Read Dane Brugler's 2025 “The Beast” NFL Draft Guide.
There is no consensus about how each of this year's quarterbacks could be drafted, at least beyond Come Ward. Perhaps after becoming a Titan in Tennessee, the rest of the group is a complete mystery. The only quarterback we see on Thursday night is likely as likely as the four quarterbacks go in the first round.
Luckily we cut all that uncertainty, play quarterback matchmakers and place top quarterback prospects of the year on the team that makes the most sense. In some cases it has something to do with the type of quarterback your team needs. For others, finding the right environment to make the most of a particular skill set.
Let's go for a wonderful new couple.
Come Ward: The Tennessee Titans
All signs point to next year's Ward being Titan's starting quarterback next year. At this point it's not even worth entertaining the many possibilities for QBs and teams. Ward is something that's suited to the core of Brian Callahan's offense, and will bring about elements that Titan's quarterbacks didn't have before last season.
Titan's 2024 attack was to maximize play action opportunities and attack the field. Ward has the talent and fearlessness of his skill as a great pitcher in that environment. However, Ward has significantly improved his college quick game operations, playing more comfortable from the spread and empty formations than Revis has never before. Ward, as a creator outside the pocket, is making a leap forward to Levis (or Mason Rudolph) and building boundaries.
There is pain that grows early on with the ward's enthusiastic playstyle, but it's worth it in the long run. Ward has both floors and ceilings worthy of being the number one pick in this class.
Chedur Sanders: New Orleans Saints
Finding the perfect fit for Sanders was more clever than I thought. Kevin Stefanski's downfield play action offense in Cleveland is not ideal. Brian Dabor's fast passing attack in New York may make sense, but that offensive line is a sieve and Sanders is not athletic enough to take advantage of the best part of Dabor's playbook.
But the idea that Sanders is Kellen Moore's first crack at quarterback is interesting. Sanders is in his best business spread concept, especially in the area below. He is a trusted short area passerby, using deeper areas in the middle of the field to keep his defense honest rather than creating his preferred area of ​​attack. With an attack inspired by the West Coast, that's absolutely fine.
Of course, there is no guarantee that they will fall to 9th overall. The Browns or Giants may feel a itch of despair and draft Sanders into the top three. But if Sanders slips a little, it's not a shock to see the saint stopping that autumn.
Jaxson Dart: Seattle Seahawks
It's surprising if the Seahawks leave the first two days of the draft without a quarterback. The deal signed by Sam Darnold in March is effectively a one-year deal with Team Options from then on. If you don't scream “developmental quarterback is coming,” you don't know what to do.
Seattle could go in several directions, but Dirt makes sense about the new attack under Clint Kubiak.
Dirt reminds me of many Jimmy Garoppolo as a passerby. The two are very similar in build, arm talent and abilities in the middle of the field. Most of the best throws on dirt in the film are diagonal, short posts and crosses. The same could be said about the best at at Garoppolo in San Francisco. Neither Dart nor Garoppolo are quarterbacks who want to read the full progress often.
In theory, Kubiak's attacks affect all of this. It is built from a run game and then gets caught up in a powerful playful attack. It not only simplifies quarterback reads, but also requires QBs to make tight throws in the middle of the field.
A year on the bench to learn the pace of the league, and perhaps dirt could be able to work with the Seahawks.
Tyler Shaff: Cleveland Browns
The best path to quarterback for the Browns is to bring in a second day player who is ready to start right away. For my money, it's a shaft.
Outside of ward, Shough is the most talented thrower in his class. He has a flexible, explosive release that works well from all platforms, both in and out of his pocket. He pitches straighter than anyone with a great touch, but he still gets the job done in terms of accuracy.
Shough is also a high quality processor. Like Ryan Tannehill, he can become hair that falls out of read early on the down, but generally there's no odd mistake. He protects the ball well.
From a professional preparation and skilled talent perspective, Shough now makes the most sense to Kevin Stefanski's attack.
Jalen Milroe: Los Angeles Rams
If Sean McVay wants to make the attacks roughly the same in the final post-Matreu Stafford world, Milllow is not the answer. He is actually the farthest in this draft class from Stafford (each QB has two or three strange misfires with all the games).
