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And so, we have reached the last positional breakdown of this PRR cycle! We finish our positional coverage with the quarterbacks in this class, and even though it is a bit overrated, there are still some solid prospects in this group.
Many teams need a QB, with about six looking for an immediate franchise answer, and multiple others who will need competition and serviceable backups. You can find all of that in this class, so let's see who made my top 10 for this years' gunslingers!
Photo: Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel
10. Jordan Travis - Florida State
What They Do Well | What Could Limit Them |
Legit arm talent, can put the ball wherever he wants on a rope or with loft | Inaccurate at times, usually on deeper crossing routes, lots of underthrows |
Not afraid to attack the seams or outside the numbers | Questionable decision maker, forced passes for the sake of throwing it |
Once he sees an open guy, he pulls trigger right away | Throwing motion gets shortened under pressure, led to turnover worthy plays |
Good athlete, his traits match up well with today's style of play | Coming off a broken leg and will be 24 for his rookie season |
Jordan's age and injury will be a concern, as well as his inconsistent throwing mechanics where he doesn't fully follow through under pressure. With that said, he has a really solid athletic toolset, and arm talent that may be worth taking a chance on. He will most likely fall to day 3 or be undrafted, but he could be a solid addition for a team looking for QB depth.
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Pro Comp: Felipe Franks
9. Tualia Tagovailoa - Maryland
What They Do Well | What Could Limit Them |
Solid accuracy, put the ball where it needed to be most of the time | Shaky pocket presence, leaves clean pockets if he sees a rushing lane |
Quick decision maker, processes his reads smoothly as well | Inconsistent throwing mechanics, used his arm rather that setting his feet |
Good arm, can make most throws when he has time | If he was setting the protection, he got himself hit a lot |
Will be 24 his rookie year, not much time for development |
Tualia's better than expected, but there are still some question marks with his game. He is decent when he has a clean pocket and time to diagnose a defense, but he struggles the more he gets pressured as the game goes on. Tagovailoa is definitely a project, and may end up being a career backup, but he should be able to compete if he gets thrown into a game.
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Pro Comp: PJ Walker
8. Spencer Rattler - South Carolina
What They Do Well | What Could Limit Them |
Fantastic arm talent, can make throws from most angles and place the ball in tight windows | Struggles more than usual when pressured, isn't the best at navigating a messy pocket |
Great accuracy when kept clean, has the right mix between touches and darts | Gets more inaccurate when he tries to make something happen |
Made some insane throws while taking hits, great toughness too | Fails to see open receivers consistently, even when they are in his progression |
Solid athlete, uses it to his advantage outside of the pocket | Will turn 24 during his rookie year, won't have much time to develop |
Spencer isn't bad by any means, but he's not polished either. He has a really good arm and is athletic enough to play at the next level. He showed a wide array of touch and bullet passes in college, but he needs to get much better under pressure to start at the next level. If he can do that and stop forcing throws, he should have a nice career.
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Pro Comp: Drew Lock
7. Michael Pratt - Tulane
What They Do Well | What Could Limit Them |
Arm has a ton of juice, isn't afraid to rip the ball up the seam or down the sideline | Didn't make tough throws often, usually had someone open due to scheme |
Will throw in a murky pocket, does a job stepping up and delivering a strike | Pulls his eyes down if his first two reads aren't open, scrambles or forces throws |
Can throw against any coverage, hits the honey hole shot against cover 2, and can find space underneath against cover 3 | Has slight accuracy issues, will let throws get away from him or put his receiver in a dangerous spot |
Decent scrambler, able to pull away from first level defenders |
Pratt was better than I thought he would be. He plays great within structure, and he has a strong arm to slice and dice defenses from any angle and against any coverage. He needs to play better under pressure and maintain his poise, but overall is a good athlete with a great arm; I think he has a chance to be a starter in the league at some point.
Pro Comp: Lite Dak Prescott
Photo: Derick Hingle/AP Photo
6. Bo Nix - Oregon
What They Do Well | What Could Limit Them |
Takes easy throws when they're available, but isn't afraid to attack tight windows | Benefitted from great weapons and a good OL, faced minimal pressure |
Manipulates defenses with his eyes and seamlessly works through his progression | Ball got away from him at times, espescially later in games, used his mechanics less |
Keeps his eyes downfield when pressured, tows the line between throwing or running | Got himself pressured from dropping too deep or scrambling when he didn't need to |
Lot of starting experience, played in multiple different offenses as well | Will be 24 his rookie season, will need to play right away |
Bo exceeded my expectations. He does a great job taking what's open and pushing the envelope when he needs to. He also has solid athleticism and uses that to extend plays. He did play in an offense that catered to his skillset, and he will be asked to do a lot more as a potential NFL starter. If he lands in the right system, he can definitely make something out of his career.
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Pro Comp: Jared Goff and Trevor Lawrence love child, but nerfed
5. Michael Penix Jr - Washington
What They Do Well | What Could Limit Them |
Arm talent is off the charts, has great zip on tight windows, can air it out when needed | Would let throws get away from him, relies too much on arm talent |
Quick processor, gets through his reads on time and pulls trigger once he sees an open man | Will scramble even with no pressure, abandons clean pockets often |
Moves well inside and outside the pocket, makes rushers miss with ease | If he couldn't escape pressure, he would force throws that led to turnovers |
Thrives against two high safety looks, has a great mix of ball placement and velocity | Will be 24 his rookie year and has torn his ACLs twice in the past |
Michael has a significant history with injuries, and is up there in age, which could deter teams from taking him earlier than expected. Other than that, he's a legit gunslinger who reads defenses well and can maneuver the pocket effectively. It'll help that he played in a relatively pro-style offense and had great weapons to target. He should be a starter for a considerable time.
