Stock Watch: How did 2025 NFL Draft quarterbacks perform in Week 10?
Which 2025 NFL Draft quarterbacks saw their stock rise? Which saw it fall?
While a flurry of quarterbacks had bye weeks this week, we did get to see names like Miami’s Cam Ward, Indiana’s Kurtis Rourke, and others put their 2025 NFL Draft stock on the line.
I’ve already dropped my midseason quarterback rankings and have established that this class is pretty mediocre as a whole. My rankings won’t change on a week-by-week vibe check, but it is important to keep tabs on trends in the meantime.
That’s why I’ve started writing weekend review pieces on this crop of gunslingers.
So who stood out this weekend? Who raised their stock or saw it take a hit? Just a disclaimer for those who didn’t watch this weekend: it wasn’t a very good weekend for quarterback play.
Let’s review.
2025 NFL Draft quarterbacks on a bye: Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, Texas’ Quinn Ewers
Drew Allar, Penn State vs. Ohio State
12/20, 146 yards, 0 TDs, 1 INT
Drew Allar remains allergic to making a big throw. In the last five weeks, Allar has thrown just two passes of 25 yards in depth or more. This is one of the more frustrating aspects of the big-armed quarterback’s game.
When he does throw deep or outside the numbers, Allar tends to be on-target, but he is just too gunshy. And that was the case in this big game against Ohio State as well.
This is kind of the J.J. McCarthy thing from a year ago, right? If a quarterback is truly that good, then why isn’t his team putting the ball in his hands in the biggest moments and the biggest games? Allar threw the ball just 20 times against Ohio State.
The interception was not his fault. The ball fell out of his receiver’s hands and into the lap of the cornerback, who made a spectacular play on the ball in the endzone.
Allar just does not elevate his play or the play of those around him when he’s needed the most. That’s been a trend for the last two years. There is no reason for me to think that Allar is even going to declare for the 2025 NFL Draft.
Stock down
Cam Ward, Miami vs. Duke
25/41, 400 yards, 5 TDs, 1 INT
The box score is quite sexy for Cam Ward in this win over Duke. However, under the hood? It was perhaps his worst performance of the season for the Heisman hopeful.
On deep throws down the field, Ward was on-target on just 2-of-6 of them. This drops his season deep ball percentage to under 50 percent on the season. He even had a vintage interception in this game where he tried to do too much and threw an ill-advised football back across his body and the field for an easy play on the ball for the defense.
What was uncharacteristic in this game, however, was Ward just flat-out sailed and missed throws that should have been easy pitch-and-catches in this game.
He threw a couple of seeds along the boundary down the field, but the majority of his bigger throws came on schemed-up tendency breakers or RPO rips up the hashes.
Ward still leaves big question marks about his game, and the parts that I tend to think will be most crucial in his transition to the NFL. Those issues were exemplified in this game.
The Miami quarterback is far more developmental than some are willing to admit.
Stock down
Carson Beck, Georgia vs. Florida
25/40, 309 yards, 2 TDs, 3 INTs
Carson Beck is completely out of eligibility at the college level and is probably wishing that he wasn’t. Nobody has seen their stock take a bigger hit than Beck this season, and it continues to get worse.
He is routinely teething footballs into coverage, getting wrapped around a pole by rotating safeties and dropping linebackers. Beck threw three interceptions against Florida and could have thrown a couple of more.
It’s getting ugly for Beck, who is now firmly playing himself into Day 3 consideration after garnering conversation as the top pick in the 2025 NFL Draft over the summer.
He entered the year with an above-average arm, but below-average lower half tools. However, it was his high floor and decision-making that gave analysts hope that he could stabilize an NFL franchise.
Now there is no reason to trust Beck’s decision-making or his presumably high floor. Beck is pressing to try to write checks to put more on tape than his body is willing to cash.
Georgia is still one of the best teams in the nation, however, so Beck will get more opportunities in big games. He’s going to have to show that he’s up for the task, however.
Stock down
Kurtis Rourke, Indiana vs. Michigan State
19/29, 263 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs
The Hoosiers keep winning, and in Kurtis Rourke’s first game back from a thumb injury that required surgery, he put together another clean sheet in the box score.
Rourke and the Hoosiers have back-to-back massive games, but winning both would assure them a spot in the Big 10 title game, presumably against the No. 1 Oregon Ducks.
At the end of the day, however, Rourke is not going to be more than the quarterback that he continuously proves to be.
Much of everything he is doing is schemed up as he is throwing into massive windows. The majority of the decision-making aspect of the position is decided for him. From an accuracy perspective as well, this was not one of his cleaner games.
Rourke is an extremely fun quarterback leading one of the best stories in college football. Let’s celebrate that, but contextualize his game and how much of it truly carries heavy implications when projecting his 2025 NFL Draft stock.
He’s a big-armed quarterback who has a future as a backup at the next level.
Stock holds
Cade Klubnik, Clemson vs. Louisville
21/33, 228 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs
At the midseason point, Cade Klubik as my QB4 was one of the more surprising things to see when I put the list together. However, there is no doubting the tools.
He has a massive arm and can fly when he tucks the football to run. With Garrett Riley calling plays at Clemson now, Klubnik looked to have taken a massive stride forward as a former five-star recruit, doing the little things at a high level.
However, all of the actual technical and mental aspects of playing the quarterback position went out the window against Louisville. Klubnik was bailing from windows in the pocket that he could have stepped up into, showed signs of panic in his feet, and was just 4-of-11 when he was asked to push the ball down the field or toward the boundary.
For a player who looked like one of the more improved quarterbacks in the nation, this dismal loss to Louisville is tabbed as a massive step back. My doubts are still high that he is going to declare in the first place, and they grow even stronger after this performance.
Stock down
Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss vs. Arkansas
25/31, 515 yards, 6 TDs, 0 INTs
I’ve got to hand it to Jaxson Dart a bit.
In my midseason review of the class, I dinged Dart for the majority of his success coming against college football bottom feeders. And that remains true. However, he has stacked two good outings in conference play in a row, throwing for a combined seven touchdowns, 826 yards, and no interceptions against Oklahoma and Arkansas.
This was the best Dart’s deep ball has looked in weeks. He connected on 4-of-5 of them on a sharp afternoon. Dart is putting together a relatively strong Weighted On-Target Percentage profile as Ole Miss continues to fight for a spot in the College Football playoffs.
While Dart, at the end of the day, is another one of those quarterbacks who is operating a juvenile offense with just average tools, there is a pathway to success in the NFL for guys like him. He’s a gamer.
At this rate, he could even hear his name called before the likes of Beck or Ewers.
Great work as always. Best source for scouting QBs