The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award® along with presenting sponsor A. O. Smith Corporation announce the 2021 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Watch List Week 1 Stats. Candidates are chosen based on player performance on and off the field. Candidates are judged on their character, citizenship, scholastic achievement, teamwork and leadership qualities.
| NAME | SCHOOL | GAMES | COMP | ATTEMPTS | % | YDS | TDS | INT | RUSH | SCORE (record) | CONFERENCE | NOTES |
| Luke Anthony | Louisiana Tech | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | DNP; L 35-34 Mississippi State (0-1) | C-USA | Next: SE Louisiana (9/11) |
| Brennan Armstrong | Virginia | 1 | 20 | 30 | 67% | 334 | 4 | 0 | 0 | W 43-0 William & Mary (1-0) | ACC | Next: Illinois (9/11) |
| Hank Bachmeier | Boise State | 1 | 25 | 39 | 64% | 263 | 2 | 1 | -7 | L 36-31 UCF (0-1) | Mountain West | Next: UTEP (9/10) |
| Connor Bazelak | Missouri | 1 | 22 | 35 | 63% | 256 | 2 | 0 | -10 | W 34-24 Central Michigan (1-0) | SEC | Next: at Kentucky (9/11) |
| Jake Bentley | South Alabama | 1 | 17 | 22 | 77% | 269 | 3 | 0 | -7 | W 31-7 Southern Mississippi (1-0) | Sun Belt | Next: at Bowling Green (9/11) |
| Charlie Brewer | Utah | 1 | 19 | 27 | 70% | 233 | 2 | 1 | 15 | W 40-17 Weber State (1-0) | Pac-12 | Next: at BYU (9/11) |
| Chase Brice | Appalachian State | 1 | 26 | 27 | 96% | 259 | 2 | 1 | 2 | W 33-19 East Carolina (1-0) | Sun Belt | Next: at Miami (9/11) |
| Anthony Brown | Oregon | 1 | 15 | 24 | 63% | 172 | 2 | 0 | 62 | W 31-24 Fresno State (1-0) | Pac-12 | Next: at Ohio State (9/11) |
| Braxton Burmeister | Virginia Tech | 1 | 12 | 19 | 63% | 169 | 2 | 1 | 42 | W 17-10 North Carolina (1-0) | ACC | Next: Middle Tennessee (9/11) |
| Sean Chambers | Wyoming | 1 | 15 | 26 | 58% | 196 | 1 | 1 | 51 | W 19-16 Montana State (1-0) | Mountain West | Next: at Northern Illinois (9/11) |
| Sean Clifford | Penn State | 1 | 18 | 33 | 55% | 247 | 1 | 0 | 5 | W 16-10 Wisconsin (1-0) | BIG-10 | Next: Ball State (9/11) |
| Jack Coan | Notre Dame | 1 | 26 | 35 | 74% | 366 | 4 | 1 | -3 | W 41-38 Florida State (1-0) | Independent | Next: Toledo (9/11) |
| Matt Corral | Ole Miss | 1 | 22 | 32 | 69% | 381 | 2 | 0 | 55 | W 43-24 Louisville (1-0) | SEC | Next: Austin Peay (9/11) |
| Dustin Crum | Kent State | 1 | 12 | 26 | 46% | 89 | 0 | 2 | 60 | L 41-10 Texas A&M (0-1) | MAC | Next: VMI (9/11) |
| Malik Cunningham | Louisville | 1 | 22 | 37 | 60% | 191 | 3 | 1 | 79 | L 43-24 Ole Miss (0-1) | ACC | Next: Eastern Kentucky (9/11) |
| Jayden Daniels | Arizona State | 1 | 10 | 12 | 83% | 132 | 0 | 0 | 40 | W 41-14 Southern Utah (1-0) | Pac-12 | Next: UNLV (9/11) |
| JT Daniels | Georgia | 1 | 22 | 30 | 73% | 135 | 0 | 1 | -8 | W 10-3 Clemson (1-0) | SEC | Next: UAB (9/11) |
| Tommy DeVito | Syracuse | 1 | 11 | 17 | 65% | 92 | 1 | 0 | 49 | W 29-9 Ohio (1-0) | ACC | Next: Rutgers (9/11) |
