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 9 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 |
| Jayden Daniels | LSU | 8 | 163 | 223 | 73% | 2,573 | 25 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 521 | Idle | 6-2 | SEC | at Alabama 11/4 |
| Jaxson Dart | Ole Miss | 8 | 136 | 212 | 64% | 2,080 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 326 | W 33-7 Vanderbilt | 7-1 | SEC | at Texas A&M 11/4 |
| Quinn Ewers | Texas | 7 | 151 | 213 | 71% | 1,915 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 53 | W 35-6 BYU; DNP (injury) | 7-1 | Big 12 | Kansas State 11/4 |
| Dillon Gabriel | Oklahoma | 8 | 180 | 252 | 71% | 2,302 | 19 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 294 | L 38-33 Kansas | 7-1 | Big 12 | at Oklahoma State 11/4 |
| Sam Hartman | Notre Dame | 9 | 149 | 228 | 65% | 2,126 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 8 | W 58-7 Pitt | 7-2 | Independent | at Clemson 11/4 |
| Will Howard | Kansas State | 8 | 137 | 215 | 64% | 1,628 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 313 | W 41-0 Houston | 6-2 | Big 12 | at Texas 11/4 |
| KJ Jefferson | Arkansas | 8 | 143 | 219 | 65% | 1,547 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 200 | Idle | 2-6 | SEC | at Florida 11/4 |
| Devin Leary | Kentucky | 8 | 134 | 234 | 57% | 1,749 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 7 | -24 | L 33-27 Tennessee | 5-3 | SEC | at Mississippi State 11/4 |
| Riley Leonard | Duke | 7 | 95 | 165 | 58% | 1,102 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 352 | L 23-0 Louisville | 5-3 | ACC | Wake Forest 11/2 |
| Drake Maye | North Carolina | 8 | 187 | 285 | 66% | 2,559 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 259 | L 46-42 Georgia Tech | 6-2 | ACC | Campbell 11/4 |
| Grayson McCall | Coastal Carolina | 7 | 151 | 224 | 67% | 1,919 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 48 | W 34-6 Marshall; DNP (injury) | 5-3 | Sun Belt | at Old Dominion 11/4 |
| J.J. McCarthy | Michigan | 8 | 132 | 169 | 78% | 1,799 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 168 | Idle | 8-0 | Big Ten | Purdue 11/4 |
| Joe Milton III | Tennessee | 8 | 158 | 244 | 65% | 1,763 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 258 | W 33-27 Kentucky | 6-2 | SEC | UConn 11/4 |
| Bo Nix | Oregon | 8 | 206 | 263 | 78% | 2,337 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 113 | W 35-6 Utah | 7-1 | Pac-12 | Cal 11/4 |
| Michael Penix Jr. | Washington | 8 | 203 | 295 | 69% | 2,945 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 6 | -9 | W 42-33 Stanford | 8-0 | Pac-12 | at USC 11/4 |
| Michael Pratt | Tulane | 6 | 102 | 143 | 71% | 1,384 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 234 | W 30-28 Rice | 6-1 | American | at East Carolina 11/4 |
| Spencer Rattler | South Carolina | 8 | 185 | 266 | 70% | 2,117 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 72 | L 30-17 Texas A&M | 3-5 | SEC | Jacksonville State 11/4 |
| Austin Reed | Western Kentucky | 8 | 204 | 294 | 60% | 2,280 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 91 | L 42-29 Liberty | 4-3 | Conference USA | at UTEP 11/4 |
| Garrett Shrader | Syracuse | 8 | 123 | 197 | 62% | 1,508 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 316 | L 38-10 Virginia Tech | 4-4 | ACC | Boston College 11/3 |
| Kedon Slovis | BYU | 8 | 153 | 266 | 58% | 1,716 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 6 | -41 | L 35-6 Texas | 5-3 | Big 12 | at West Virginia 11/4 |
| Taulia Tagovailoa | Maryland | 8 | 189 | 296 | 64% | 2,200 | 19 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 84 | L 33-27 Northwestern | 5-3 | Big Ten | Penn State 11/4 |
| Jordan Travis | Florida State | 8 | 164 | 253 | 65% | 2,109 | 18 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 205 | W 41-16 Wake Forest | 8-0 | ACC | at Pitt 11/4 |
| Tyler Van Dyke | Miami | 7 | 149 | 213 | 70% | 1,884 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 25 | W 29-26 Virginia | 6-2 | ACC | at NC State 11/4 |
| Cameron Ward | Washington State | 8 | 216 | 309 | 70% | 2,532 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 166 | L 38-27 Arizona State | 4-4 | Pac-12 | Stanford 11/4 |
| Caleb Williams | USC | 9 | 189 | 277 | 68% | 2,646 | 25 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 130 | W 50-49 Cal | 7-2 | Pac-12 | Washington 11/4 |