The Top 10 TXHSFB Quarterbacks Ever

A disclaimer before we begin: This is an extremely fun but totally impossible task. There are just too many variables for a definitive answer. It depends on how you weigh team success, stats, era and school classification. Please direct all complaints to the Dave Campbell social media accounts and tell them Carter Yates's absurd list sent you there.

Note: This list is based on high school career alone and is limited to 11-man football.

Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order by last name)

Will Cole (Cedar Hill, 2006): Arguably the best single-season performance, but only one year as a full-time starter.

Riley Dodge (Southlake Carroll, 2004-06): Narrowly edged out by another Southlake Carroll quarterback.

Todd Dodge (Port Arthur Jefferson, 79-80): First TXHSFB player to throw for over 3,000 yards but did not win a state championship. There is only one player on the list without a state title, and, hint-hint, that player's inclusion is a historical acknowledgement.

Grant Gunnell (St. Pius X, 2015-18): All-time TXHSFB record holder with 16,108 passing yards and 108 touchdowns. Rankings are not based on stats-only.

Patrick Mahomes (Whitehouse, 2011-13): One of the most exciting players in TXHSFB history, but never made it past the third round of the playoffs.

Andrew Luck (Houston Stratford, 2007-08): Dave Campbell's Magazine Class 5A Player of the Year, never made it past the third round of the playoffs.

Roshauud Paul (Bremond, 2014-16): The most decorated starting quarterback with a 47-0 career record and three consecutive state championships, but also played on vastly superior teams on the Class 2A level.

Vince Young (Houston Madison, 1999-01): Arguably the most talented quarterback ever, but had a Top 15 high school career and not Top 10.

10. 'Slingin' Sammy Baugh (Temple 1929-31 and Sweetwater 1932)

I can already hear the gripes about this pick, and hopefully I don’t lose all my readers off the bat. Baugh is the only player on this list without a state championship victory. If you put his stats up against all the quarterbacks in state history, he probably doesn’t crack the top 2,000. But no one on this list changed the way the quarterback position was played more than Baugh. He was the trailblazer for all the players you’ll read about on the rest of the list. 

Baugh’s version of quarterbacking drills as a teenager growing up during the Great Depression was throwing a ball through a moving tire swing for hours on end. As a senior at Sweetwater in 1932, Baugh led the Mustangs to an 8-1 record with a bi-district championship. While there are no videos or individual statistics of Baugh in high school, his 39 touchdown passes over three years at TCU were considered an alien-like achievement at the time.

Post TXHSFB Career: Baugh was a 1935 and 1936 All-American at TCU, but he actually earned the nickname ‘Slingin Sammy’ for his rocket arm as the Horned Frogs’ third baseman. After college, Baugh set out for a baseball career and played for the semi-professional Pampa Roadrunners. But in 1937, Baugh became a sensation for the then-Washington Redskins. His 81 passes for 1,127 yards sounds pedestrian now, but it was revolutionary back then. Over 13 NFL seasons, Baugh set 13 records as a quarterback, defensive back, and punter. He was inducted into the first Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 1963.

9. Drew Brees (Austin Westlake, 1995-96)

The only reason Brees is not higher on this list is that he started two seasons, one of which was cut short by injury. But what his high school career lacks in longevity, it makes up for in sheer dominance. In 29 starts, Brees led Austin Westlake to 28 wins and one tie. As a senior in 1996 on the Chaparrals’ unbeaten state championship team, his 3,529 passing yards led all of Class 5A by over 1,000 yards.

While Austin Westlake reached two state championship games before Brees took over as a starter, he is widely regarded as the foundational player of the modern TXHSFB dynasty. He was the first in a long line of high-profile Austin Westlake quarterbacks from Super Bowl champion Nick Foles and NFL backup Sam Ehlinger to three-time state champion Cade Klubnik.

Post TXHSFB Career: Brees received only two scholarship offers because college coaches were scared about the ACL tear that ended his junior season. He ended up as the most accomplished professional football player on this list. 

At Purdue, he set Big Ten records with 11,792 career passing yards and 90 touchdown passes and won the 2000 Maxwell Award as the nation’s top collegiate football player. Brees set five NFL career records: 7,142 completions, five 5,000-yard passing seasons, 54 consecutive games with a touchdown pass, seven touchdown passes in a single game, and a 74.4 percent completion rate for an entire season. He was a first ballot Hall of Fame inductee for the Class of 2026.

8. Tommy Kramer (San Antonio Lee, 1971-72)

Today, we can’t picture a team winning the state championship without a star quarterback. But Tommy Kramer at San Antonio Lee was perhaps the first time a team won a state championship because of its star quarterback. Known as ‘Two-Minute Tommy’ for extreme poise under pressure, Kramer led a game-winning drive in the state championship against Wichita Falls, then booted the extra point for a 28-27 victory. In an era where the best teams ran the rock, Kramer threw for a then-state-record 2,731 yards and 26 touchdowns. He earned Texas High School Player of the Year as a senior and graduated as the state’s record holder with 5,489 yards.