| Jarret Doege | West Virginia | 1 | 24 | 42 | 57% | 280 | 1 | 2 | -35 | L 30-24 Maryland (0-1) | BIG-12 | Next: Long Island University (9/11) |
| Max Duggan | TCU | 1 | 14 | 19 | 74% | 207 | 2 | 1 | 9 | W 45-3 Duquesne (1-0) | BIG-12 | Next: Cal (9/11) |
| Dillon Gabriel | UCF | 1 | 25 | 37 | 68% | 318 | 4 | 2 | 64 | W 36-31 Boise State (1-0) | American | Next: Bethune-Cookman (9/11) |
| Chase Garbers | California | 1 | 25 | 38 | 66% | 172 | 1 | 1 | -5 | L 22-17 Nevada (0-1) | PAC-12 | Next: at TCU (9/11) |
| Jarrett Guarantano | Washington State | 1 | 8 | 13 | 62% | 56 | 0 | 0 | 19 | L 26-23 Utah State (0-1) | PAC-12 | Next: Portland State (9/11) |
| Sam Hartman | Wake Forest | 1 | 18 | 27 | 67% | 188 | 3 | 0 | -1 | W 42-10 Old Dominion (1-0) | ACC | Next: Norfolk State (9/11) |
| Bailey Hockman | Middle Tennessee | 1 | 17 | 23 | 74% | 215 | 3 | 0 | -11 | W 50-15 Monmouth (1-0) | C-USA | Next: at Virginia Tech (9/11) |
| Hendon Hooker | Tennessee | 1 | 1 | 1 | 100% | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | W 38-6 Bowling Green (1-0) | SEC | Next: Pitt (9/11) |
| Sam Howell | North Carolina | 1 | 17 | 32 | 53% | 208 | 2 | 1 | 1 | L 17-10 Virginia Tech (0-1) | ACC | Next: Georgia State (9/11) |
| Tyler Johnston III | UAB | 1 | 17 | 21 | 81% | 320 | 2 | 0 | 0 | W 31-0 Jacksonville State (1-0) | C-USA | Next: at Georgia (9/11) |
| Emory Jones | Florida | 1 | 17 | 27 | 63% | 119 | 1 | 2 | 74 | W 35-14 Florida Atlantic (1-0) | SEC | Next: at South Florida (9/11) |
| Phil Jurkovec | Boston College | 1 | 18 | 27 | 67% | 332 | 3 | 0 | 61 | W 51-0 Colgate (1-0) | ACC | Next: at UMass (9/11) |
| D’Eriq King | Miami | 1 | 22 | 31 | 71% | 169 | 1 | 2 | 10 | L 44-13 Alabama (0-1) | ACC | Next: Appalachian State (9/11) |
| Devin Leary | NC State | 1 | 17 | 26 | 65% | 232 | 2 | 1 | 1 | W 45-0 South Florida (1-0) | ACC | Next: at Mississippi State (9/11) |
| Levi Lewis | Louisiana | 1 | 27 | 38 | 71% | 281 | 1 | 0 | -19 | L 38-18 Texas (0-1) | Sun Belt | Next: Nicholls (9/11) |
| Adrian Martinez | Nebraska | 2 | 33 | 55 | 60% | 486 | 5 | 0 | 144 | W 52-7 Fordham (1-1) | BIG-10 | Next: Buffalo (9/11) |
| Grayson McCall | Coastal Carolina | 1 | 16 | 19 | 84% | 262 | 1 | 0 | 24 | W 52-14 The Citadel (1-0) | Sun Belt | Next: Kansas (9/10) |
| Graham Mertz | Wisconsin | 1 | 22 | 37 | 60% | 185 | 0 | 2 | -26 | L 16-10 Penn State (0-1) | Big-10 | Next: Eastern Michigan (9/11) |
| McKenzie Milton | Florida State | 1 | 5 | 7 | 71% | 48 | 0 | 0 | 6 | L 41-38 Notre Dame (0-1) | ACC | Next: Jacksonville State (9/11) |
| Tanner Morgan | Minnesota | 1 | 14 | 25 | 56% | 205 | 1 | 0 | 0 | L 45-31 Ohio State (0-1) | Big-10 | Next: Miami (OH) (9/11) |
| Dylan Morris | Washington | 1 | 27 | 46 | 59% | 276 | 1 | 3 | -24 | L 13-7 Montana (0-1) | Pac-12 | Next: at Michigan (9/11) |
| Bo Nix | Auburn | 1 | 20 | 22 | 91% | 275 | 3 | 0 | 32 | W 60-10 Akron (1-0) | SEC | Next: Alabama State (9/11) |
| Michael Penix, Jr. | Indiana | 1 | 14 | 31 | 45% | 156 | 0 | 3 | -7 | L 34-6 Iowa (0-1) | BIG-10 | Next: Idaho (9/11) |
