ESPN names Jake Retzlaff 1 of 40 most important college football players in 2025

New Tulane quarterback Jake Retzlaff, a transfer from BYU, shows off the Star of David on his necklace after football practice at Yulman Stadium in New Orleans, on Friday, Aug. 1, 2025.

Former BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff finds himself in a four-way quarterback competition at his new school, Tulane.

If he wins that starting job, he could be a factor in the Group of Five race for a College Football Playoff spot.

That was highlighted by ESPN’s Bill Connelly in his list of the 40 most important college football players in the 2025 season, which included the former Cougar.

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It’s a quarterback-heavy list that Connelly describes as being on “quarterback overload.”

For instance, of the four players Connelly identifies in the “Most important players in the Big 12 race” category, all were quarterbacks, though Utah quarterback Devon Dampier and Utah offensive tackle Spencer Fano were among the other Big 12 talents considered for that section.

Retzlaff was included in the final category of Connelly’s list, “Most important Group of Five players.”

“With both defending American Conference champion Army and annual contender Memphis losing loads of production, Tulane has a massive opportunity to make a run in 2025, but it will require a quarterback. Jon Sumrall clearly knows this, as he brought in four QB transfers, and the latest might be the most vital,” Connelly wrote, of the situation Retzlaff finds himself in at his new school.

“Retzlaff threw for 2,947 yards and 20 TDs as BYU surged up the Big 12 standings, and he’s now the biggest name in the Green Wave’s QB room. If he can get up to speed quickly, he’ll raise an already high ceiling in New Orleans.”

Former American Fork High standout Maddux Madsen was also included in the Group of Five section. He is in his second year as Boise State’s starting quarterback and helped the Broncos reach the College Football Playoff last season.

“Like (Arizona State’s) Sam Leavitt, Madsen is going without training wheels this season. He no longer has the amazing Ashton Jeanty next to him, but he was still awfully good for a first-year starter in 2024,” Connelly wrote.

“Madsen was fourth in Total QBR among Group of Five QBs — second among those who threw more than 150 passes — and the Broncos were excellent on third downs, even when they had fallen off schedule. He’ll have experience all around him, and if he makes typical second-year-starter improvements, Boise State will be a runaway favorite to reach a second straight CFP.”

Retzlaff, who transferred away from BYU amid facing a reported seven-game suspension for a violation of the school’s honor code, ended up walking on at Tulane.

The Green Wave, who went 9-5 last season, brought in Retzlaff to join a quarterback room that includes three other transfer quarterbacks in Brendan Sullivan (from Iowa), Kadin Semonza (Ball State) and Donovan Leary (Illinois).

Retzlaff faces the challenge of having to acclimate quicker than the others and learning the playbook on an accelerated pace — he spent the spring with BYU and was expected to be the Cougars’ starter before announcing his withdrawal from school in mid-July.

During recent practices, Retzlaff and Sullivan earned first- and second-team reps, according to NOLA.com, though Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall said that’s simply because those two are the post-spring additions, while Semonza and Leary were in spring practice with the Green Wave.

“It (the rotation) is not about anything that was done last week,” Sumrall said, per NOLA.com’s Guerry Smith. “It’s more, hey, Donovan and Kadin had a whole spring practice. For Brendan and Jake, this is their spring practice if you will. We’ll get through the Saturday scrimmage, have a little bit of a re-evaluation and recalibrate next week.”

There will be a “pivotal” Saturday scrimmage this weekend, Smith reported. Tulane opens its season at home against the Big Ten’s Northwestern on Aug. 30.

At the end of last week, Sumrall expressed satisfaction in how fast Retzlaff is picking up the offense.

“Jake is very accelerated in the way he’s picking things up,” Sumrall said, according to Smith. “It’s been fun to watch him take that all. Donovan Leary can make all the throws. All of those guys did some good things today.”

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