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Operation Sports
Operation Sports
Kyler Wolff

Fastest QBs in College Football 26

The EA College Football 26 player ratings technically aren’t out yet… officially. However, they were leaked and are currently up on Teamcrafters.net for anybody looking for an early peek into what to expect from the 2026 rosters and ratings. The rosters are fun to poke around and see what players were rated above other players and who is rated the highest at each position, but what people really want to know is: who’s the fastest?

While there are plenty of speed freaks in the game, including four 99-speed players, including wide receivers Nyck Harbor from South Carolina, Jordan Anthony from Arkansas, and Barion Brown from LSU, as well as cornerback Roderick Pleasant from UCLA, I wanted to take a more focused approach with this article, focusing on what really matters in this game. What really matters in this game, you may ask? It’s the quarterbacks.

The quarterback is the most important position in the most important sport in the most important country on the planet. This is to say that it’s a QB world, and we’re all just living in it. Whether in the real world or our precious virtual world, the QB will always prevail. The quarterback must be the center of our focus if we want to actually get good at EA CFB, which is a goal of mine this year after struggling a bit with the game in its inaugural season. This season, we will focus on QB play, specifically QB rushing, because that is where the game is headed if it’s not already there in the first place.

We will look at who the fastest quarterbacks are in the game, not just based on speed rating but also on the three rushing numbers linked to actual speed/quickness: speed, agility, and acceleration. We will look at the players with the highest ratings at each of these attributes and then use that data to compile a list of the top ten fastest (starting) quarterbacks in the game.

13 Quarterbacks Above 89 Speed

*denotes that they are a projected starting QB

  • Austin Carlisle, Houston, 92 SPD
  • Haynes King*, Georgia Tech, 91 SPD
  • Ju’Juan Johnson, LSU, 91 SPD
  • Nate Johnson, Utah, 91 SPD
  • Hauss Henjy*, Oklahoma State, 91 SPD
  • Taylen Green*, Arkansas, 91 SPD
  • Luke Moga, Oregon, 90 SPD
  • Michael Hawkins Jr., Oklahoma, 90 SPD
  • Chris Denson, Clemson, 90 SPD
  • Marcel Reed*, Texas A&M, 90 SPD
  • Tommy Castellanos*, Florida State, 90 SPD
  • Mike Wright, East Carolina, 90 SPD
  • Kaidon Salter*, Colorado, 90 SPD

12 Quarterbacks Above 90 Agility

*denotes that they are a projected starting QB

  • Devon Dampier*, Utah, 92 AGI
  • Tommy Castellanos*, Florida State, 92 AGI
  • Michael Hawkins, Oklahoma, 92 AGI
  • Kevin Jennings*, SMU, 92 AGI
  • LaNorris Sellers*, South Carolina, 91 AGI
  • Avery Johnson*, Kansas State, 91 AGI
  • Adam Lambert, Nevada, 91 AGI
  • Mitch Griffis, Texas Tech, 91 AGI
  • Jalon Daniels*, Kansas, 91 AGI
  • Kaidon Salter*, Colorado, 91 AGI
  • Kent Hilton, Pitt, 91 AGI
  • Chris Denson, Clemson, 91 AGI

11 Quarterbacks Above 92 Acceleration 

*denotes that they are a projected starting QB

  • Austin Carlisle, Houston, 94 ACC
  • Alonza Barnett III*, James Madison, 93 ACC
  • Haynes King*, Georgia Tech, 93 ACC
  • Nate Johnson, Utah, 93 ACC
  • Devon Dampier*, Utah, 93 ACC
  • Michael Hawkins Jr., Oklahoma, 93 ACC
  • LaNorris Sellers*, South Carolina, 93 ACC
  • Avery Johnson*, Kansas State, 93 ACC
  • Ju’Juan Johnson, LSU, 93 ACC
  • Kevin Jennings*, SMU, 93 ACC
  • Tommy Castellanos*, Florida State, 93 ACC

Top Ten Fastest Quarterbacks Who Will Actually Start Games

1: Tommy Castellanos, Florida State, 83 OVR

Summary: With 90 speed, 92 agility, and 93 acceleration, Castellanos sets himself apart as the only starting quarterback in the game with 275 or more total attribute points in the three categories. Castellanos is an undersized spark plug quarterback, standing at just 5’9” and 196 pounds. He’s got a Kyler Murray-like feel about his game.

The transfer quarterback will get the start this season for his new team after previous stints at UCF as a freshman and Boston College in the last two years. He didn’t play much at Central Florida, but was able to win the starting job at BC and become one of the best dual-threat QBs in the country in 2023, finishing the year with 2,248 passing yards and 1,113 rushing yards on the season. Last year, Castellanos struggled through injuries and dealt with Bill O’Brien’s offensive scheme. Now that’s he 100% and on a team with an offense that will actually utilize his skills, his ceiling is sky high in real life as well as CFB 26.

2: Kevin Jennings, SMU, 89 OVR

Summary: Jennings is a rarity in college football in that he is entering his fourth season with the same team, opting not to enter the portal like the majority of his peers. Jennings was patient, sitting on the bench for large swaths of his first two seasons, but it paid off last year as the freaky athlete went on to have an impressive first season as a starter. With 3,245 passing yards and 354 rushing yards last year, Jennings’ numbers might not reflect just how fast this guy is.

