Jayden Daniels, LSU
Jayden Daniels has won the 2023 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award®, presented annually by the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Educational Foundation, Inc. and A. O. Smith Corporation to the nation’s top quarterback who best exemplifies character, scholastic and athletic achievement. Daniels is the second LSU Tiger to win this celebrated award.
2023
JAYDEN DANIELS
LSU
Jayden Daniels has won the 2023 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award®, presented annually by the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Educational Foundation, Inc. and A. O. Smith Corporation to the nation’s top quarterback who best exemplifies character, scholastic and athletic achievement. Daniels is the second LSU Tiger to win this celebrated award.
2022
Max Duggan
TCU
Max Duggan has won the 2022 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award® presented annually by the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Educational Foundation, Inc. and A. O. Smith Corporation to the nation’s top quarterback who best exemplifies character, scholastic and athletic achievement. Duggan is the first TCU Horned Frog to win this prestigious award.
2021
Kenny Pickett
Pittsburgh
Kenny Pickett has won the 2021 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, presented annually by the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Educational Foundation, Inc. and A. O. Smith Corporation to the nation’s top quarterback who best exemplifies character, scholastic and athletic achievement. Pickett is the first Pittsburgh Panther to win this prestigious award.
2020
Mac Jones
Alabama
University of Alabama quarterback, Mac Jones, has won the 2020 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, presented annually by the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Educational Foundation, Inc. and A. O. Smith Corporation. Jones becomes the third Alabama quarterback to win the Golden Arm Award, joining Jay Barker, 1994 and AJ McCarron, 2013.
2019
2018
Gardner Minshew, II
Washington State University
Washington State University quarterback Gardner Minshew, II has won the 2018 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award® Presented by A. O. Smith. The prestigious award is given annually to the nation’s top quarterback who best exemplifies character, scholastic and athletic achievement.
2017
Mason Rudolph
Oklahoma State University
Oklahoma State University quarterback Mason Rudolph is the winner of the 2017 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, presented annually by the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Educational Foundation, Inc.
The native of Rock Hill, South Carolina has quarterbacked OSU to a 31-9 record as a starter and has led the Cowboys to 10 victories in games in which they trailed during the second half. Rudolph has beat every team in the Big 12 during his career and he holds no fewer than 50 school records. He enters the bowl game with 13,267 career passing yards, a mark that ranks fourth in Big 12 history.
2016
Deshaun Watson
Clemson University
Clemson University quarterback Deshaun Watson has won the 2016 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.
He was named the Most Valuable Player of the ACC Championship game for the second consecutive year. For the season, Watson has completed 329 of 487 passes for 3914 yards and 37 touchdowns. He ranks fourth in the nation in completions, fifth in touchdown passes and eighth in completion percentage and eighth in total offense. His 37 touchdown passes are a Clemson season record.
2015
Connor Cook
Michigan State
Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook has won the 2015 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.
Fifth-year senior quarterback Connor Cook, the winningest quarterback in school history, owns a 34-4 record (.895) as the starter, including a 23-2 (.920) mark against Big Ten opponents. The 34 wins are second most among active starting quarterbacks in the NCAA FBS (Stanford’s Kevin Hogan with 35), and Cook’s .895 winning percentage is No. 1 (minimum 24 starts). Cook is 5-1 against Associated Press Top 10 teams in his career, including 3-0 in 2015, and is 8-3 against AP Top 25 opponents. His 38 career starts are second most in MSU history, trailing only Kirk Cousins, who made 39 career starts from 2009-11.
2014
Marcus Mariota
Oregon
University of Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota has won the 2014 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.
After 14 weeks of play, Mariota has completed 229 of 334 passes for 3,470 yards (69% completion rate) throwing for 48 touchdowns with just 2 interceptions and a QB rating of 190.2. The Honolulu native led the Pac-12 quarterbacks in rushing yards with 636. Mariota ranks fifth in the nation in total offense, averaging 342.2 yards per game and he has been selected as the Pac-12 offensive player of the year.
