut on the route
Pure Runner:
Magician — Boost to agility in the pocket
Option King — Boost to pitch accuracy, speed, and wear and tear on pitch plays
Shifty — Increased ability to maintain speed during cuts and turns
Side Step — Improved juke move effectiveness
Workhorse — Increased protection from the wear and tear effects of colliding with other players
Best Attributes for Each Archetype
Backfield Creator:
- Throw on the run
- Throw under pressure
- Break sack
- Play action
- Toughness
Dual Threat:
- Ball carrier vision
- Throw on the run
- Change of direction
- Throw power
- Medium accuracy
Pocket Passer:
- Throw power
- Short accuracy
- Medium accuracy
- Deep accuracy
- Awareness
Pure Runner:
- Speed
- Acceleration
- Change of direction
- Carrying
- Stamina
Now that we have that basic information about the archetypes out of the way, it’s time to rank them! Starting with the worst and going down to the best in class!
Quarterback Archetypes Ranked
4. Pure Runner
With the right playbook, you can certainly make it work, but overall, the pure runner is very one-dimensional and prevents an offense from really opening up the field. There is a reason why it is the least common quarterback archetype in the game, because it’s not dynamic enough to create a star player. Blake Horvath from the run-heavy Navy team is the best “pure runner” quarterback in the game, and I wouldn’t say that he is necessarily a star in college football.
I understand that guys like Lamar Jackson and Mike Vick had success as running quarterbacks in college, but they weren’t “pure runners.” Lamar had 3660 passing yards in his final at Louisville, and Vick had nearly three times more passing yards than rushing yards over his college career. These guys had the ability to throw the football, but guys with this archetype really don’t, not compared to the other passing archetypes.
None of the archetype abilities are focused on passing, and their ratings are almost all light on passing attributes (although you’ll still have some passing ability, but it’s not nearly as much as you would with other archetypes). Overall, if you want to play as a pure runner, you’ll definitely get what you signed up for… don’t expect to pass the ball much.
3. Pocket Passer
Despite also being one-dimensional, this archetype is significantly better than the pure runner type. A pocket passer at least has abilities that are useful to the position they play. With abilities like resistance, step up, and pull down in the pocket and dot/on time when you throw it, this archetype comes with perks that are extremely helpful when trying to move downfield as a QB leading a team.
This archetype is usually going to be the most accurate of all the QB archetypes, so if you hate having your passes sail wildly over your intended receiver’s heads, this archetype will help at least somewhat in that.
Pocket passer ranks just behind dual threat as the most common archetype in the game, with plenty of starting QBs, particularly amongst the game’s elite quarterbacks, being pocket passers, with six of the top 10 overall QBs in the game being pocket passers. Pocket passers can be seen as a little boring given that the game is so focused on speed and dynamism, which is why it ranks second to last on this list, but that’s just because the other two archetypes are much more balanced.
2. Dual Threat
Speaking of “balanced,” this is the ultimate balanced archetype, combining the best elements of pure runner and pocket passer to create a QB archetype that is the most popular not only in the game’s current roster but also among Road to Glory players. People don’t necessarily want to be locked into just one style of play for their entire play-through and usually opt for a dual-threat approach to get a little of both worlds, allowing them to develop their player in whatever mold the playbook and team’s playing style demands.
Dual threat and backfield creator (which, if you are a fan of the process of elimination, you’ll notice is our final archetype remaining) are very similar, but dual threat is a bit more designed for you to pick up running yards with your QB. With downhill, mobile resistance, and option king abilities available under this archetype, you can design a player that can tear up an opposing defense in the option and designed run game.
1. Backfield Creator
Backfield creator is the best QB archetype in the game because it gives you the best of both worlds with great throwing attributes that are just slightly below pocket passer. It also possesses the agility and mobility to break free from sacks, escape the pocket, and deliver strikes on the run. It’s not as geared towards an option attack as dual threat and pure runner are, but you certainly find some success with pulling the ball down and taking off. It’s not the “Scrambler” archetype from College Football 25, but it does allow you to run a bit when necessary.
The backfield creator archetype is ideal for players who want to push the ball down the field and need to buy time for their receivers to get open. I love this archetype because I personally hate getting sacked. I find it incredibly frustrating, and it completely kills my momentum. I prefer utilizing QBs with this archetype to escape a collapsing pocket and make a positive play out of a negative situation.
All in all, it’s really the best quarterback archetype in the game, especially for Road to Glory. It’s not used much in dynasty mode, at least not for current players, although there are usually a couple of four-star backfield creator quarterbacks in recruiting that you could pick up.
This archetype allows you to have pinpoint accuracy (more so than dual threat) while also still being able to create some dynamic plays with your legs. It’s the best of both worlds!
