Spring practices are getting started all across the country, which means Rotowire will be kicking off a series of previews for some of the nation's top positional battles. For this article, we'll be looking at the quarterback picture for each ACC team heading into spring and forecasting a starter for the 2018 season. Clemson headlines the group as a likely National Title contender that has upwards of three candidates making legitimate cases to win the starting job. Other schools, like North Carolina State, have a firmly entrenched starter that has been there for years and other schools, like Virginia, will have a wide-open competition that could drag on until the start of the season. Without further adieu, let's take a look at the quarterback landscape across the ACC.

BOSTON COLLEGE

The Incumbent:Anthony Brown (So.)

The Challenger(s):E.J. Perry (R-Fr.)

The Skinny: All signs point to Brown retaining the starting job, but he'll be sitting out of spring practice while continuing to rehab the season-ending leg injury he suffered in November. Redshirt freshman E.J. Perry will get his chance to run the first-team offense this spring, which helps add depth behind Brown in the Eagles' quarterback room. Still, this should be Year 2 under Brown, who completed 51.9 percent of his passes for 11 touchdowns and nine picks over 10 games last season.

CLEMSON

The Incumbent:Kelly Bryant (R-Jr.)

The Challenger(s):Hunter Johnson (So.), Trevor Lawrence (True Freshman Early Enrollee)

The Skinny: This is arguably the most interesting quarterback competition in the nation this year with three qualified options who all have unique cases to win the job. With Bryant, there's experience in the system and there's on-field experience that the other two quarterbacks simply can't match; Bryant led the Tigers to a 12-2 record that included an ACC Championship and a College Football Playoff berth. The way the season ended, however, has some of the Tiger Faithful clamoring for a change. Lawrence has a lot of the hype as the nation's top overall recruit, and the fact that he's already on campus and will go through spring ball ups his chances at winning the job at some point. That said, I'm left wondering why Johnson isn't getting more attention. Johnson was one of the top quarterback recruits in the class of 2017, ahead of Georgia's Jake Fromm and Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa according to the 247 Sports Composite ranks. He's got an edge on Lawrence in terms of experience and I'd argue he's got a talent edge on Bryant. This will be a quarterback battle that will draw national attention all the way up to Week 1 and potentially beyond, but at this stage, I'd throw my hat behind Johnson as the starter.

DUKE

The Incumbent:Daniel Jones (R-Jr.)

The Challenger(s):Quentin Harris (RS So.), Gunnar Holmberg (True Freshman)

The Skinny: The Blue Devils have one of the more set quarterback situations in the ACC, at least when it comes to the starter. Jones is entering his third year as a starter and truly has a chance to be one of the conference's breakout players. He completed just 56.7 percent of his passes with a 5.9 YPA along with 11 interceptions last year, but Jones also racked up 21 total touchdowns and proved to be a threat both through the air and with his legs. If he can trim down the mistakes and improve the passing efficiency, Jones will be in for a big season.

FLORIDA STATE

The Incumbent: It's complicated

The Challenger(s):Deondre Francois (R-Jr.), James Blackman (So.)

The Skinny: Had Francois not suffered a season-ending patellar tendon injury in the season opener against Alabama, this would be a very different section. We could be talking about Francois looking to build on his Heisman-caliber campaign and coach Jimbo Fisher looking to recapture an ACC Title. Well, now we're talking about Florida State's first season under Willie Taggart after Francois' replacement, James Blackman, and Fisher led the 'Noles to a disappointing 7-6 season fraught with strange moments. Francois is not going to be a full participant in spring ball as he continues to rehab, according to ESPN's Andrea Adelson, so it'll be Blackman running the show for the time being. Once fall camp rolls around, Francois should be fully healthy and ready to compete. If that is the case, I'd expect Francois to win the job outright. If he's still a bit limited, Florida State could end up having to start Blackman, who looked overmatched at times as a true freshman in 2017.

GEORGIA TECH

The Incumbent:TaQuon Marshall (Sr.)

The Challenger(s):James Graham (Fr.), Lucas Johnson (So.), Tobias Oliver (R-Fr.)

The Skinny: Marshall will be the starter once again even though the Yellow Jackets finished with a disappointing 5-6 record with him at the helm last year. The shaky results weren't all his fault though; the defense was shaky and it was difficult to find any reliable options on offense outside of KirVonte Benson. Marshall himself ran for 1,146 yards and 17 touchdowns and should continue to be a reliable source of yards and touchdowns again in 2018.

LOUISVILLE

The Incumbent: N/A

The Challenger(s):Jawon Pass (R-So.), Malik Cunningham (R-Fr.)

The Skinny: Replacing a legend is never easy, and that's what Louisville will be tasked with doing this spring with Lamar Jackson heading to the NFL after an unbelievable career as a Cardinal. But it seems that Louisville is plenty comfortable with what it has in Pass. The redshirt sophomore is a big-bodied signal caller at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds and he'll be entering his third year in coach Bobby Petrino's system. Jake Lourim of The Courier Journal called Pass the "prohibitive favorite" to start Week 1 against Alabama, and I have no reason to think otherwise. Pencil in Pass on your cheat sheets as a breakout player for 2018.

MIAMI

The Incumbent:Malik Rosier (R-Jr.)

The Challenger(s): N'Kosi Perry (R-Fr.), Cade Weldon (R-Fr.)

The Skinny: At this stage it's clearly Rosier's job to lose. Coach Mark Richt all but confirmed before spring practice that Rosier is the starter until there's a reason to believe otherwise, saying "I'm not saying Malik is not the starting quarterback going into this thing, but if he does what he's supposed to do, he'll probably continue to be," according to a report from Christy Chirinos of The Sun Sentinel. Rosier completed 54.0 percent of his passes for 3,120 yards, 26 touchdowns, and 14 picks en route to leading the Hurricanes to an Orange Bowl berth. He may have something of a limited ceiling, but the other options on the roster probably aren't ready to unseat him just yet.

