A year ago, there were how many. Today, do we have any?
The topic of conversation a year ago was the availability of potential franchise quarterbacks in the 2024 NFL Draft. And by mid-November 2023, there was little doubt that the next wave of talent, including the varied experience among the group of players, had placed the league on the verge of an excellent crop of players. It was a class that had a perceived generational talent (Caleb Williams), a rapid riser (Jayden Daniels), a finicky but talented prototype (Drake Maye), a winner with great potential (JJ McCarthy) and two deeply experienced people. starters who were seen as rookies ready to go (Michael Penix Jr. and Bo Nix).
For personnel departments, this was the quarterback’s feast.
And now, the famine.
That remains the general consensus of a dozen personnel sources across the spectrum, from general managers to area scouts, who spoke to Yahoo Sports this week about the trend of the 2025 quarterback class. The bad news? ? He was a below-average class when the college football season began, and heading into the final weeks of the regular season, he’s trending mostly flat. There have been some solid surprises, but also some disappointments.
But what is deflating is the common thread of the entire class: a megawatt star has not emerged. So much so that if the entire QB class of 2025 was measured against the class of 2024, the best player in the class of 2025 wouldn’t have come off the board until after the top six players in the 2024 class.
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When asked if at least one true star QB has emerged in the next draft class, an NFC executive said the search is still ongoing.
“Not yet,” he said. “I think more have faded than increased.”
With that in mind, I put together a two-sentence explanation of the top five current quarterback prospects (who will change a bit in the coming months) from evaluators’ opinions. Then I asked the most pertinent question: What is left to shape this class?
First, the perspectives. Two sentences for each that explain the general feeling of the majority of the evaluators (admitting that there were disagreements with each player).
Shedeur Sanders, Colorado Buffaloes: Refined and durable, but with some concern that there may not be much growth left in his development to reach another level of play in the NFL. And there is absolutely growing concern about his father, Deion Sanders, establishing himself as a constant critic with a megaphone for any staff that recruits him.
Cam Ward, Miami Hurricanes: Creative with the football and has shown (for the most part) that he can limit turnovers while playing against higher level competition. However, his decisions can be something of a rollercoaster and he can be downright reckless at times (which you won’t get away with at the NFL level), which is part of why he was considered a Day 3 pick in better in the 2024 draft.
Quinn Ewers, Texas Longhorns: Solid overall package, but he has never reached a spectacular level or shown that he can create on a consistent basis. There is definitely some concern about the consistency with which he deals with injuries throughout his career.
Carson Beck, Georgia Bulldogs: He has regressed from the trend of improvement shown in 2023, possibly under the weight of early expectations that he could be QB1 in the 2025 draft and potentially the top pick in the draft. He still has the tools you like, but some of his decisions and turnovers are a nightmare that suggests he’s much more of a project.
Jalen Milroe, Alabama Crimson Tide: Special as a runner but with a long road of work ahead of him to continue his development as a passer. In some ways he’s reminiscent of Justin Fields, but with a much, much less refined overall game than when Fields was drafted, effectively putting Milroe at a long-term project level.
These were not the only five players mentioned. Others were mixed. But this was undoubtedly the core group. I’m not going to get into the reviewers’ specific complaints or some of the more colorful ideas, because we still have an ocean of evaluation ahead of us. But I will say one thing: The quarterback class of 2025 feels remarkably similar to the running back class of 2024, which left NFL teams with a variety of divided opinions across the group, but also a consensus that it was relatively superior when it came to the “centerpiece” star department.
So what happens now? All evaluators tended to agree that the 12-team College Football Playoff could be instrumental in building consensus around players. If, for example, Sanders and Colorado could battle all the way to the playoffs and then make an impressive run when the stakes and competition are at the highest levels, that could create significant momentum in the draft. That is the case of the five players, who could end up fighting until the postseason.
Think about how much CJ Stroud’s draft helped when he had an impressive game in a loss to a Georgia defense loaded with NFL talent in the 2022 CFP Semifinals. That turned heads and helped propel Stroud down the road. toward the second pick in the 2023 draft. The 12-team playoff could do exactly the same for someone in this group of five. Maybe even project them to the top of the draft.
So take your seat for the playoff. NFL quarterback evaluators surely will.
And one last thought that can’t be dismissed, which came from an NFC general manager when it comes to this next generation of quarterbacks:
“Whether one of them is highly rated or you think they fit what you’re looking for, all it takes is for one owner to come to the meetings and say, ‘I think this guy is what we need,’” said. “That can happen. Or the coaches don’t think the guy is the right choice, but someone else inside the building, or sometimes outside the building, convinces the owner that he’s someone who can turn things around.”
“Just don’t rule out that good work can guide a good decision and a homeowner can go against it. Some homeless guy told (Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam) to draft (Johnny) Manziel. How does that sound to you about a variable?
It is certainly cause for reflection. Especially in a draft that could very well have Mark Davis, owner of the quarterback-needy Las Vegas Raiders, sitting at the top.