The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award® along with presenting sponsor A. O. Smith Corporation announce the 2023 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Watch List Week 5 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 | COMPLETIONS | ATTEMPTS | % | YARDS PASSING | TD PASSING | TD RUSHING | TD RECEIVING | INT | YARDS RUSHING | SCORE | RECORD | CONFERENCE | NEXT |
| Brennan Armstrong | NC State | 5 | 94 | 160 | 59% | 971 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 286 | L 13-10 Louisville | 3-2 | ACC | Marshall 10/7 |
| Carter Bradley | South Alabama | 5 | 97 | 149 | 65% | 1,153 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 5 | -17 | L 31-23 James Madison | 2-3 | Sun Belt | at Louisiana-Monroe 10/7 |
| Hudson Card | Purdue | 5 | 111 | 174 | 64% | 1,244 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 75 | W 44-19 Illinois | 3-2 | Big Ten | at Iowa 10/7 |
| Chevan Cordero | San Jose State | 5 | 102 | 168 | 61% | 1,013 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 92 | Idle | 1-4 | Mountain West | at Boise State 10/7 |
| Jalon Daniels | Kansas | 3 | 56 | 75 | 75% | 705 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 74 | L 40-14 Texas | 4-1 | Big 12 | UCF 10/7 |
| Jayden Daniels | LSU | 5 | 117 | 160 | 73% | 1,710 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 292 | L 55-49 Ole Miss | 3-2 | SEC | at Missouri 10/7 |
| Jaxson Dart | Ole Miss | 5 | 91 | 142 | 64% | 1,485 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 269 | W 55-49 LSU | 4-1 | SEC | Arkansas 10/7 |
| Quinn Ewers | Texas | 5 | 97 | 147 | 66% | 1,358 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 74 | W 40-14 Kansas | 5-0 | Big 12 | Oklahoma (in Dallas) 10/7 |
| Dillon Gabriel | Oklahoma | 5 | 118 | 157 | 75% | 1,593 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 95 | W 50-20 Iowa State | 5-0 | Big 12 | Texas (in Dallas) 10/7 |
| Mitch Griffis | Wake Forest | 4 | 76 | 127 | 60% | 999 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 39 | Idle | 3-1 | ACC | at Clemson 10/7 |
| Frank Harris | UTSA | 2 | 44 | 73 | 60% | 423 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 60 | Idle | 1-3 | American | at Temple 10/7 |
| Sam Hartman | Notre Dame | 6 | 96 | 145 | 66% | 1,458 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 14 | W 21-14 Duke | 5-1 | Independent | at Louisville 10/7 |
| Seth Henigan | Memphis | 5 | 120 | 175 | 69% | 1,376 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 132 | W 35-32 Boise State | 4-1 | American | Tulane 10/13 |
| Will Howard | Kansas State | 4 | 91 | 139 | 66% | 1,072 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 123 | Idle | 3-1 | Big 12 | at Oklahoma State 10/6 |
| KJ Jefferson | Arkansas | 5 | 85 | 125 | 68% | 1,050 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 125 | L 34-22 Texas A&M | 2-3 | SEC | at Ole Miss 10/7 |
| Phil Jurkovec | Pitt | 5 | 57 | 112 | 51% | 818 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 59 | L 38-21Virginia Tech | 1-4 | ACC | Louisville 10/14 |
| Devin Leary | Kentucky | 5 | 82 | 142 | 58% | 1,129 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 5 | -17 | W 33-14 Florida | 5-0 | SEC | at Georgia 10/7 |
| Riley Leonard | Duke | 5 | 79 | 126 | 63% | 912 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 326 | L 21-14 Notre Dame | 4-1 | ACC | NC State 10/14 |
| Drake Maye | North Carolina | 4 | 96 | 132 | 73% | 1,187 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 119 | Idle | 4-0 | ACC | Syracuse 10/7 |
| Grayson McCall | Coastal Carolina | 5 | 108 | 168 | 64% | 1,302 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 29 | L 38-28 Georgia Southern | 2-3 | Sun Belt | at Appalachian State 10/10 |
| J.J. McCarthy | Michigan | 5 | 83 | 105 | 79% | 1,071 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 116 | W 45-7 Nebraska | 5-0 | Big Ten | at Minnesota 10/7 |
| Cade McNamara | Iowa | 5 | 46 | 90 | 51% | 505 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -45 | W 26-16 Michigan State | 4-1 | Big Ten | Purdue 10/7 |
| Graham Mertz | Florida | 5 | 109 | 138 | 79% | 1,195 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | -26 | L 33-14 Kentucky | 3-2 | SEC | Vanderbilt 10/7 |
| Joe Milton III | Tennessee | 5 | 101 | 160 | 63% | 1,164 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 139 | W 41-20 South Carolina | 4-1 | SEC | Texas A&M 10/14 |
| Tanner Mordecai | Wisconsin | 4 | 85 | 128 | 66% | 877 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 103 | Idle | 3-1 | Big Ten | Rutgers 10/7 |
| Bo Nix | Oregon | 5 | 131 | 163 | 80% | 1,459 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 87 | W 42-6 Stanford | 5-0 | Pac-12 | at Washington 10/14 |
| Michael Penix Jr. | Washington | 5 | 133 | 178 | 75% | 1,999 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | W 31-24 Arizona | 5-0 | Pac-12 | Oregon 10/14 |
| Michael Pratt | Tulane | 3 | 46 | 61 | 75% | 668 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 112 | W 35-23 UAB | 4-1 | American | at Memphis 10/13 |
| Spencer Rattler | South Carolina | 5 | 119 | 163 | 73% | 1,411 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 83 | L 41-20 Tennessee | 3-2 | SEC | Florida 10/14 |
| Austin Reed | Western Kentucky | 5 | 131 | 212 | 62% | 1,368 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 67 | W 31-10 Middle Tennessee | 3-2 | Conference USA | at Louisiana Tech 10/5 |
| Cam Rising | Utah | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | L 21-7 Oregon State; DNP (injury) | 4-1 | Pac-12 | Cal 10/14 |
| Will Rogers | Mississippi State | 5 | 89 | 149 | 60% | 1,086 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -41 | L 40-17 Alabama | 2-3 | SEC | Western Michigan 10/7 |
| Kurtis Rourke | Ohio | 4 | 56 | 87 | 64% | 609 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 107 | Idle | 3-1 | MAC | Kent State 10/7 |
| Blake Shapen | Baylor | 2 | 42 | 65 | 65% | 596 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | -26 | W 36-35 UCF | 2-3 | Big 12 | Texas Tech 10/7 |
| Garrett Shrader | Syracuse | 5 | 87 | 137 | 64% | 1,153 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 340 | L 31-14 Clemson | 4-1 | ACC | at UNC 10/7 |
| Kedon Slovis | BYU | 5 | 98 | 165 | 59% | 1,240 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 3 | -22 | W 35-27 Cincinnatti | 4-1 | Big 12 | at TCU 10/14 |
| Donovan Smith | Houston | 5 | 123 | 191 | 64% | 1,347 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 163 | L 49-28 Texas Tech | 2-3 | Big 12 | West Virginia 10/12 |
| Cole Snyder | Buffalo | 5 | 115 | 190 | 61% | 1,075 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 21 | W 13-10 Akron | 1-4 | MAC | Central Michigan 10/7 |
| Taulia Tagovailoa | Maryland | 5 | 111 | 169 | 66% | 1,464 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 68 | W 44-17 Indiana | 5-0 | Big Ten | at Ohio State 10/7 |
| Casey Thompson | Florida Atlantic | 3 | 50 | 79 | 63% | 509 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | Idle; (injured – out for season) | 1-3 | American | Tulsa 10/7 |
| Payton Thorne | Auburn | 5 | 59 | 94 | 63% | 643 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 198 | L 27-20 Georgia | 3-2 | SEC | at LSU 10/14 |
| Jordan Travis | Florida State | 4 | 74 | 121 | 61% | 1,028 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 94 | Idle | 4-0 | ACC | Virginia Tech 10/7 |
| D.J. Uiagelelei | Oregon State | 5 | 73 | 127 | 58% | 1,032 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 117 | W 21-7 Utah | 4-1 | Pac-12 | at Cal 10/7 |
| Tyler Van Dyke | Miami | 4 | 74 | 99 | 75% | 1,042 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 43 | Idle | 4-0 | ACC | Georgia Tech 10/7 |
| Cameron Ward | Washington State | 4 | 106 | 142 | 75% | 1,390 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 109 | Idle | 4-0 | Pac-12 | at UCLA 10/7 |
| Grant Wells | Virginia Tech | 2 | 33 | 62 | 53% | 494 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | W 38-21 Pitt; DNP (injured) | 2-3 | ACC | at Florida State 10/7 |
| Caleb Williams | USC | 5 | 105 | 141 | 75% | 1,603 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 83 | W 48-41 Colorado | 5-0 | Pac-12 | Arizona 10/7 |