(Editor’s note: The following is excerpted from Bruce Feldman’s NFL Draft Confidential, featuring intel from anonymous coaches and evaluators about every position of the 2025 draft class. The coaches are identified by number to distinguish their contributions from each other.)
At the end of the 2024 college football season, Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Miami’s Cam Ward were grouped as the top two quarterback prospects in this class. From what I’ve been hearing, Ward is the clear No. 1 — and Sanders is closer to the next tier than Ward.
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OC No. 2 doesn’t think Sanders is a legitimate top-10 talent but added, “He’ll probably go there because of necessity. I felt so much better about all those guys last year and C.J. (Stroud) the year before. Shedeur has some leaks in his throwing motion. But I do like the kid. I think he’s smart. He’s tough. I hate the system he played in. He got sacked 94 times in the last two years. I get it (he had a terrible O-line), but I don’t. Get the ball out!”
The passing game coordinator said he thinks Sanders potential is “really high.” It’s a plus that Sanders has been really good every year he’s played in college, he said. You can’t say that about many of the other higher-ranked QBs in this class. “If he buys in, he has a chance.”
OC No. 2 said he doesn’t think Sanders is close to ready to be a legitimate NFL starting quarterback but added that Sanders is “tough as hell. He’s not overly mobile. That’s where Cam really separates from him.”
While there’s been a lot of talk about Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart being the next-best QB prospect, the coaches I spoke to didn’t see it that way.
“I like Tyler Shough better,” said OC No. 2. “I’m not saying he’s Joe Burrow, but he’s got some Joe Burrow to him. I think he has the best feet in this quarterback class. I know he’s had injuries, and if he didn’t, I think he’d be a first-round QB.”
The 6-5, 219-pound Shough ran a 4.63 40 at the NFL Scouting Combine, but he does have a lengthy injury history. He began his career at Oregon, where he spent three seasons before transferring to Texas Tech in 2021. He started three years there, but each was derailed by a season-ending injury. His age also has become a talking point; he’ll be 26 in September, making him older than Trevor Lawrence, Brock Purdy and C.J. Stroud.
“He’s probably the most pro-ready to go in and run an offense and be able to operate,” said passing game coordinator No. 1. “Some people bring up his age — nope, don’t care. This isn’t baseball, where you’re drafting 18-year-olds. He’s athletic. He’s a good interview. Smart. Arm talent is good.”
Scouting director No. 1, though, said he could see Dart being the second quarterback taken: “No knock on Shedeur, but Dart has a stronger arm, is a bigger man, has more mobility. I see him as a more polished Drew Lock.”
Dart is much younger than Shough, only 21. He was the first-team All-SEC quarterback in 2024, throwing for 4,279 yards. He was a more polarizing prospect than I expected.
“I think he’s the furthest away from being ready,” said OC No. 2. “When I see him against the better talent of the SEC, he wasn’t as his best. I like Jaxson, but I think he might have the most to overcome (of these top QBs). I think he has an average arm.”
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Passing game coordinator No. 1 also viewed Dart as a project: “He has some mechanical things in his lower body that he needs to work on. It is a weird offense to study, but he got better every year. He ran for 500 yards in the SEC twice. There is potential there. He seems like a really good dude.”
(Photo: Dustin Bradford / Getty Images for ONIT)
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