His speed rating is one of the lower ones on this list at just 89, but he makes up for it with an impressive 93 acceleration and 92 agility that highlights some of his crazy athleticism. Jennings should be poised for a big jump in rushing production in real life, and if not, he can at least take comfort in the fact that thousands of CFB 26 players will be utilizing his great speed in the game.

3: Haynes King, Georgia Tech, 86 OVR

Summary: King will be a super senior next year in what will be his sixth collegiate season. The first three were at Texas A&M where he started only a handful of games. It wasn’t until he got to Georgia Tech where he really unlocked his skillset, rushing for 1,324 yards over his two seasons. King has been a prototypical west coast QB, completing a conference high of 72.9% of his passes last year and running all over opponents.

King’s 91 speed and 93 acceleration make him one of the most explosive runners in the game, and his 89 agility is also impressive, although not quite as impressive as many of the other players on this list. King is faster than he is quick, which is the inverse of the common scouting term “quicker than fast” which indicates that a player’s agility and acceleration make him look faster than he actually is. King may actually be faster than he looks on tape.

4: Kaidon Salter, Colorado, 88 OVR

Summary: The three year starter (plus a redshirt year in 2021) at Liberty transferred to Colorado to play for Deion as he looks to be one of the few starting quarterbacks Deion will have coached that is not related to him. Salter is your typical Liberty Quarterback, which is to say that he is no stranger to running the ball 10+ times a game.

He’s ran for over 2,000 yards over his three years as the starter for Liberty so it’s easy to see why EA gave him a 90 speed, 91 acceleration, and 92 agility rating, making him one of three starting QBs with a 90+ rating in those three categories (Tommy Castellanos and Marcel Reed are the other two).

5: LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina, 91 OVR

Summary: One of the most hyped up QB prospects for the 2026 draft, Sellers’ speed and running ability are a big part of that. While he has only started one season at South Carolina, his 674 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns displayed his incredible rushing ability. His rushing numbers were so good that EA awarded him the fifth-best rushing attributes of any starting QB with 89 speed, 91 agility, and 93 acceleration.

6: Devon Dampier, Utah, 87 OVR

Summary: Devon Dampier was one of my favorite players in EA Sports College Football 26 for New Mexico. He is explosive with a 93 acceleration rating and athletic with a 92 agility rating, which puts him in the top four players in that category. Dampier also has great speed, being rated at 89 in the game, which I consider to be an underrating of his ability. Unlike EA, Utah clearly understood his elite skill set and was able to lure him to Salt Lake City through the transfer portal.

Dampier threw for 2,768 yards in his only starting season with New Mexico. Still, his main production came on the ground with 1,166 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns. Dampier averaged 7.5 yards per run and was arguably one of the most effective runners in all of FBS last year.

7: Marcel Reed, Texas A&M, 85 OVR

Summary: One of three players with 90+ in speed, agility, and acceleration (behind Tommy Castellanos and Kaidon Salyer) with 90 speed, 90 agility, and 92 acceleration in the game. Reed is entering his Sophomore season (after a redshirt year in 2023) and already has a season full of starts behind him. Reed started nine games last year for the Aggies and was able to tally 543 rushing yards on 116 attempts and seven touchdowns, numbers which he should be able to easily improve on this season, given his flat-out speed and running ability.

8: Alonza Barnett III, James Madison, 86 OVR

Summary: A small school QB, Barnett rose to national attention last year when he threw for 2,598 yards for 26 touchdowns and four interceptions. His running numbers were much more subdued with just 442 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on the ground, but he showed the potential to flash some speed last season and could shine this year on the ground if given an opportunity.

With top-tier acceleration at 93 and an agility rating of 90, Barnett has the quickness and rush moves to make highlight-reel plays. His 89 speed also helps his rushing ability, but to a lesser extent than other attributes.

9: Avery Johnson, Kansas State, 89 OVR

Summary: Johnson’s got one of the lowest speed ratings of any player on this list with an 88, but his elite 93 acceleration and 91 agility more than make up for it. Johnson was able to start the majority of the season last year for the Wildcats and impressed with 32 total touchdowns (7 on the ground) and 3,317 total yards (605 of which were rushing), and has primed himself up for an even better season this year.

10: Blake Horvath, Navy, 90 OVR

Summary: While Horvath did complete 80 passes last year for 1,353 yards and 13 touchdowns, that is not the focus of his or the Navy’s game. They are a run heavy team with a run first QB in Horvath who earned 1,246 yards on 175 attempts and 17 touchdowns to help Navy reach one of its best seasons in its history, going 9-3 and beating Oklahoma in the Armed Forces Bowl.

Horvath is the one guy on this top ten list that somehow didn’t make it into the top-rated lists for any of the three categories. His 89 speed, 90 agility, and 92 acceleration were all one less attribute than what was needed to make the lists, causing him to just fall out of contention in each category, but still with enough skill to make number ten on this list.

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