Virginia has one of the largest transfer classes in the country this offseason, and the Cavaliers are making a push to make sure their roster is good enough to make a bowl game. One of the big changes is the new quarterback, Chandler Morris, who is the presumed starter heading into the 2025 season. Morris is coming to Virginia to replace Anthony Colandrea and Tony Muskett, and he is coming off a solid season at North Texas, but has struggled at both TCU and Oklahoma, his only Power four stops. Will Morris be an upgrade? Virginia needs him to be if they want to achieve some of their goals this season.
How does Morris stack up against the other quarterbacks in the conference? There are varying opinions amongst national analysts, with the Sporting News ranking him in the top seven, while some lists don't have him in the top ten at all. In a list released yesterday from On3 Sports analyst Andy Staples, Morris did not make the top ten. Clemson's Cade Klubnik, Duke's Darian Mensah, Miami's Carson Beck, SMU's Kevin Jennings, Georgia Tech's Haynes King, NC State's CJ Bailey, North Carolina's Gio Lopez, Pitt's Eli Holstein, and Syracuse's Steve Angeli.
NEW: Top 10 College Football ACC Quarterbacks via@Andy_Staples
— On3 (@On3sports) July 16, 2025
Do you agree? https://t.co/n0EVdhKMWR pic.twitter.com/vdm7DnrJHf
It is not necessarily a surprise that Morris is not on there, as he still has a lot to prove, but he has played more at the power four level from his days at TCU and Oklahoma than say Darian Mensah, Gio Lopez, and Steve Angeli.
There is a chance that Morris could in fact be a huge upgrade at the position, but he only has one real season to show for it. Morris only played in five total games during his lone season with Oklahoma and then transferred to TCU. He played in four games for the Horned Frogs in 2021, including a standout performance in an upset win over No. 12 Baylor. Morris was 29-41 for 461 yards and two touchdowns in that game.
He would battle an injury that would limit his playing time in both 2022 (when the Horner Frogs made an appearance in the national championship game) and then in 2023, when he only played in seven games. Morris threw for 1,532 yards, 12 touchdowns, and five interceptions while completing 66% of his passes. He would then transfer to North Texas, where he would have the most productive season of his collegiate career.
For the Mean Green last season, Morris threw for 3,774 yards, 31 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions while completing 63.1% of his passes. He also had 242 yards rushing and four touchdowns. According to PFF, Morris finished as the highest-grade player on the North Texas offense with 78.9 grade in 887 total snaps at quarterback.
It comes down to if 1) Morris can stay healthy and 2) Was his production a product of the kind of teams he was facing on the field last season? I would argue that when he was healthy at TCU, he did have games where he put up big numbers, so last season might not have just been a product of facing weak defenses. Morris has more experience and has been more productive than either Colandrea or Muskett.
More must-reads:
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!