Reassessing The 2025 QB Class

With rivalry and championship weekends rapidly approaching as we prepare for the expanded College Football Playoff, it’s time to revisit the 2025 quarterback class with a fresh eye and more information on what’s changed for the top prospects since our summer scouting series.

Here’s a status update on six quarterbacks, including some players from our top five earlier this summer and one new name I haven’t discussed at all yet.

As always, check back in the future for more draft-related content, especially as we near the end of the college football season. For now, let’s get to the stock watch:

Stock Up: Cam Ward, Miami

We have to start with Ward, whose early-season rise through the college football ranks is well-documented. The transfer from Washington State has been electric, with only one game this season under 300 passing yards, a 73.9 percent adjusted completion percentage and an eye-catching 6.1 percent big-time throw rate. While Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty and Colorado WR/CB Travis Hunter have separated themselves in the Heisman race, Ward was right there with them early in the year.

Ward has always been a big-play threat who can make crazy, undefendable plays. What’s changed this season is his consistency. His turnover-worthy play rate is down to a decent 2.9 percent and his sack rate has dropped from previous years as well. Ward was a college football fan favorite last year with the Cougars, as well, but the negatives kept him from being a top-flight NFL prospect. He made too many bad plays too regularly to be relied upon.

While he still gets sacked too often and tries to do too much at times, he’s reigned that in enough that the positives now far outweigh the negatives on his tape. He’s not an elite runner, but he can scramble and make plays with his legs, and he’s incredibly elusive in the pocket.

Most importantly, Ward’s baseline level of play is significantly higher than in previous years. The big plays have always been there, but now Ward is combining that with steady, reliable performances snap-to-snap. That turns him from a high-upside flier to a legitimate first-round talent. I have him as my QB3 right now, but he’s a surefire top-15 pick as it stands today.

Stock Down: Carson Beck, Georgia

I was lower than consensus on Beck entering the season. Whereas many evaluators had him as their top quarterback and a first-round type of guy, I had him as my QB4 and firmly outside the first-round discussion. There was a lot to like about his game, but I felt he had too many limitations to be an NFL starter.

This season, Beck has regressed in all the areas that made him a good prospect. Most notably, he turns the ball over way too much, with a 4.3 percent turnover-worthy play rate. Beck has three games this season with three interceptions, 12 on the year, and he’s not balancing this out with his playmaking. Beck was never one for the wow plays and a 3.9 percent big-time throw rate just won’t cut it.

His 73.8 percent adjusted completion percentage is good, not great. Beck’s calling card as a prospect was an elite fundamentals guy, someone who could take care of the ball, play with excellent accuracy and keep an offense on schedule. He’s more athletic than he gets credit for, but he’s not someone who will give you a lot of improv big plays outside of structure.

Beck’s turnover woes have killed his odds of going in the first round and he’ll likely be taken somewhere on Day 3 as a backup in this draft. Teams will hope they can work the turnovers out of him and get back to what he did in 2023, where there wasn’t a better quarterback in the country at doing exactly what was asked of him.

Stock Up: Jalen Milroe, Alabama

My new QB1, Milroe has taken a similar leap to Ward. The Crimson Tide are in the thick of the playoff race after losing legendary HC Nick Saban to retirement, and it’s largely because of the strides Milroe has made in elevating his game.

As a passer, Milroe has been excellent, and more importantly consistent, this season. A 4.7 percent big-time throw rate is a bit lower than you might expect, but a 1.7 percent turnover-worthy play rate is exquisite. That’s an unheard-of percentage for a player of Milroe’s style, as Milroe’s average depth of target is 10.6 yards. He’s got a cannon for an arm and isn’t afraid to use it to make big plays, but he does all that while virtually never putting the ball in harm’s way.

Milroe has a feature to his game no one else in this class does — his rushing. With almost 800 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns on the season, he’s a dynamic threat with his legs. He’s set to break several of Jalen Hurts’ quarterback rushing records at Alabama, and he’s a similar red zone rushing threat to the current Philadelphia Eagles quarterback. 

