Cam Ward

2025 Draft QB Rumors: Ewers, Allar, Titans

January 12th, 2025 at 8:19pm CST by Ely Allen

The collegiate career of Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers appears to be over. While he has not officially released a statement, in a College GameDay interview with ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Ewers gave a blunt reply when asked if he expected to play college football next year, simply saying, “No, I don’t.”

Ewers started drawing attention in his second year as the starter for the Longhorns, completing 69 percent of his passes for 3,479 yards, 22 touchdowns, and six interceptions and rushing for five more scores. This year, the emergence of sophomore quarterback Arch Manning made it difficult for Ewers to stay on the field.

Manning’s presence combined with some in-season struggles resulted in a bit of a down year for Ewers. Despite the Longhorns reaching the College Football Playoff semifinals, Ewers (3,472 yards, 31 touchdowns, 12 interceptions) was never viewed as a strength on a team that many saw as balanced throughout the roster. At this point, it seems impossible to hold off the advancement of Manning. With the writing on the wall, Ewers doesn’t appear likely to remain in Austin or in college at all.

Following the assumption that Ewers will declare for the draft, it’s hard to determine in which round he’ll fall. The consensus seems to indicate that Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders are the only two passers that are worthy of first-round picks. The importance of the position may push a few fringe players up, though. In rankings from ESPN analysts and The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, Ewers is viewed as a fringe top-five quarterback, making it hard to believe that there will be enough need to push him into the first round, though he could hear his name in the middle rounds.

Here are a few more rumors concerning quarterbacks potentially in the 2025 NFL Draft class:

Penn State’s Drew Allar has been an intriguing quarterback prospect in scouting circles. After being knocked out of the College Football Playoffs in the semifinals, reports seem to indicate that Allar will return to Happy Valley. Per Brugler, though, there were several in the NFL who believed Allar may enter the draft with a strong playoff run. While the Nittany Lions won two games, Allar only completed 54 percent of his passes for 433 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception in three games. There are certainly fans of Allar in the NFL, but it seems they’ll need to consider him for the 2026 NFL Draft as Allar has announced he’s returning for another year at Penn State, per Dane Brugler of The Athletic.
Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated recently gave us a bit of obvious insight in the Titans‘ upcoming decision with the No. 1 overall draft pick. There’s a clear sense that they can’t move forward with only Will Levis as the gameplan at quarterback. This means that Tennessee will be taking a long, hard look at Ward and Sanders. If they don’t like what they see, Colorado athlete Travis Hunter could fill holes on both sides of the ball, or the team may just trade back and make a pick that they believe matches the value of their draft slot.

John Mara: Giants Open To Resolving QB Issue With Draft Pick, Veteran

January 6th, 2025 at 5:27pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Giants saw their Daniel Jones plan implode this year, and after giving the Eli Manning successor six seasons, the team has no long-term option on its roster. As a result, John Mara stated the obvious by indicating quarterback is the Giants’ “No. 1 issue.”

Although the team’s Week 17 win bumped it out of the No. 1 overall draft slot, the Patriots’ Week 18 victory gave the Giants the No. 3 position. It figures to be much easier to acquire one of the preferred options in this draft compared to last year, when Joe Schoen‘s Drake Maye-based trade-up effort failed. Schoen and Brian Daboll are coming back, despite the steep decline that commenced this season, and Mara noted the Giants are open to upgrading at QB through the draft or via a veteran option.

“That’s obviously the No. 1 issue for us going into this offseason — to find our quarterback of the future,” Mara said, via the New York Post’s Ryan Dunleavy. “Whether that be draft or acquiring a veteran will be up to them to decide.”

The phrase “quarterback of the future” certainly points to the draft being the Giants’ preferred avenue, even with Mara adding (via SNY’s Connor Hughes) he is “just about out of patience” with his current setup. Like 2019, however, the Giants have a need in a draft that has long been viewed as rather shaky at the QB spot. Passing on Sam Darnold and Josh Allen to draft Saquon Barkley in 2018, the Giants could not realistically draft Tua Tagovailoa or Justin Herbert in 2020 thanks to having chosen Jones sixth overall in ’19. The team passed on Michael Penix Jr., J.J. McCarthy and Bo Nix last year, creating one of the NFL’s most glaring needs going into this offseason.

New York will bring back Tommy DeVito, per ESPN.com’s Jordan Raanan. DeVito can be retained via an ERFA tender, but Drew Lock is set for free agency. The Giants still rostered Manning going into 2019, when Jones arrived. That separates the ’19 offseason from what lies ahead for Mara’s team, which went 1-for-6 in playoff berths during the Jones era.