2013
2012
Collin Klein
Kansas State
Kansas State’s Collin Klein is the winner of the 2012 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.
Klein, whom many regard as the heart and soul of the team leading the deepest conference in college football, was selected from an original field of 29 of college’s top quarterbacks, including finalists A.J. McCarron (Alabama), Geno Smith (West Virginia), Matt Barkley (USC), and E.J. Manuel (Florida State).
2011
Andrew Luck
Stanford
Andrew Luck is the winner of the 2011 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.
“Andrew personifies everything that my father stood for. He is not simply an outstanding quarterback, but an outstanding individual, a leader both on and off the field,” says John C. Unitas, Jr. President of The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Educational Foundation.
2010
Scott Tolzien
Wisconsin
Wisconsin quarterback Scott Tolzien has been named the winner of the 2010 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, it was announced on Monday. Tolzien is the first player in Wisconsin history to win the award, which debuted in 1987 and is given annually to the country’s top senior quarterback.
Boasting a career record of 21-4, Tolzien led the Badgers to a share of the 2010 Big Ten championship and a berth in the 2011 Rose Bowl against No. 3 TCU.
2009
Colt McCoy
Texas
University of Texas quarterback Colt McCoy has been named the 2009 winner of the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. The award is presented annually to the nation’s top senior college quarterback by the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Educational Foundation, Inc.
2008
Graham Harrell
Texas Tech
The first Texas Tech quarterback to earn All-America honors on any team since 1953, Graham Harrell completed his stellar college football career this season by setting school marks in career touchdown passes (130) and career TDs responsible for (142). Harrell ranks second in NCAA career passing yardage with 15,429 yards, thanks to games such as this year’s 474-yard, 2-TD performance against Texas followed the next week by a 456-yard, 6-TD win over Oklahoma State. Those games led to Harrell being named Big 12 Conference Player of the Week for two successive weeks, as well as his fourth AT&T All-American of the Week honor.
2007
Matt Ryan
Boston College
ACC Player of the Year, winner of the 2007 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, Heisman Trophy candidate, finalist for 2007 Manning Award, finalist for 2007 Walter Camp Football Foundation Player of the Year Award. Matt Ryan has a 24-6 record in 30 career starts: 10-2 in 2007, 9-3 in 2006, 5-0 in 2005 and 0-1 in 2004. Boston College career leader in pass completions (752)…ranks third on school’s list for career touchdown passes (53) and career passing yards (8,759). Matt has registered 11,300 yard passing games, including five games with more than 400 yards.
2006
Brady Quinn
Notre Dame
The most prolific passer in Notre Dame history rewrote the record books from 2003-2006. Quinn, a 2x All American, set 36 fighting Irish records during his career. Quinn saw unparalleled success his final two seasons (2005/2006) with the help of Head Coach Charlie Weis. Quinn led the Irish to BCS games in back to back seasons while finishing as a two time Heisman trophy finalist (2005 & 2006). Quinn also brought home the Maxwell Award (2006), Cingular All America Player of the Year (2006), and the Sammy Baugh Award (2005) for most outstanding passer. Quinn finished his playing career as the Career leader in Completions 929, Passing Yards 11,762, Passing TDs 95, and tied for the most wins in school history at 29. The 2006 Golden Arm award winner still holds many of the records to this day.
Archived Winners
Matt Leinart
USC
Jason White
Oklahoma
Eli Manning
Ole Miss
Carson Palmer
USC
David Carr
Fresno State
Chris Weinke
Florida State
Chris Redman
Louisville
Cade McNown
UCLA
Peyton Manning
Tennessee
Danny Wuerffel
Florida
Tommie Frazier
Nebraska
Jay Barker
Alabama
Charlie Ward
Florida State
Gino Torretta
Miami
Casey Weldon
Florida State
Craig Erickson
Miami
Tony Rice
Notre Dame
Rodney Peete
USC
Don McPherson
Syracuse