2025 NFL Draft quarterback class reviews by scouts, execs should have QB-desperate teams concerned
As the 2025 NFL Draft draws inexorably closer, one thing is becoming abundantly clear: scouts do not like this year's crop of quarterbacks very much at all.
According to Jeff Howe of The Athletic, team executives and scouts have all shared a very similar mindset around this year's draft class of passers, and that mindset is not very good.
"Over the past month, numerous front office sources echoed a common refrain toThe Athletic: They would not rank any of the draft prospects ahead of the six quarterbacks who were selected in the first round last year," Howe wrote.
It isn't that the class is top heavy, either; neither Shedeur Sanders nor Cam Ward, widely viewed as the two best quarterbacks in this year's draft, inspire much confidence from execs or scouts, either.
This isn't that surprising, when you stop to think about it; Ward, for all his physical talents, was a dynamic, but chaotic player in his stops at both Washington State and Miami. Will he make brilliant, astonishing plays with an incredible improvisational flair? Absolutely yes. Does that improvisational knack come with a healthy dose of mind-numbingly poor decisions or turnovers? Also yes. Is his specific brand of football the kind of thing that can make an offensive coordinator or head coach lose sleep because of his freewheeling style? Of course!
Sanders certainly looks like a polished passer, and had the gaudy numbers at Colorado this season, but questions about his arm have persisted throughout his career from his time at Jackson State. Also following him the last two seasons are rumblings about whether the Buffaloes' offensive style was designed specifically to highlight Sanders' skills while minimizing the risks he was taking to avoid throwing interceptions, instead taking sacks over risky throws because sacks can be blamed on a poor offensive line.
And beyond Ward and Sanders, things get even uglier. Ole Miss' Jaxson Dart has looked excellent at the Senior Bowl, but anyone who watched him in college knows that his sharpness also comes with that thing that quarterbacks get sometimes where you just know an interception or two is coming, and coming soon.
Dillon Gabriel's arm appears to be made of overcooked pasta, while Jalen Milroe remains the kind of player most likely to make an NFL executive fall in love with his skills only to watch him drag your tenure into the depths.
With a plethora of quarterback needy teams in this year's draft, this should be serious cause for concern. The top three teams in the draft, the Titans, Browns, and Giants, have all shown some level of need for a new passer under center, while the Raiders, Jets, and Saints also sit in the top 10 and also look like they're in need of a franchise quarterback.
In such a lean year, do you take a chance on a risky prospect, or do you throw in the towel and hope that promising college passers like Arch Manning, Nico Iamaleava, Garrett Nussmeier, and others develop and come out next year? Do you wave the white flag on 2025 and bring in an uninspiring veteran like Sam Darnold, knowing that doing so could hinder your ability to get a good young quarterback next season? Do you opt to go get talent in another area of need now, and hope that you're still bad enough next year to get the guy you want?
Or do you take your chances on the project, and reach for a player who has a good chance of being a bust?
Getting quarterback right is the most important thing any team can do, and with so many questions in this year's class, expect to see teams sweating out making these choices in the coming weeks.