Circling back to Darnold would be an interesting effort for Schoen, who is assuredly on a scorching-hot seat after being retained today, after predecessor Dave Gettleman passed. But the Vikings may well use the franchise tag following this Pro Bowl season. Russell Wilson would profile as a stopgap at best, while Justin Fields may be more appealing due to his age (25) — even though he has yet to prove a consistent passer. Beyond this crop, a host of backup-level options are on their way to free agency. It would stand to reason, given the Giants’ draft position, they would be more interested in a college arm.

Some members of the Giants’ personnel staff are intrigued by Miami’s Cam Ward, who is viewed — along with Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders — as one of this year’s top two QB prospects, Yahoo.com’s Charles Robinson notes. Considering the Giants are not making major staff changes, it would stand to reason they will carry their Ward interest toward the Combine. The Giants sent Schoen and player personnel director Tim McDonnell to the Pop-Tarts Bowl to watch Ward, who transferred from Incarnate Word and Washington State to close his career with the Hurricanes. The Giants also sent staffers to Boulder, Colo., to watch Sanders practices.

ESPN’s Scouts Inc. slots Sanders ninth and Ward 18th among 2025 prospects; it will be interesting to see how the pre-draft process ends up sorting them and then the rest of the QB crop. With a gap existing — as of now, at least — between the Ward-Sanders tier and the field, the Giants would have a good shot at one of them.

The team was closely tied to McCarthy and Maye last year and hosted Penix and Nix on “30” visits. It should be expected a thorough round of meetings are coming again regarding this position, only the Giants are now in a more desperate spot due to Schoen and Daboll’s statuses and the gaping hole atop the depth chart.

In other Giants news, both Jon Runyan Jr. and Tyler Nubin underwent tightrope surgeries to address high ankle sprains. Runyan also underwent a shoulder procedure, The Athletic’s Dan Duggan tweets. Bobby Okereke is rehabbing a herniated disk in his back, the New York Daily News’ Pat Leonard adds. Okereke should be recovered in time for OTAs. Two years remain on both Okereke and Runyan’s free agency deals.

2025 QB Class Generating More Skepticism

December 31st, 2024 at 9:58pm CST by Ely Allen

As the NFL regular season comes to a close and college prospects are making their final amateur appearances, focus for many NFL teams is shifting to the 2025 NFL Draft. While many sources seem to have narrowed the field of potential first-round quarterbacks to two players, there are reportedly some scouts who believe taking any quarterback on Day 1 “would be a mistake,” per Dane Brugler of The Athletic.

According to a post from Brugler, an AFC scout commented on the matter, saying, “Man, I feel bad for the teams trying to find one (quarterback) in this group.”

There are two obvious options for teams currently looking at a first-round quarterback: Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders. After Ward and Sanders, there’s a big perceived dropoff in quarterback talent in this year’s draft class with other prospects like Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, Texas’ Quinn Ewers, and Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart all being projected as Day 2 or 3 picks. Georgia passer Carson Beck, who recently declared for the draft, forgoing one final year of eligibility (granted because of COVID-19), was at one point viewed as a first-round option, but after a disappointing redshirt season and UCL surgery, his draft stock took a considerable hit.

As for Ward and Sanders, it’s hard to imagine a world in which neither prospect hears their name called on the first night of the draft. The Giants sent general manager Joe Schoen and director of player personnel Tim McDonnell to the Pop-Tarts Bowl to watch Ward play in the first half this past weekend. According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, Raiders assistant general manager Champ Kelly was in attendance, as well. Schoen, along with scouts from his Giants and the Falcons, was also in attendance to watch Sanders take on the Utes about a month and a half ago.

The Giants (currently set to pick fourth overall) are one of six teams inside the projected top-10 picks of the draft with an interest in adding a quarterback. The Titans (No. 2), Browns (No. 3), Panthers (No. 6), Jets (No. 7), and Raiders (No. 8) have all been viewed as possibilities to go after a first-round passer, as well.

The need to fill such a crucial role as quarterback has a tendency to inflate some prospects’ draft stocks. In the 2024 NFL Draft, Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and according to some sources, Drake Maye were all viewed as the likely first-round passers for most of the draft process. As the draft drew nearer and it became more obvious that some teams would need additional help at quarterback, prospects like Michael Penix, J.J. McCarthy, and Bo Nix all found their draft stock being bumped from Day 2 or 3 to Day 1.