Post TXHSFB Career: Kramer held every career and single-season passing record for over 30 years at Rice University after leading the nation with 3,717 passing yards in the 1976 season. He remains one of two college quarterbacks to earn consensus All-American honors on a sub-.500 football team. Kramer was drafted in the first round of the 1977 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings and played 14 NFL seasons. He earned a Pro Bowl selection and the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year in 1986.

7. Chase Daniel (Southlake Carroll, 2002-04)

Southlake Carroll is arguably the top quarterback fraternity in the state of Texas, although we know Austin Westlake and Lake Travis would have a gripe. Chase Wasson rewrote the single-season record book in 2002. Greg McElroy won a state championship in 2005 and went on to star at Alabama. Riley Dodge is one of the most accomplished players and head coaches in TXHSFB history. Quinn Ewers was the mythical perfect five-star recruit. 

But based on his high school career alone, none were as dominant in a Dragon uniform as Chase Daniel. After playing wide receiver on Southlake Carroll’s 2002 state championship team, Daniel had one of the most spectacular two-year runs in state history. Daniel went 31-1 as a starting quarterback with an undefeated state championship season and another state championship appearance. People forget how dynamic he was on the ground, too. In two years, he threw for 8,298 yards and 91 touchdowns and rushed for 2,954 yards and 39 touchdowns. He was a two-time Class 5A Player of the Year.

Post TXHSFB Career: It’s fitting that Daniel went to one of the most prestigious journalism schools in the nation, because he rewrote Missouri’s record book. Daniel is the de facto greatest quarterback in school history, having passed for 12,515 yards and 101 touchdowns as a three-year starter. His Missouri teams earned the first two conference division titles and the first No. 1 national ranking in program history.

While we’ve officially named him the best Southlake Carroll and Missouri quarterback, we can only unofficially name Daniel the greatest backup quarterback in NFL history. In 14 NFL seasons, Daniel started five games and earned roughly $41.8 million.

6. Reggie McNeal (Lufkin, 1999-01)

Reggie McNeal proved to be the ‘Real Deal’ during a legendary playoff run as a senior in 2001 to lead Lufkin to its only state championship in program history. That season, he was not only the SuperPrep National Offensive Player of the Year, but also had seven interceptions as an emergency defensive back. None of those picks was bigger than the 61-yard pick-six that sealed a third-round playoff win against Killeen when the Kangaroos were driving to tie. The next week, McNeal led Lufkin from a 20-0 halftime deficit to throw the game-winning touchdown pass with 36 seconds left. But his curtain call came against Austin Westlake in the Astrodome. Down 21-3 at halftime with an ankle the size of a grapefruit, McNeal threw for 223 yards and rushed for 159 yards with four total touchdowns to win a state championship.

Post TXHSFB Career: McNeal had a far better Texas A&M career than most people give him credit for. His No. 3-overall quarterback recruit in the nation status, and the fact that he came off the bench as a true freshman to beat No. 1-ranked Oklahoma, set the bar impossibly high for a quarterback who would play for two different head coaches and three different offensive coordinators. Nevertheless, he finished his Texas A&M career as a three-year starter with then-program records in passing yards (6,992) and total offense (8,876). 

McNeal was drafted in the sixth round of the 2006 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals and played one NFL season. He played five seasons as a wide receiver in the CFL.

5. Travis Quintanilla (Refugio, 2010-13)

If you’re reading this from out of state, you may not have heard of Travis Quintanilla’s name. Let me educate you on this small-school legend. In three years as a starting quarterback, Quintanilla went 41-3 and set the all-time record with 186 career touchdown passes. He led the Bobcats to their first state championship in nearly three decades as a sophomore in an all-time classic 36-35 win over Cisco in 2011, then another state title appearance as a senior. Quintanilla was a three-time all-state selection and is one of three quarterbacks in state history to cross the 14,000 career passing yards mark. 

Post TXHSFB Career: Quintanilla signed with Texas A&M-Kingsville to play football and baseball. He currently lives in Beeville, Texas.

4. Matthew Stafford (Highland Park, 2003-05)

Growing up in the Dallas suburb of Highland Park, Matthew Stafford was neighbors with longtime Dallas Cowboys Vice President of Player Personnel Gil Brandt. Watching him practice in the yard as a middle schooler, Brandt had the first hint that Stafford would become a five-star quarterback and first overall NFL Draft pick. 

“He was like a 12-year-old performing with a 20-year-old’s ability,” Brandt said.

Stafford was named the EA Sports National Player of the Year after leading Highland Park’s ‘Band of Brothers’ to the school’s first state championship in 48 years. Over three years as a starter for legendary head coach Randy Allen, Stafford threw for 9,000 yards and 94 touchdowns. He had no flaws in his game: a 6-foot-3 frame, elite arm strength, and sound fundamentals, paired with a high football IQ from years of training.

