Sporting News top 40 players for 2019 is loaded with quarterbacks.

In 2018, the story was defensive line, which boasted 11 players on SN's top 40. This year, SN's list features 12 quarterbacks from the FBS, including two familiar names at the top in Clemson's Trevor Lawrence and Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa. Those two quarterbacks squared off in the College Football Playoff championship game last season and are SN's pick to do it again according to our preseason bowl projections.

MORE: SN top 25, bowl prejections, All-Americans and more

Clemson and Alabama tied for the lead with players represented on this list, with both teams boasting four apiece. As far as conferences go, the Big Ten leads all Power 5 conferences with 11 selections, with the SEC in second at 10. The ACC (seven), Pac-12 (five), Big 12 (four), Independents (one), Mountain West (one) and Conference USA (one) round out the list.

How did that top 40 shake out? A closer look at the rankings: