On3 analyst Andy Staples left a big name off the list when he released his preseason Big Ten quarterback rankings Tuesday morning.
Staples slated Drew Allar (Penn State), Luke Altmeyer (Illinois), Fernando Mendoza (Indiana), Nico Iamaleava (UCLA) and Dante Moore (Oregon) in the top five. Rounding out the other half were Dylan Raiola (Nebraska), Julian Sayin (Ohio State), Bryce Underwood (Michigan), Demond Williams Jr. (Washington) and Mark Gronkowski (Iowa).
Wildcat fans, if you’re rubbing your eyes to check if you missed his name, you didn’t.
Northwestern quarterback and SMU transfer Preston Stone was one of eight Big Ten quarterbacks to go unranked by Staples.
It was a snub largely overlooked by Twitter, who took issue elsewhere:
Having an incoming freshman that hasn’t taken a collegiate snap over Jayden Maiava is hilarious.
— RomeroWestCoast 🎙️🏈🏀 (@RomeroWestCoast) July 15, 2025
The On3 guys are comedians…
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But Staples’ omission of Stone isn’t necessarily wrong. For example, the bottom two in the top 10, freshman Williams Jr. and senior Gronkowski, outperformed Stone last season.
Williams Jr. finished with eight touchdowns and 944 yards with 78.1% completion, while Gronkowski threw 23 touchdowns on 2,721 yards with 60.9% completion. Stone, on the other hand, finished with five touchdowns and 421 yards with 58.8% completion.
As a senior at SMU, Stone started four of just six games played, while Williams Jr. and Gronkowski were consistent starters. With that in mind, it makes sense for their stats to be higher than Stone’s. Stone may have multiple years in the NCAA under his belt, but the SEC transfer shouldn’t underestimate the Big Ten.