Because this phenomenon is likely to take effect once again this year, even if Ward and Sanders were not considered first-round options — which, to be clear, many scouts do view them to be — they would still likely find themselves on stage at Lambeau Field on April 24. In order to simulate this effect, some have claimed that this year’s versions of Ward and Sanders would’ve ranked as QB4 and QB5, in any order, in last year’s quarterback crop, placing them firmly in the top ten draft picks for that class, as well. In fact, the often-desperate need for young quarterback talent may even bring players like Beck, Milroe, or Dart back into first-round consideration with Ward and Sanders.

There’s still plenty of time until we arrive at Day 1 of the draft. Between now and then, we will see College Football Playoff performances, the NFL Scouting Combine, and pro days around the country. Many quarterbacks and other prospects will see their draft stock rise and fall throughout the next few months. At this point, though, Ward and Sanders seem to have cemented themselves as top five picks, regardless of what some scouts believe their value to be.

First-Round QB Not Out Of Range For Raiders?

December 24th, 2024 at 7:44pm CST by Ely Allen

When last we looked at the updated order for the 2025 NFL Draft, the Raiders were in prime position, poised to have the No. 1 overall pick. They were tied for the league’s worst record at 2-12 with tie breakers over the Giants. However, with a win over the similarly lowly Jaguars this past Sunday, Las Vegas plummeted in the most recent draft order and now slots in at No. 6.

Many view the biggest need for Las Vegas to be a quarterback. Three different passers have started games for the Raiders this season, and none of Gardner Minshew (2-7), Aidan O’Connell (1-4), or Desmond Ridder (0-1) have a winning record. Likewise, none seem to have much in the way of promise, as all three seem to have been written off as considerable quarterbacks of the future. Therefore, the plan would likely be to draft one, a prospect that’s become much more difficult with their recent victory.

At No. 1 overall, the Raiders had their pick of the litter with the ability to choose whatever quarterback they desire. At No. 6, the choice is taken pretty far out of their hands, especially considering that only two passers, Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, are currently receiving first-round grades. It will definitely take some maneuvering to land one of those two quarterbacks from their current slot, but according to Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, it’s not impossible.

Firstly, they stand to likely move up a spot. Two of the teams ahead of them, the Jaguars and Titans, play each other in the final two weeks of the season, guaranteeing that one of them will earn a victory. For reasons to be explored shortly, Las Vegas fans should be rooting for Tennessee to pull off the divisional victory.

This year’s draft doesn’t appear to be shaping up much like last year’s. If the current order holds, two of the top three teams likely won’t be looking for quarterbacks, unlike last year, which saw the Bears, Commanders, and Patriots select Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and Drake Maye successively in the first three picks. While the Giants, current holders of the No. 1 overall pick, certainly have a need for a quarterback after releasing veteran Daniel Jones, the holders of pick Nos. 2 and 3 do not.

The No. 2 spot is currently held by the Patriots. Despite their disappointing record, the rookie Maye has shown promise at different points in the season, especially since he had to earn the starting job over veteran passer Jacoby Brissett and didn’t start until Week 6. He’ll have to figure out how to protect the ball a bit better — he’s thrown 10 picks in 10 starts — but New England likely has not given up on his potential, yet.

The No. 3 pick is owned by the Jaguars, who just recently signed a 25-year-old Trevor Lawrence to a five-year extension that made him the highest-paid player in the league at the time. This season saw Lawrence battling quite a few injury issues, but it’s hard to imagine that Jacksonville would be looking for anything other than an upgraded backup passer in this year’s draft.

Between those two and Las Vegas sit the Browns and Titans. If the abovementioned rooting interests pay dividends and Tennessee wins in Jacksonville, that problem should take care of itself. The Browns, though, have been thoroughly evaluating the 2025 quarterback draft class, per Chad Reuter of NFL.com, as they research potential successors to one of the worst quarterback contracts in NFL history.

So, in order to get into a position where they are one of the top two teams in position to draft a quarterback, Las Vegas would need to get ahead of Cleveland and Tennessee, another team with interest in a new, young passer. In order to do so, though, they’ll likely have to trade up into the spot. If the Titans lose to Jacksonville, Las Vegas will likely enter into a bidding war for New England’s No. 2 overall pick in order to leapfrog the Browns and Titans. If the Titans win, though, the Raiders’ route is a little cleaner as they’ll have options to trade up with either New England or Jacksonville, and they’ll only be looking to leapfrog one team, though they will have to fend off teams behind them, like Tennessee, from leapfrogging them.

