BYU Football 2025 Quarterbacks Preview

With the BYU football program entering Fall Camp, the quarterback battle is now wide open. The potential emergence of McCae Hillstead or Bear Bachmeier as the starter may favor punters betting on BYU’s performance, especially against a lighter non-conference schedule.

Fall Camp kicks off today for the BYU football program. The players will report to camp on Tuesday before kicking off the first practice on Wednesday. We will preview every position group leading up to Fall Camp. Today, we'll turn our attention to the quarterbacks.

Only Three Scholarship Quarterbacks

It was just last year that BYU kicked off Spring camp with 10 quarterbacks. Those days are gone. With new roster limitations and the unexpected departure of Jake Retzlaff, BYU will have just four quarterbacks on the 2025 roster. Only three of them will be scholarship quarterbacks: McCae Hillstead, Treyson Bourguet, and Bear Bachmeier. Given the limited quantity of quarterbacks on the roster, quarterback health will be critical in 2025. BYU has used three and even four quarterbacks in recent history. That needs to be avoided at all costs this season.

McCae Hillstead Acquisition

On the last day of Spring camp in 2024, BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick said BYU would not add another quarterback during the Spring transfer window. Then, a local quarterback named McCae Hillstead entered the transfer portal following a successful true freshman season at Utah State. Between Hillstead entering the portal and BYU missing out on high school quarterback Grady Adamson, a top target at the time, BYU's plans changed. During his true freshman season, Hillstead played lights out in two September games before suffering an injury that derailed the rest of his freshman campaign. He put enough on tape to draw interest from the Big Ten, the SEC, and the Big 12 once he entered the transfer portal. The addition of Hillstead caught many BYU fans off guard at the time. BYU already had too many scholarship quarterbacks on the roster and BYU didn't need another backup or another third-string quarterback. Still, Roderick liked Hillstead enough to bring him in. A year later, the decision has aged well. Bringing in McCae Hillstead into an already crowded quarterback room didn't make a lot of sense at the time, but it might save BYU in 2025 if he becomes the starter.

Bear Bachmeier: The Most Fascinating Player on the Roster

When BYU brought in Bear Bachmeier from Stanford, Bachmeier appeared to be walking into an ideal situation. The former four-star recruit was going to sit and learn behind Jake Retzlaff as a true freshman in 2025. Then he was positioned to be the quarterback of the future in 2026 and beyond. Now, Bachmeier is in a position to potentially play much earlier than anticipated. Bachmeier is very, very talented. So talented that we believe he has a legitimate chance to win the job over the two more experienced quarterbacks.

Bear Bachmeier's situation is especially unique because he spent part of Spring camp at Stanford. Bachmeier will face a steep learning curve in terms of learning BYU's playbook. If anyone can learn a playbook quickly, however, it might just be Bear Bachmeier. Bear is a smart - he picked Stanford over a long list of competing offers and academics were a big part of that. His older brother Tiger, a wide receiver at BYU, graduated from Stanford in 2.5 years before transferring to Provo. He also comes from a football family and the Bachmeiers have been able to contribute early in their college careers. His older brother Hank Bachmeier won the starting job at Boise State in 2019 as a true freshman. He led the Broncos to a win over Florida State in his first college start. Tiger led the Pac-12 in receiving yards as a true freshman. The Bachmeiers know how to digest college football playbooks quickly. Bear was a star quarterback at Murrieta Valley High School for three years. He arrived at Stanford and was one of two quarterbacks competing for the starting job before he decided to enter the transfer portal. Bear has all the physical tools to be a fantastic college quarterback. He is already 230 pounds, he is dangerous with the ball in his hands, and he has the arm talent to make every throw required of him in Aaron Roderick's offense. In high school, Bachmeier had a career TD/Int ratio (including rushing TDs) of 92/14. In terms of ceilings, Bachmeier has the highest ceiling of the three BYU quarterbacks. If Bear is going to play in 2025, the best opportunity to play would be right away. The Cougars have a light non-conference schedule to open up the season. After hosting Portland State and Stanford to kickoff the season, BYU has a bye in week three. In week four, East Carolina will host BYU to wrap up the non-conference schedule. It's never easy to win games in college football, but you won't find a better part of BYU's schedule to get a true freshman up to speed. The combination of skillset, opportunity, and inexperience make him the most fascinating player on the roster this Fall Camp.

Treyson Bourguet - A Natural Leader

Treyson Bourguet is a natural leader. He isn't the fastest in the room and he doesn't have the strongest arm in the room, but he's the kind of person that people like to be around. He is confident in his skillset and he does a few things really well, like throwing downfield. Bourguet, in the opinion of this author, is a great backup quarterback. He is loyal to the program and he can come in and do enough to win games. It remains to be seen whether he has the ability to be the full-time starter for a Power Four program. Bourguet needed to improve on his game when he left Western Michigan. He struggled with accuracy and he didn't do enough with his legs to make up for his misfires. However, he's had a couple of years to grow and develop. If he's ironed out some of the wrinkles in his game, he could win the starting job.

Depth Chart Projection

Quarterback McCae Hillstead OR Bear Bachmeier OR Treyson Bourguet

Jake Retzlaff was the undisputed starter heading into 2025. Now, the BYU starting quarterback job is up for grabs. McCae Hillstead, Bear Bachmeier, and Treyson Bourguet will battle it out for the starting quarterback job. We liked McCae Hillstead's chances to win the backup job after Spring camp, although Aaron Roderick clarified that the battle would continue into Fall camp. Then, BYU added Stanford transfer Bear Bachmeier. Bachmeier has all the natural ability to win the job, but he will be at a disadvantage in terms of knowledge of the playbook and practice reps. All eyes will be on the BYU quarterback battle during Fall camp.

More Position Previews
Running Backs
Wide Receivers
Defensive Line
Tight Ends
Safeties
Cornerbacks

Fall Camp kicks off today for the BYU football program. The players will report to camp on Tuesday before kicking off the first practice on Wednesday. We will p

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