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Pro Comp: Deshaun Watson
4. Jayden Daniels - LSU
What They Do Well | What Could Limit Them |
Great scrambler for college, found gaps in pass rush and took advantage | Lacks touch for a QB getting the hype he is, lacked the ability to layer throws |
Stands tall in the pocket to get throws off under pressure | Once he pulls his eyes down, he's running, rarely looked back up to throw |
Despite his athleticism, he commands the pocket and wants to throw the ball from there | Had a good chunk of bad misses on open passes, timing seemed off a lot |
Although he lacks all around arm talent, he rips passes with good spirals | Took unnecessary hits and plays with minimal awareness when running |
Daniels is a "fun college quarterback" with a decent arm and incredible athleticism. He is able to exploit rushing lanes and break off huge gains, while also having a good enough passing prowess to keep defenses honest; but that's about where his pros stop. I felt underwhelmed by his tape outside of the big plays, even more so considering he won the Heisman this year. Pair that with being surrounded by two top-notch receivers in this class and one of the best offensive lines in college football, there are more red flags than I would like for someone to be drafted in the top 10, let alone the top 3. To boot, he didn't put together a great season until his 5th year playing college ball.
I said I would keep write-ups positive and not dive into the negatives too much, but there are too many here to ignore. If Jayden does go 2nd overall, it will likely continue a trend of QBs not panning out that were selected at that spot - minus one or two outliers. Despite this, he has the athletic upside and processing ability that gives him a tremendous ceiling, thus still landing him inside my top 5 QBs for this class.
Pro Comp: Justin Fields
Photo: Scott Clause/USA TODAY Sports
3. JJ McCarthy - Michigan
What They Do Well | What Could Limit Them |
Great processor in and out of the pocket, doesn't make many errant throws | Throwing mechanics get wonky on deeper passes, puts everything into his arm |
Has nice feel on his passes, can touch the ball over LBs and rifle passes into traffic | Has some slight inaccuracies here and there, mainly due to inexperience |
Good athleticism to extend plays and pick up yards with his feet | Arm strength to extend the field is a concern, needs to play to his strengths more |
Played in a pro-style offense that will translate nicely for any team |
JJM has a great foundation to develop into a franchise QB. He has fantastic anticipation on his throws, unexpected command and control of the offense, and ability to handle pressure at a high level. Don't let box scores and lack of overall passing volume fool you - he had more first half pass attempts, is the most efficient 3rd down passer, and has one of the highest adjusted completion rates out of the draftable QBs in this class over the past two seasons.
His most glaring issues are inexperience and throwing mechanics, but that will get fixed with more reps. I love his game and believe JJ is definitely worth a first round pick to develop behind someone (*cough cough* looking at you Minnesota *cough*).
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Pro Comp: Brock Purdy
2. Drake Maye - North Carolina
What They Do Well | What Could Limit Them |
Processes coverage and pressure well, keeps his eyes downfield most plays | Lots of bad throws on his 2023 tape, much more than 2022 |
Elite improviser, escapes pressure with ease and creates bigger gains or takes a minimal loss | Struggled against 1 high safety looks, mainly cover 1, partially due to his receivers not creating separation |
Throws a great 50/50 ball, puts it only where his guy can get it | Played behind a struggling OL, you could see it get to him and he'd "see ghosts" |
Shows he has good anticipation, made some NFL level throws before his receivers broke on their routes |
Drake may have been QB1 in the past two classes. His ability to extend and create plays, navigate pressure, and throw with anticipation are all traits that NFL teams are looking for in a signal caller. His accuracy in 2023 could be a concern, but I think he works that out behind a better offensive line than he had in college. He'll be a day 1 starter and a wonderful franchise quarterback.
Pro Comp: Jordan Love
1. Caleb Williams - USC
What They Do Well | What Could Limit Them |
Natural arm talent that can throw from any angle and platform | Gets scramble happy, will try to be a playmaker when the easy throws are available |
Great processing pressure in the pocket without moving his eyes from downfield | Relies too much on arm strength, footwork is questionable at times |
Can make NFL level throws in and out of structure, can be a pocket passer or playmaker at any moment | Played a lot of "hero ball", got more inconsistent in structure as the season went along |
Played behind a bad OL and had questionable play-calling, elevated the offense despite that |
Some people are scared to say it, but I'm not: Caleb is the best QB prospect since Andrew Luck, and possibly is the best QB prospect we've ever seen. There are legit concerns with how much "hero-ball" he played, and if his play style will be sustainable in the NFL, but his out of structure ability is eerily similar to Patrick Mahomes - who has made a living off of doing unorthodox things at the pro level.
If you don't like him because he paints his nails or "gets emotional", that's on you. He's a great athlete who's passionate about the game, and most importantly, winning. He's a deadly passer from the pocket, has a massive arm to extend the field, great game speed to keep defenses playing scared, and when all else fails, he'll still find a way to make something happen. Caleb is the best player in this class, and has been since he first stepped on the field at Oklahoma in 2021. The Bears are finally getting their franchise QB.
Pro Comp: Alien
Photo: Ryan Kang/Getty Images
Final Notes:
The only other QB who I think may do well in the NFL is Austin Reed. In the right offense, he could thrive due to his solid processing, mechanics, and efficiency in the short and intermediate game. He's pretty vanilla as far as athleticism goes, but that forces him to be even sharper in structure than the majority of QBs in this class.
On Friday, I'll be dropping the last PRR in this cycle, where I cover my favorite players in this class. They aren't my top guys per se, but they are prospects that - in the right situation - could be difference makers for whatever team they land on. After that, I'll be dropping my big board filled with 250(!!!) prospects that I've scouted, as well as my final mock draft of the offseason!
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