I've had enough of this QB class, but let's take a look at how they did in Week 11 anyway
I've had enough of this QB class, but let's take a look at how they did in Week 11 anyway
In an act of self-hate or love for you (you choose) I continue to write about these quarterbacks.
Another week, another look at how the 2025 NFL Draft quarterback class performed in a fun slate of Week 11 games.
It’s well established by now, at least if you’ve been reading Daft on Draft or following me on X: this quarterback class is just not a good one. I’ve deemed it a one-quarterback class (Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders) for quite some time, and for the most part, it looked like it again in Week 11.
Anyway, let’s talk about it as the College Football regular season is coming to a close and the 2025 NFL Draft prospect tape we are going to get is dwindling down. How did each of these quarterbacks perform in Week 11?
Tap in!
Shedeur Sanders, Colorado vs. Texas Tech
Colorado is making a legitimate push toward the Big 12 championship game with three games left in their regular season. A big reason why? They are getting the same Shedeur Sanders week in and week out.
I even thought his outing against Texas Tech may have been the worst of the season, going 0-for-4 on throws 15 yards or deeper down the field. However, Sanders’ saving grace continues to be his improved sense of playing into pressure in his face, and getting his eyes backside to find receivers driving over the middle.
With matchups against Utah, Kansas, and Oklahoma State still on the schedule for the Buffs, it would be nice to see Sanders get back into his sharpshooter mentality deep down the field. He was on fire throwing the ball 25 yards and more down the field, but over his last three is just 2-of-6 on deep balls.
Still my QB1 in this class by a pretty healthy margin, there is still room for Sanders to get back to higher ground as the Buffs make a push toward the College Football Playoff.
Cam Ward, Miami vs. Georgia Tech
Earlier in the week I wrote an Inside the Film Room on Miami quarterback Cam Ward, outlining some of the stuff he had been getting away with, but cracks that were starting to show since entering ACC play.
It was not well-received by Miami fans on X.
And then Ward showed more of those cracks in the upset loss to Georgia Tech. It felt like only a matter of time for the Hurricanes, who have let all of Virginia Tech, Cal, and Duke hang around longer than they should have. The last play of this loss to the Yellow Jackets has accentuated what makes me hesitant about Ward as a 2025 NFL Draft prospect:
He refuses to operate in structure and work with what is in front of him, and the big play hunting kills him more often than not. As Miami was fighting to come back in the final two minutes, Ward was faced with just a three-man rush, but opted to bail from the pocket, ran around a bit, then was hit from behind and fumbled the football. Ballgame.
For a player who entered the season with 46 career fumbles to his name, it looked like Ward had cleaned the ball security part of his game up a bit. He has now fumbled four times in his last six games, sitting with 50 career fumbles.
As a passer, he was just 1-of-3 throwing the ball deep, now sitting with the second-worst on-target percentage down the field in this class behind only LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier. His Turnover Worthy Plays continue to spike, and now Miami has to be careful over their next two games to still play for a right at the ACC championship.
Syracuse is a tricky, well-coached team. Ward and the Hurricanes need to be on their toes.
Jalen Milroe, Alabama vs. LSU
Jalen Milroe torched LSU in this game.
With his legs.
Running for 185 yards and four touchdowns in this game, the evident 4.3 speed was on display as no backside defender could find an angle on him. Milroe dashed through the heart of Baton Rouge all night long.
Overall, however, I struggle with Milroe’s game relative to the hype he is getting. The 4.3 athlete stuff carries a ton of weight and the right play-caller can have a ton of fun with Milroe.
However, all of his recent passing charts have all looked the same. In this game in particular, Alabama had a massive lead early, so they kept it simple and utilized their biggest weapon: the legs of Milroe.
That doesn’t make me any less skeptical of his transition to the NFL, however. On the season, he is on-target on just 10-of-25 deep balls, has the lowest on-target percentage on throws outside the numbers at 487 percent, and has the lowest on-target percentage when working the short game.
I’d feel a great deal better if Milroe was on time in the short game and operated it at a high level, but that is just not there in his profile. I’m cautiously optimistic here, but still extremely cautious.
In a weak quarterback class, however, you may get a team willing to take that risk.
Drew Allar, Penn State vs. Washington
This might have been Drew Allar’s best game of the season for the Nittany Lions. However, on proponent of his game that continues to irk me is his and that offense’s inability to find big plays down the season.
Thus far, deep into the season, Allar has thrown just 11 chartable footballs of 25 yards or more. His profile is extremely similar to that of J.J. McCarthy a year ago where you are left questioning why their respective teams opt to peel the football out of their hands in the bigger games of the season.