In short, despite a situationally disappointing win this past weekend, the Raiders still have lanes open that lead to them obtaining Ward or Sanders. It may cost them some draft capital to make it happen, but Las Vegas could still end up in a top-three slot.

2025 NFL Draft Rumors: Sanders, Beck, Campbell

December 20th, 2024 at 8:29pm CST by Ely Allen

The 2025 NFL Draft is fast approaching as the college football season comes to an end and the pre-draft process begins. Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders has likely solidified himself as a first-round pick — even a top-five draft pick — but according to Jeff Howe of The Athletic, he isn’t currently projected to be the first quarterback off the board.

Per Howe, that honor currently belongs to Miami Hurricanes journeyman passer Cam Ward. Both had impressive seasons; Ward finished the year second in the nation with 4,123 passing yards while leading college football with 36 passing touchdowns to only seven interceptions, while Sanders was third in passing yards (3,926) and just a step behind Ward in touchdowns (35) and interceptions (8). Both received Heisman-buzz — an award Sanders’ teammate, Travis Hunter, won — but Ward was a finalist, finishing fourth in voting, while Sanders finished eighth in voting.

In order to overcome Ward as QB1 of the class, Howe posits that “Sanders will need to nail the interview process.” Both players have committed to participating in their respective bowl games, and it doesn’t appear that either will gain or lose much ground through the Scouting Combine or their respective pro days, having already had their play thoroughly evaluated throughout the season. If Sanders can establish in the interview process that he can be a stand-alone leader without his father on the coaching staff, he may be able to edge out Ward.

Here are a few other draft rumors in the aftermath of college football’s regular season:

After Ward and Sanders, there’s a big perceived dropoff in quarterback talent in this year’s draft class with other prospects like Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, Texas’ Quinn Ewers, and Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart all being projected as Day 2 or 3 picks. While Georgia passer Carson Beck is also projected to fall past the first round, that wasn’t the case last year, per Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. Breer claims that scouts gave him the impression that Beck had a chance to be among the six other quarterbacks who were drafted in the first round of last year’s draft. Instead, Beck stayed in Athens, in hopes of perhaps bettering his chances and draft slot. A year later, three separate three-interception performances and an otherwise disappointing redshirt senior season for Beck has plummeted his draft stock. The injury to his throwing arm in the SEC championship game has a chance to hurt that draft stock even more.
The 2025 draft class is projected to be disappointing in its depth at left tackle with no elite options sticking out at this point in the process. LSU tackle Will Campbell has received a good amount of buzz as the class’s best prospect at the position, but according to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, many believe Campbell is a bit overrated. Short arms and questions about his overall game have scouts doubting whether or not he can solidify the left tackle spot of an NFL team for the next five-plus years.

Giants Expected To Retain GM Joe Schoen; Brian Daboll On Steady Ground?

November 24th, 2024 at 10:00pm CST by Sam Robinson

The past few offseasons have featured momentous swing-and-miss transactions on quarterbacks. The Deshaun Watson and Russell Wilson moves proved the most costly, but they did not (as of yet, at least) lead to GM firings. A spotlight on how the Giants’ ill-fated Daniel Jones contract will impact their current regime is shining, but New York is still only expected to feature one GM vacancy this offseason.

With a third of the season to go, the Giants are still looking to stand pat with Joe Schoen. The third-year GM is not on track to follow Joe Douglas to the chopping block, according to CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones. Although a recent report pegged Brian Daboll as coaching for his job over the homestretch, Schoen may be on steadier ground.

Mara said in October he did not envision Schoen or Daboll being booted before season’s end or in 2025, but the Giants have not won a game since those comments. While momentum for a third Joe Judge year surfaced before his eventual firing, Jones adds Daboll is also still presumed safe due to the owner wanting more stability.

The quick hooks given to Ben McAdoo, Pat Shurmur and Judge are benefiting Daboll, who has gone 8-19 since his 2022 Coach of the Year season. That 2022 showing led the Giants to pay Jones (four years, $160MM), and the team is set to eat the remainder of the QB’s guarantees at signing this year and then $22.2MM in prorated bonus money come 2025. Tommy DeVito will have a significant say in whether Daboll is brought back, and Mara’s past at GM would suggest Schoen is safer than Daboll.