Post TXHSFB Career: Stafford competes with Drew Brees for the most decorated former Texas high school player on this list. He became an All-American quarterback at Georgia and was selected No. 1 overall by the Detroit Lions in the 2009 NFL Draft. After becoming the Lions’ all-time leading passer, Stafford was traded to the Los Angeles Rams, where he has since won a Super Bowl championship (2021) and NFL MVP (2025).

3. Graham Harrell (Ennis, 2001-03)

Deep down, I believe every Texas high school football coach dreams of coaching his son into a state championship quarterback. If my assumption is correct, then Ennis’s Sam and Graham Harrell getting inducted into the TXHSFB Hall of Fame together in 2013 is the ultimate fantasy. Operating his father’s revolutionary no-huddle spread offense, Graham burst onto the scene by winning the Class 4A DII State Championship as a sophomore. He was even better as a junior and senior, earning back-to-back Class 4A Offensive Player of the Year honors. His senior season in 2003 is one of the best individual performances of all time. Graham threw a then-state record 67 touchdown passes and won the Texas Gatorade Player of the Year. His 12,532 career passing yards were a state record at the time of his graduation.

Post TXHSFB Career: Harrell is the most successful quarterback of the Mike Leach era at Texas Tech, pairing with legendary wide receiver Michael Crabtree to build a career 37-14 record. The lasting image of his career is the last-second touchdown pass that knocked off No. 1-ranked Texas in 2008. Harrell set seven NCAA records by the time he graduated, including 134 career touchdown passes. After surprisingly going undrafted and signing with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders, Harrell played his way into the NFL and backed up Aaron Rodgers on the Green Bay Packers for three seasons. He is now the offensive coordinator at Abilene Christian.

2. Garrett Gilbert (Lake Travis, 2006-08) 

Lake Travis’s starting quarterback has earned a Division I scholarship every year since 2004. This Austin-based quarterback factory has produced many legends. Think Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 overall NFL Draft Pick Baker Mayfield, or Orange Bowl Champion Todd Reesing at Kansas. 

But none had a better high school career than Garrett Gilbert. His first start as a sophomore in 2006 had Lone Star Gridiron’s Chris Doelle proclaiming, “fans of this game have just witnessed the coming out party of the best high school quarterback I have seen EVER.” That statement proved prophetic. Gilbert led Lake Travis to its first two state titles, part of a TXHSFB record five consecutive championships from 2007-11. He twice set the single-season passing yards record with 4,827 yards as a junior and 4,858 yards as a senior. By the time he graduated, Gilbert was the state’s career record holder in passing yards (12,534). 

As Texas high school football becomes more dependent on the passing game with each year, Gilbert’s career stats have since been surpassed. But his legacy as the pioneer quarterback for Lake Travis’s “Drive for Five” is forever intact.

Post TXHSFB Career: Gilbert was supposed to follow Vince Young and Colt McCoy as the next championship quarterback at the University of Texas. He unfairly became the poster child for the fall of Texas’s dynasty in the 2010s. The five-star quarterback who didn’t pan out was an easy scapegoat for a program that had begun to lose its way by the end of the Mack Brown era. But Gilbert still ended up with an eight-year professional football career, just like many would’ve predicted coming out of high school. He set an SMU record with nine 300-yard passing games, won a Super Bowl ring in 2015 as part of the New England Patriots, and then earned MVP of the Alliance of American Football League (AAF) in 2019.

1. Kyler Murray (Allen, 2012-14)

Narrowing down the top ten quarterbacks in Texas High School football history was agonizing. But ranking Kyler Murray the best of all time was a no-brainer. Why is that a list so polarizing ends with such a clear answer? There are a couple of statistical reasons. Murray is the only player in state history to pass for over 10,000 yards and rush for over 4,000 yards in his career. He went 42-0 with three consecutive state championships as the Allen Eagles starting quarterback, an unprecedented run for the state’s largest classification.

But allow me to choose a more abstract reason for why we all hold Murray in such high regard. With each state championship, Allen took Odessa Permian’s spot as the first team people from outside the state thought of when asked about Texas high school football. Permian had the classic “Friday Night Lights” book. But Allen, with its $60 million stadium and its small-college-level enrollment, represented how much bigger and more important high school football was in Texas than anywhere else. And Murray, as the only two-time Mr. Texas Football winner ever, became the face of a new era. His junior year state championship game in 2013 still holds the record for the most-attended Texas high school football game of all time, with 54,347 in the stands.

Post TXHSFB Career: Murray’s two-sport prowess only heightens his mythology. He is the only person to ever be drafted in the top ten of both the MLB and NFL Drafts. Many believed Murray would choose baseball because of his size (5-foot-10, 207 pounds). But Murray’s Heisman Trophy season at Oklahoma ended all questions of whether or not his skill set could translate to professional football. Murray was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals. After earning AP Offensive Rookie of the Year and two Pro Bowl selections with the Cardinals, Murray was released this offseason and signed with the Minnesota Vikings.