The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award® along with presenting sponsor A. O. Smith Corporation announce the 2025 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 | COMPLETIONS | ATTEMPTS | % | YARDS PASSING | TD PASSING | TD RUSHING | TD RECEIVING | INT | YARDS RUSHING | SCORE | RECORD | CONFERENCE | SEASON SCORES | NEXT |
| Joey Aguilar | Tennessee | Idle | SEC | Syracuse (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Drew Allar | Penn State | Idle | Big Ten | Nevada (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Luke Altmyer | Illinois | Idle | Big Ten | Western Illinois (Aug 29) | ||||||||||||
| Steve Angeli | Syracuse | Idle | ACC | at Tennessee (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Jackson Arnold | Auburn | Idle | SEC | @ Baylor (Aug 29) | ||||||||||||
| Robbby Ashford | Wake Forest | Idle | ACC | Kennesaw State (Aug 29) | ||||||||||||
| Alonza Barnett III | James Madison | Idle | Sun Belt | Weber State (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Rocco Becht | Iowa State | 1 | 14 | 28 | 50% | 183 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 18 | W 24-21 Kansas State (Aug 23) | 1-0 | Big 12 | W 24-21 Kansas State (Aug 23) | South Dakota (Aug 30) |
| Carson Beck | Miami | Idle | ACC | Notre Dame (Aug 31) | ||||||||||||
| Zach Calzada | Kentucky | Idle | SEC | Toledo (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Thomas Castellano | Florida State | Idle | ACC | Alabama (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Aidan Chiles | Michigan State | Idle | Big Ten | Western Michigan (Aug 29) | ||||||||||||
| Jalon Daniels | Kansas | 1 | 18 | 20 | 90% | 176 | 3 | 0 | 0 | o | 47 | W 31-7 Fresno State (Aug 23) | 1-0 | Big 12 | W 31-7 Fresno State (Aug 23) | Wagner (Aug 29) |
| Kyron Drones | Virginia Tech | Idle | ACC | South Carolina (Aug 31) | ||||||||||||
| Billy Edwards Jr. | Wisconsin | Idle | Big Ten | Miami (OH) (Aug 28) | ||||||||||||
| Walker Eget | San Jose St. | Idle | Mountain West | Central Michigan (Aug 29) | ||||||||||||
| Noah Fifita | Arizona | idle | Big 12 | Hawaii (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi | Colorado State | Idle | Mountain West | @ Washington (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| JC French IV | Georgia Southern | Idle | Sun Belt | @ Fresno State (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Tucker Gleason | Toledo | Idle | MAC | @ Kentucky (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Taylen Green | Arkansas | Idle | SEC | Alabama A&M (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Eli Holstein | Pitt | Idle | ACC | Duquesne (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Josh Hoover | TCU | Idle | Big 12 | @ North Carolina (Sept 1) | ||||||||||||
| Blake Horvath | Navy | Idle | American | VMI (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Nico Imaleava | UCLA | Idle | Big Ten | Utah (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Grayson James | Boston College | Idle | ACC | Fordham (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Keyone Jenkins | FIU | Idle | Conference USA | Bethune-Cookman (Aug 29) | ||||||||||||
| Kevin Jennings | SMU | Idle | ACC | Easat Texas A&M (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Avery Johnson | Kansas State | 1 | 21 | 30 | 70% | 273 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 21 | L 24-21 Iowa State (Aug 23) | 0-1 | Big 12 | L 24-21 Iowa State (Aug 23) | North Dakota (Aug 30) |
| Athan Kaliakmanis | Rutgers | Idle | Big Ten | Ohio (Aug 28) | ||||||||||||
| Haynes King | Georgia Tech | Idle | ACC | @ Colorado (Aug 29) | ||||||||||||
| Cade Klubnik | Clemson | Idle | ACC | LSU (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Sam Leavitt | Arizona State | Idle | Big 12 | Northern Arizona (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Brendon Lewis | Memphis | Idle | American | Chattanooga (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Maddux Madsen | Boise State | Idle | Mountain West | @ South Florida (Aug 28) | ||||||||||||
| Arch Manning | Texas | Idle | SEC | @ Ohio State (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| John Mateer | Oklahoma | Idle | SEC | Illinois State (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Owen McCown | UTSA | Idle | American | @Texas A&M | ||||||||||||
| Fernando Mendoza | Indiana | Idle | Big Ten | Old Dominion (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Darian Mensah | Duke | Idle | ACC | Elon (Aug 28) | ||||||||||||
| Chandler Morris | Virginia | Idle | ACC | Coastal Carolina (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Behren Morton | Texas Tech | Idle | Big 12 | Arkansas Pine Bluff (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Miller Moss | Louisville | Idle | ACC | Eastern Kentucky (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Maalik Murphy | Oregon State | Idle | Pac 12 | Cal (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Garrett Nussmeier | LSU | Idle | SEC | @ Clemson (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Diego Pavia | Vanderbilt | Idle | SEC | Charleston Southern (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Marcel Reed | Texas A&M | Idle | SEC | UTSA (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Sawyer Robertson | Baylor | Idle | Big 12 | Auburn (Aug 29) | ||||||||||||
| LaNorris Sellers | South Carolina | Idle | SEC | Virginia Tech (Aug 31) | ||||||||||||
| Blake Shapen | Mississippi State | Idle | SEC | @ Southern Mississippi (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Tyler Simpson | Alabama | Idle | SEC | @ Florida State (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Brendan Sorsby | Cincinnati | Idle | Big 12 | Nebraska (Aug 28) | ||||||||||||
| Gunner Stockton | Georgia | Idle | SEC | Marshall (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Preston Stone | Northwestern | Idle | Big Ten | @ Tulane (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Nicholas Vattiato | Middle Tennessee | Idle | Conference USA | Austin Peay (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| Caden Veltkamp | FAU | Idle | American | @ Maryland (Aug 30) | ||||||||||||
| E.J. Warner | Fresno State | 1 | 18 | 29 | 62% | 176 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -23 | L 31-7 Kansas (Aug 23) | 0-1 | Mountain West | L 31-7 Kansas (Aug 23) | Georgia Southern (Aug 30) |
| Connor Weigman | Houston | Idle | Big 12 | Stephen F. Austin (Aug 28) | ||||||||||||