Jerry Reese received an extended chance to return the Giants to contender status, as the two-time Super Bowl-winning GM oversaw four seasons without a playoff berth before the 2016 slate — one coming after a free agency splurge for defensive help — led to a return. Mara canned Reese and McAdoo after an Eli Manning benching late in the 2017 season, but Reese’s extended run preceded Dave Gettleman being given four full seasons; none of those brought a postseason berth. Schoen being dropped after three years, the first of which being viewed as a rebuild, would seem hasty by comparison.

Additionally, Jonathan Jones notes Mara’s involvement in Giants day-to-day operations made the owner well aware why the Giants paid Jones in 2023. This well-chronicled sequence eventually led Saquon Barkley to Philadelphia, and while Hard Knocks portrayed Mara as somber once the running back bolted this offseason, the Giants had long held a Jones-over-Barkley stance in 2023. Mara also stumped for Jones in 2022, proclaiming he would remain the starter despite struggles in prior years. The owner cited an inability to build a team around Jones back then, and although Schoen authorized the QB’s second contract, the owner being onboard with that move points to Schoen having a chance to acquire his own quarterback.

Schoen passed on the Michael Penix Jr.–J.J. McCarthy–Bo Nix trio to draft Malik Nabers this year, doing so after the Patriots rebuffed his Drake Maye-centered trade offer for No. 3 overall. This proved risky, as the 2025 QB class is not held in the same regard as this year’s crop. But Schoen was in Miami for the Hurricanes’ Wake Forest matchup, per Jones; Miami, of course, rosters one of next year’s top prospects in QB Cam Ward. The team has already been tied to Shedeur Sanders as well. With Ward and Sanders viewed as next year’s top two QB prospects, connections to the Giants should persist.

The Giants chose their last QB1 in what was viewed as a down draft, having passed on both Sam Darnold and Josh Allen (to take Barkley) in 2018. Unless the team would be OK with a veteran replacing Jones, it appears another dive into a maligned draft pool at the position is on tap. As it stands, it will be Schoen making that call.

Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders Playing In Shrine Bowl

November 22nd, 2024 at 10:12pm CST by Ely Allen

It’s become clear that scouts only view two quarterbacks in this year’s draft class as elite prospects: Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Miami’s Cam Ward. While it’s almost certain that both players will be taking the next step to the NFL following this college football season, Sanders pretty much made it official this week by accepting an invite to play in the East-West Shrine Bowl this winter.

Sanders has been one of two leaders on an electric Buffalos team that is still in the running for the Big 12 championship and a spot in the College Football Playoff. Sanders ranks sixth in the FBS with 322.2 passing yards per game and is tied for second with 27 passing touchdowns, adding four scores on the ground. He has a chance to end the season with a bang by rattling off some wins here to close out 2024 and continue elevating his stock in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Ward is right up there with Sanders. He leads the FBS in both passing yards (3,409) and passing touchdowns (32) and has four additional scrimmage touchdowns of his own (three on the ground and one receiving). He’s led the Hurricanes to a 9-1 record through 10 games, and like Colorado, Miami is in position to appear in their conference title game and secure a spot in the 12-team playoff.

Past Sanders and Ward, though, experts view 2025’s quarterbacks class as relatively barren. In a discussion with Brock Huard of FOX Sports and Steve Serby of the New York Post, ESPN’s Matt Miller claimed that “it’s Shedeur 1…Cam 2, and then…there’s a bit of a gap between (them and) the next crop of quarterbacks,” including guys like Carson Beck of Georgia, Quinn Ewers of Texas, and Jaxson Dart of Ole Miss.

Miller sees Sanders and Ward as the only two likely first-round picks in the class of passers. He projects Beck, Ewers, Penn State’s Drew Allar, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, and LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier as potential mid- to late-round projects but goes so far as to suggest that Milroe and Nussmeier should return for another year of development in the SEC.

Even though Sanders and Ward are seen as clear favorites and leaders of this class, Miller speculated where the two would fall in last year’s draft class in a discussion with another NYP writer, Ryan Dunleavy. Miller claimed that, despite Sander’s “surgical” accuracy and Ward’s “ability to dial up velocity like crazy,” both would fall lower than four of the first five quarterbacks taken last year in his rankings, Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, and J.J. McCarthy. He believes they compare more favorably with the other two first-round passers taken last year, Michael Penix and Bo Nix.