NORTH CAROLINA

The Incumbent: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The Challenger(s): Chaz Surratt (R-So.), Nathan Elliott (R-Jr.), Jace Ruder (Fr.)

The Skinny: It's common for teams to struggle after losing a hefty amount of starters and North Carolina definitely felt the sting of losing Mitchell Trubisky, Mack Hollins, Bug Howard, Ryan Switzer, Elijah Hood, T.J. Logan, and...you get the point. Both Surratt and Elliott started at different points last year and while both showed flashes of promise, neither did nearly enough to enter this spring as the prohibitive favorite. With that, one of the more interesting quarterback competitions this spring will be in Chapel Hill. Surratt might have an early edge on the rest of the group, but he'll need to outperform his peers to maintain that advantage. There's also a freshman early enrollee in Jace Rude, so if neither Surratt nor Elliott takes the reins, we could see a true freshman starter for the Heels in 2018. One thing's for sure in this race: it's going to take a while to get settled.

NORTH CAROLINA STATE

The Incumbent:Ryan Finley (R-Sr.)

The Challenger(s): Matt McKay

The Skinny: Any questions about North Carolina State's quarterback situation heading into 2018 were answered when Finley announced that he was returning. Finley is entering his third year as the Wolfpack's starter and is coming off a strong 2017 in which he completed 65.1 percent of his passes for 3,518 yards (2nd in ACC) and 17 scores. He'll be losing Nyheim Hines and Swiss Army Knife Jaylen Samuels, but Finley has one of the more promising receiving tandems in the ACC at his disposal in Kelvin Harmon and Jakobi Meers.

PITTSBURGH

The Incumbent:Kenny Pickett (So.)

The Challenger(s):Ricky Town (R-Jr.)

The Skinny: First of all, can we acknowledge how wild Town's career arc has been to this point? From five-star freshman at USC in the same class as Sam Darnold to third-stringer at Arkansas before playing at a junior college in 2017. Now he's at his third FBS school in four years looking for another shot at becoming the starter. Unfortunately for Town, Pickett seems to already have the trust of the coaching staff and enters spring atop the depth chart despite having one career start to his credit. Pickett is impressive in his own right, however, having led Pitt to the upset win over Miami to cap off 2017.

SYRACUSE

The Incumbent:Eric Dungey (Sr.)

The Challenger(s): Tommy DeVito (So.), Rex Culpepper (R-So.)

The Skinny: Challenger is a relative term here because, let's face it, Dungey is clearly the guy as long as he's healthy. Of course, healthy has been illusive for Dungey since he took over in 2015. Dungey is as good as any quarterback in the conference from a fantasy perspective when he's playing his style, when he's going at warp-speed as a dual-threat signal caller. Unfortunately, that untamed style that helped Dungey lead the Orange to a win over Clemson last year also leads to him taking some vicious shots, which explains why he's yet to play more than nine games in any season. He's healthy for spring practice after undergoing season-ending foot surgery in November, so it'll be Dungey running the first-team offense as the 2018 Orange get ready for a new season.

VIRGINIA

The Incumbent: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ but worse than North Carolina's ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The Challenger(s):Bryce Perkins (R-So.), Lindell Stone (So.), DeVante Cross (So.), Brennan Armstrong (Fr.)

The Skinny: The cupboard is looking a bit bare in Charlottesville after Kurt Benkert's departure for the NFL. Bryce Perkins, a transfer from Arizona State, spent last season at a junior college but is on campus and ready to compete in spring practice. Perkins is the most interesting player in this group, but Stone has an edge on him in terms of experience in the system, so it should be an interesting battle between those two in spring practice and beyond.

VIRGINIA TECH

The Incumbent:Josh Jackson

The Challenger(s): A.J. Bush (R-Sr.), Hendon Hooker (R-Fr), Quincy Patterson (Fr.), Ryan Willis (Tr.- Kansas)

The Skinny: If you asked me in October whether this would even be up for debate in the spring, I would've called you crazy. Jackson had the Hokies rolling to a 7-1 record with their lone blemish coming against Clemson. A 2-3 finish that included a 3:5 TD:INT ratio from Jackson down the stretch loosens Jackson's grip on the job a bit, but he still enters spring as the odds-on favorite to keep the job. Taking it one step further, I'd be surprised if Virginia Tech breaks fall camp with someone other than Jackson as the starter. The question is, can he hang onto the job if those issues re-emerge? Virginia Tech has quality depth behind Jackson and a roster with high aspirations, so if Jackson stumbles again, it's not too difficult to imagine coach Justin Fuente making a change. Jackson, at the very least, has some pressure on him heading into the 2018 season.

WAKE FOREST

The Incumbent:Kendall Hinton (R-Jr)

The Challenger(s): (R-So.) Jamie Newman, Tayvon Bowers (So.), Sam Hartman (Fr.)

The Skinny: Hinton's experience in the system and as a starter makes it hard to imagine anyone exiting spring practice ahead of him on the depth chart, let alone starting in Week 1. Hinton's biggest audition was when he was in a timeshare with John Wolford in 2015 when he completed 93 of 179 passes for 929 yards, four touchdowns, and five picks in addition to rushing for seven scores. He showed a bit more polish as a passer last year in a smaller sample, completing 27 of 47 passes for 399 with four touchdowns and zero interceptions. It's clear that coach Dave Clawson wants Hinton to come out and perform well this spring so that Wake Forest can head into fall camp with an established starter leading the first-team offense each and every day. If Hinton can lock down the job, he'll have the benefit of playing with one of the best wide receiver tandems in the ACC with Greg Dortch and Scotty Washington.