However, McVay has been flirting with the idea of ​​a mobile quarterback for a long time. He wanted to give John Wolford a chance at the end of the Jared Goff Saga, so he embraced him as a team backup throughout the 2022 season. McVay also gave Bryce Perkins a start in 2022. This is a game where Perkins carried the ball 19 times for 90 yards.
Milllow enters the league as one of the best athletes in that position. As a passerby, he needs at least a year to fix his footwork and adapt to the speed of coverage at the NFL level, but that's fine. There is no pressure on Milroe to compete with Stafford for work.
This will be a long play. Despite that being a good or realistic idea, I want to see the world where McVay resuspends the boot action game with a quarterback-centered rush attack and holds hands.
Riley Leonard: The New York Giants
Brian Dabor's best of years – outside of his days with Josh Allen, he was in Alabama in 2017, along with Jaylen Harts and Daniel Jones in 2022.
Quality players, scars, Jones can generally be described as an athletic quarterback with a sturdy, athletic quarterback and arm talent, but he pushes the ball down a bit onto the field. Both players added something to the attack via mobility, and Daboll took advantage of it.
Perhaps apart from Milllow, Leonard is Daboll's best swing on such an athlete. Leonard is 6 feet 4, 218 pounds and has serious wheels. He's pretty explosive in the short area and is excellent when he can really walk, just like Jones. He is clearly a designed game and red zone weapon.
Leonard still has a lot to prove as a passerby, but his athleticism and toughness give him the floor to do his job while he understands it.
Kyle McCord: The Dallas Cowboys
It's difficult to find and hold a good backup quarterback. The Cowboys were lucky enough to be able to draft and maintain the Cooper Rush as long as they were doing. Rush, as boring as he sees, was a completely capable quarterback when it came to not playing outside of his means.
Now rushed to Baltimore, the Cowboys are looking for the next guy to play the role. McCord is their best bet.
McCord is not an overwhelming talent. His arms are fine and he doesn't intend to scare anyone while he's on the move. However, just like good NFL backups, McCord can perform attacks efficiently and consistently. He really learned to play for himself at Syracuse and showed excellent rhythm and decision-making as a thrower.
He's unlikely to rise to anything beyond a very good backup, but it's pretty ok for a Cowboys team to shop that exact kind of player.
Wil Howard: Pittsburgh Steelers
They have to draft someone, right? Even under the assumption that Aaron Rodgers will finally drop the charade and the sign, the Steelers will need to make some kind of effort to secure a young quarterback.
Howard fits into Arthur Smith's attack, if nothing else. He should be a mass passerby and not someone who is already leaning towards Smith's first approach. What's more, Howard's best features are his size and talent for his arm, he can comfortably throw the field away and has ambitious athleticism for a player of his size. Smith's play action and boot menu is open with Howard at quarterback.
It's hard to imagine Howard developing the accuracy and speed of play to go down to truly thrive as an NFL starter, but at least Smith's offense in Pittsburgh would give Howard the opportunity to hide his weaknesses and lean towards his strengths.
Dilongabriel: Miami Dolphins
It feels a bit nice to put a short left-handed quarterback prospect as a backup to a short left-handed NFL quarterback, but that's not the case. That makes sense given the strengths of each player and the dynamics of being a left-handed and right-handed thrower.
First, pass catchers often talk about how flights and spins on the ball are different from left-handed quarterbacks. The ball rotates in the opposite direction of 99% of the quarterback, so it appears to appear in the receiver's vision.
Like Tua Tagovailoa, Gabriel also thrives in RPO and throws in the middle. He has flexible, explosive releases and is fully equipped to manage those RPOs at a high level. And he thrives with destructive throws and offers more speed than Tagovailoa.
Dolphins somehow need to desperately invest in backup quarterbacks. Gabriel fits.
Quinn Ewers: Buffalo Bills
Not all players and teams get the ideal match in such an exercise. Sometimes, teams have to settle for those left on the dance floor.
From the Bills' perspective, Mitchell Trubisky has only been in his deal for a year, so a young backup quarterback should be on the table. It makes some sense for the bill to move things ahead quickly and acquire players who have developed in the pipeline.
Ewers brings Joe Brady functional athleticism and arm talent. He still touches on pocket presence and touch accuracy, especially in the field, but is talented enough to shape a functional backup.
(Top photo of Jackson Dart: Justinford/Getty Images)