Just because he views Sanders and Ward more in the realm of Penix and Nix, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be drafted in the 8-12 range like those two were. Teams in need of a new, young passer don’t have the luxury to wait around that long and hope that no one trades ahead or takes a flyer on their future franchise arm. A QB-need tends to make NFL teams antsy, often forcing them to overvalue a passer past their actual worth.

There’s plenty left to be seen through the remainder of the college season, conference championships, and the College Football Playoff. Following all that will be prospect games, like the Senior Bowl and East-West Shrine Bowl, the NFL Scouting Combine, and each school’s pro day. Who knows? Maybe we’ll even see Sanders for the West suiting up against Ward for the East in Frisco, TX, this winter for the Shrine Bowl. Until then, both quarterbacks still have a lot to prove in order to hear their names called early on the first night of the draft next April.

Interest In 2026-27 QB Prospects Outshining 2025 NFL Draft

November 15th, 2024 at 8:09pm CST by Ely Allen

There will inevitably be some teams at the end of the 2024 NFL season that will be aching for a new quarterback for 2025. Rumors abound concerning the job security of Daniel Jones in New York, no one seems to be taking firm control of the starting job in Las Vegas, and uncertainty surrounds the recent investments in the position made in Indianapolis, Cleveland, Carolina, and Tennessee. The 2025 NFL Draft class may not offer enough answers for all these teams, so many are doing their research on the next couple of draft classes.

That doesn’t mean there are no options in 2025. Two passers seem to top the list for the upcoming draft: Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Miami’s Cam Ward. Sanders and his father (head coach and NFL legend Deion Sanders) have worked hard over the past two seasons to put the Buffaloes on track for a berth in the Big 12 title game and a chance at the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff. Not quite elite with his arm or his legs, Sanders succeeds on technique utilizing good timing and ball placement to lead his offense. Having only played under his father in college, scouts have concerns about Sanders’ maturity and leadership abilities.

Ward, who formerly declared for the 2024 NFL Draft before withdrawing to transfer from Washington State to Coral Gables, has earned his place in the first-round conversation. Starting as a zero-star recruit at Incarnate Ward at the FCS level, Ward found a home in Pullman before joining the Hurricanes. The 22-year-old has led the Canes to a 9-1 record, throwing for 348 yards and three touchdowns in the team’s only loss. His composure in the pocket and elite arm talent make him an enticing prospect but can lead him into making some questionable decisions. He’s an obvious contender for the Heisman trophy, but his draft stock is still far from solidified.

Behind Sanders and Ward, there’s a pretty significant drop off to players like LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, Georgia’s Carson Beck, and Penn State’s Drew Allar. All four players hold mid-round intrigue, but there’s plenty of time for any of them to work their way into the first-round conversations late like we saw Michael Penix Jr. and Bo Nix do last year.

While a couple teams will be in a position to take a quarterback early in the 2025 draft, and some may decide that Sanders or Ward are a fit for their organization, others are already doing their homework on the next few classes of college passers. Two redshirt freshmen and one true freshman have scouts licking their chops before they’ve even reached draft eligibility.

In Austin, redshirt freshman Arch Manning has been quietly building a ton of anticipation from the bench. The grandson of former Saints quarterback Archie Manning and son of Peyton and Eli’s brother Cooper, Manning has waited patiently behind the Longhorns’ starting passer Quinn Ewers. Seeing time in six games in relief of Ewers in 2024, Manning has shined in spurts for Texas.

Another NFL legacy player, Dylan Raiola — son of long-time Lions center Dominic Raiola — started off his true freshman season for Nebraska hot before falling off in recent weeks. After drawing early comparisons to Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (mostly visually), Raiola came on strong in his collegiate start, throwing nine touchdowns to only two interceptions in his first five games. Since then, the Cornhuskers passer has cooled off quite a bit throwing only one touchdown to six picks.

Lastly, South Carolina has a redshirt freshman passer in LaNorris Sellers whose name is resounding in NFL scouting circles already. While his arm isn’t electric quite yet, Sellers has been effective en route to a 5-3 record as a starter. He also adds some dynamism with his legs averaging about 50 rushing yards per game on his way to four scores on the ground.

The talk for players like Manning, Raiola, and Sellers is obviously far too premature, as can be seen by Raiola’s midseason slump. The existence of such conversations, though, seems to underline the lack of excitement from the NFL in the 2025 draft class. Sanders and Ward are well on their way to hearing their names on the first night of the draft, but Nussmeier, Milroe, Beck, Allar, and others have some work ahead of them if they’re going to convince NFL squads to take a shot on them this offseason.