This combination of big-play ability — both through the air and on the ground — with an incredible focus on taking care of the football makes for a truly noteworthy prospect. In years past, his sack rate was simply unsustainable, and he’s cleaned that up in a big way. I see Milroe’s ceiling as a Hurts-type with fewer turnovers, and I’d argue he has a solid floor as well. You can build an offense around his big arm and rushing upside, and he’s the prospect I’d want to bet on in this class.

Stock Down: Garrett Nussmeier, LSU

I want to discuss Nussmeier briefly as he’s become a popular name in this quarterback class and I have serious reservations about his NFL potential. Nussmeier is a first-year starter in his fourth season of college football. After a redshirt season, he sat behind current Commanders QB Jayden Daniels at LSU for two years before finally earning his chance to start.

Though Nussmeier’s season has taken a turn for the worse in recent weeks, it’s generally been a great year. He’s thrown for over 300 yards six times this season, twice over 400, and has an 80.4 PFF grade on the year. With 18 big-time throws and a 10.2-yard average depth of target, he’s proven his ability to push the ball downfield and make big plays.

My concern with Nussmeier is twofold. First, he doesn’t have prototypical size or tools. LSU lists him at 6-2, 200, and he looks smaller than that on tape. The arm is good, not great, and he doesn’t do a lot on the move out of the pocket.

Additionally, he’s just not very accurate. Nussmeier has a 59.6 percent completion percentage with a 66.9 percent adjusted completion percentage. For reference, that second number is only about five percentage points higher than Indianapolis Colts QB Anthony Richardson’s much-maligned adjusted completion rate this season. It’s hard for a limited, inaccurate, pocket-passing quarterback to find a home in the NFL.

I hope Nussmeier returns to school for his final season of eligibility, as with another year of seasoning he could become a legitimate top 50 prospect. This is his first season starting, after all, and he could undergo a lot of growth with more reps. For now, though, I see him more as a third- or fourth-round guy.

Stock Up: Quinn Ewers, Texas

With the breakouts we’re seeing from Ward and Milroe, Ewers has flown under the radar this season. He missed some time with an injury, giving the highly-touted Arch Manning a chance to flash, and he played poorly in a big primetime showdown with Georgia. Those two occurrences cooled the chatter he was starting to get.

But that shouldn’t take away from the strides he’s made this season. Ewers was a guy I had well outside my top five quarterbacks entering the season and I was fairly vocal about my lack of trust in his game. I now have him firmly in my top 50. While I would still hesitate to take him in the first, I view him as a priority second-round prospect for a team that misses on the top prospects.

Ewers has transformed his game this season. He’s gone from the highest-rated recruit in history with a gunslinger’s arm and mentality…to kind of a checkdown artist. His average depth of target is only 7.1 yards downfield — and he’s only thrown for 300 yards once this season. Instead, his adjusted completion percentage has jumped up to 75.2 percent. Teams are defending the Longhorns differently this season and Ewers is taking what’s available without forcing the issue.

I trust the big plays will return to Ewers’ game. He’s still got an incredible arm. While the deep passing has always been iffy for him at Texas, it’s clearly still part of his game. The fact he’s shown he can modify his style to suit the offense and the situation is key. Simply put, I trust him more in an NFL offense with a more diverse game. It’s not perfect, but it’s solid, and he still has fantastic tools.

Stock Down: Conner Weigman, Texas A&M

We don’t need to spend much time on Weigman, but he’s worth revisiting based on my preseason rankings. I had him as my QB2 coming out of summer scouting with a borderline first-round grade, and I was not alone in this. He was a popular candidate for a 2024 breakout into a potential 2025 QB1, especially among us draft analysts. We were watching tape all summer, looking for a guy a quarterback who excited us, and didn’t find many. Weigman had that potential.

Unfortunately, his 2024 campaign got off to the worst possible start in a primetime Week 1 matchup against Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish defense had him in hell, and it led fans everywhere to go, “this guy? really?” about his draft prospects.

While Weigman bounced back to have excellent games against McNeese State and Missouri, he also has three games this season with a PFF grade of 41.0 or worse. He has only five big-time throws to eight turnover-worthy plays and a negative touchdown-to-interception ratio. He missed three games early in the season with an injury and has since lost his starting spot.

Weigman is a strong candidate to transfer this offseason and perhaps he bounces back in a new situation. For 2025, however, he’s not a legitimate draft prospect.