| Brandon Peters | Illinois | 1 | 3 | 4 | 75% | 35 | 0 | 0 | -15 | DNP; L 37-30 UTSA (1-1) | BIG-10 | Next: at Virginia (9/11) |
| Spencer Petras | Iowa | 1 | 13 | 27 | 48% | 145 | 1 | 0 | 0 | W 34-6 Indiana (1-0) | BIG-10 | Next: at Iowa State (9/11) |
| Kenny Pickett | Pittsburgh | 1 | 28 | 38 | 74% | 273 | 2 | 0 | 18 | W 51-7 Umass (1-0) | ACC | Next: at Tennessee (9/11) |
| Drew Plitt | Ball State | 1 | 17 | 28 | 61% | 188 | 2 | 0 | 18 | W 31-21 Western Illinois (1-0) | MAC | Next: at Penn State (9/11) |
| Jack Plummer | Purdue | 1 | 29 | 41 | 71% | 313 | 2 | 0 | -9 | W 30-21 Oregon State (1-0) | BIG-10 | Next: at UConn (9/11) |
| Brock Purdy | Iowa State | 1 | 21 | 26 | 81% | 199 | 0 | 0 | 58 | W 16-10 Northern Iowa (1-0) | BIG-12 | Next: Iowa (9/11) |
| Spencer Rattler | Oklahoma | 1 | 30 | 39 | 77% | 304 | 2 | 2 | 9 | W 40-35 Tulane (1-0) | BIG-12 | Next: Western Carolina (9/11) |
| Chris Reynolds | Charlotte | 1 | 19 | 30 | 63% | 324 | 4 | 0 | 37 | W 31-28 Duke (1-0) | C-USA | Next: Gardner-Webb (9/11) |
| Desmond Ridder | Cincinnati | 1 | 20 | 25 | 80% | 295 | 5 | 1 | 31 | W 49-14 Miami (OH) (1-0) | American | Next: Murray State (9/11) |
| Anthony Russo | Michigan State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | DNP; W 38-21 Northwestern (1-0) | BIG-10 | Next: Youngstown State (9/11) |
| Tyler Shough | Texas Tech | 1 | 17 | 24 | 71% | 231 | 2 | 0 | -2 | W 38-21 Houston (1-0) | BIG-12 | Next: Stephen F. Austin (9/11) |
| Kedon Slovis | USC | 1 | 25 | 36 | 69% | 258 | 2 | 0 | 7 | W 30-7 San Jose State (1-0) | Pac-12 | Next: Stanford (9/11) |
| Nick Starkel | San Jose State | 2 | 40 | 73 | 55% | 702 | 5 | 3 | 3 | L 30-7 USC (1-1) | Mountain West | Next: at Hawaii (9/19) |
| Carson Strong | Nevada | 1 | 22 | 39 | 56% | 312 | 2 | 1 | 0 | W 22-17 Cal (1-0) | Mountain West | Next: Idaho State (9/11) |
| Taulia Tagovailoa | Maryland | 1 | 25 | 36 | 69% | 319 | 3 | 0 | 3 | W 30-24 West Virginia (1-0) | BIG-10 | Next: Howard (9/11) |
| Casey Thompson | Texas | 1 | 3 | 4 | 75% | 33 | 1 | 0 | 0 | W 38-18 Louisiana (1-0) | BIG-12 | Next: at Arkansas (9/11) |
| Skylar Thompson | Kansas State | 1 | 9 | 14 | 64% | 144 | 2 | 1 | 33 | W 24-7 Stanford (1-0) | BIG-12 | Next: Southern Illinois (9/11) |
| Dorian Thompson-Robinson | UCLA | 2 | 19 | 36 | 53% | 390 | 4 | 1 | 21 | W 38-27 LSU (2-0) | Pac-12 | Next: Fresno State (9/18) |
| Clayton Tune | Houston | 1 | 27 | 38 | 71% | 174 | 3 | 4 | 38 | W 38-21 Texas Tech (0-1) | American | Next: at Rice (9/11) |
| Kyle Vantrease | Buffalo | 1 | 15 | 19 | 79% | 231 | 1 | 0 | 4 | W 69-7 Wagner (1-0) | MAC | Next: at Nebraska (9/11) |
| Malik Willis | Liberty | 1 | 15 | 23 | 65% | 217 | 2 | 0 | 55 | W 48-7 Campbell (1-0) | Independent | Next: at Troy (9/11) |
| Terry Wilson | New Mexico | 1 | 20 | 26 | 77% | 174 | 3 | 0 | 49 | W 27-17 Houston Baptist (1-0) | Mountain West | Next: New Mexico State (9/11) |