Jump to a quarterbackCam Ward, Miami (Fla.)Shedeur Sanders, ColoradoJaxson Dart, Ole MissTyler Shough, LouisvilleJalen Milroe, AlabamaQuinn Ewers, TexasWill Howard, Ohio StateKyle McCord, SyracuseRiley Leonard, Notre DameOther prospects
This isn’t 2024. Or even ’23.
As we break the seal on my annual story breaking down the quarterback class, this baseline has to come first—we’re closer to the class of 2022 this year than we are either of the past two years at the most important position on the field.
“I don’t think the class is very good,” says one AFC assistant coach. “I think it’s a lot like the 2022 class, with maybe the exception of Cam Ward. But he’s gonna go first overall. And if you put him in last year’s class, he’s sixth or seventh [overall] for me.”
That doesn’t mean these guys have no shot of making it.
In fact, there are plenty of examples of the general consensus being off. The 2015 class was supposed to be excellent, with two Heisman winners in Florida State’s Jameis Winston and Oregon’s Marcus Mariota topping the board. The top of the ’16 class wasn’t seen as nearly the same—, we all said—with Cal’s Jared Goff and North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz going Nos. 1–2.
Goff is the last starting quarterback of the four standing.
The 2017 class was shaky enough that quarterback-needy teams decided to wait for a bumper crop in ’18. That April, the Kansas City Chiefs chose not to subscribe to conventional wisdom, seeing something special in a raw, wildly talented and polarizing prospect from Texas Tech, and moved up 17 spots in the draft to land Patrick Mahomes with the 10th selection.
So the class being perceived the way it is isn’t a death knell for anyone. But the reference point of 2022 isn’t a great one. And, yet, after Kenny Pickett, Desmond Ridder, Malik Willis, Matt Corral, Bailey Zappe, Sam Howell, Chris Oladokun and Skylar Thompson were picked, somehow, the San Francisco 49ers struck it big, selecting Brock Purdy with the final pick, at No. 262.
Is there a quarterback who could bring similar value in 2024? Could the top of the class surprise?
We’re diving into all of that, with a panel of nine quarterback-adjacent offensive coaches from nine different teams, who have now had the benefit of a couple months of study into the group. Let’s examine.