Against the Washington Huskies, however, Allar was an exceptional 7-of-8 at the intermediate level (2-of-3 outside the numbers and 5-of-5 over the middle of the field). He throws one of the prettier seam balls in the class as the football just explodes out of his hand.
Overall, however, Allar’s game against Washington resembles how I feel about his entire draft profile and why I’m 80 percent sure he’ll head back to College Station in 2025: I just want more. Put some big throws on tape, man.
Garrett Nussmeier, LSU vs. Alabama
This is the quarterback that I have just not seen the hype with relative to consensus. Just two games ago, LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier was getting QB1 praise from highly respected draft analysts and had Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy talking down to anyone who disagreed about his play.
Again, just two weeks later, Nussmeier is now Dane Brugler of The Athletic’s QB4 after naming him QB1 on a podcast prior. Much of that has to do with the five interceptions he’s thrown in his last two games and his skyrocketing Pressure to Sack rate. The Nuss Bus has broken down.
For me, however, Nussmeier remained at QB7 in this class. This was before his last two outings against Texas A&M and Alabama. Nussmeier is on-target on just 30 percent of his throws down the field, and less than 60 percent when throwing outside the numbers. These fall dead last and second-to-last respectively among 2025 NFL Draft quarterbacks charted.
In this game against the Crimson Tide, a game where LSU’s playoff hopes were dashed before their eyes, Nussmeier did not throw the ball down the field a single time. Most concerning, however, was his inability to even work the short game on time. 80 percent of quarterback play is boring, and Nussmeier does not do the boring stuff well. He was on-target on just 74 percent of throws of under 10 yards in this game.
Nussmeier is a prime candidate to go back to school, and that might get sticky at LSU, who has the top-rated recruit in Bryce Underwood coming through the doors next season.
Kurtis Rourke, Indiana vs. Michigan
The Maple Missile led the Indiana Hoosiers to yet another win, this time out-lasting the physical Michigan Wolverines. It was a rough, but gutsy showing from Kurtis Rourke, the sixth-year Ohio University transfer.
He is one of the best bucket throwers in the class. He allows his receivers to make a play on the football down the field and throws the leveraged back-shoulder balls at a high level.
That was the case in this win over the Michigan Wolverines as well, throwing a pretty deep ball for 6 with a man in his face.
Overall, however, this was one of Rourke’s more rough-around-the-edges performances of the year. He was just 4-of-8 over the middle of the field and was on-target in the short game on just 75 percent of looks. His raw on-target percentage sat at just 68 percent in this game.
Regardless of what all of this means for his 2025 NFL draft stock, we can appreciate the now 10-0 Hoosiers and Rourke for the fun story they have been this season. And now they enter a showdown with Ohio State out of their bye with a shot to play for a Big Ten title.
College Football is just the best.
Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss vs. Georgia
Ole Miss beat down the Georgia Bulldogs over the weekend, putting themselves back in contention for a spot in the College Football Playoffs.
Quarterback Jaxson Dart played a relatively safe and clean game against the Bulldogs, which was all that was needed as their defense put out a dominant showing for 60 minutes. Dart is what he is as a prospect with an average arm and just above-average mobility, but he screams a Day 3 pick who makes a decent chunk of change as a long-time backup like Chase Daniel or Colt McCoy.
He did his job in this win over Georgia. Nothing spectacular, but nothing colossally bad. Dart was 0-for-1 throwing the ball deep, but the weather required a rather limited offense, and Dart distributed well over the middle and in the short game.
There is nothing spectacular about Dart’s game, but there does not need to be for some NFL team to find value in him as a long-term “break in case of emergency” quarterback.
Carson Beck, Georgia vs. Ole Miss
I am not sure I’ve seen a quarterback prospect self-destruct quite like what we have seen from Carson Beck this season. Entering the season as the most-mocked No. 1 overall pick, Beck may now be staring a transfer and another year at the college level directly in the face.
Beck has thrown nine interceptions in his last five games, doubling his total thrown to the other team from a year ago already. And it’s not that he’s just turning the ball over a lot, but he’s throwing interceptions straight into the teeth of coverage. Beck isn’t picking up on robbers or post-snap rotations at all, and hitting defenders in the chest with the football.
Now Georgia sits on the outside looking in at the College Football Playoffs, and while this is the worst group of offensive tackles and skill players we’ve seen in Athens for quite some time, much of that also has to do with the quarterback play.
In this ugly loss to Ole Miss, a game where the Rebels dog walked them for 60 minutes, Beck threw the ball deeper than 15 yards just four times. He threw the ball deep down the field just once, and it did not find its target.
Sometimes we will see prospects labeled as “high floor, but low ceiling” players try to press and prove they are more than that tag. However, Beck is trying to write checks his body cannot cash right now.
Quinn Ewers, Texas vs. Florida
I’ll give it to Quinn Ewers in this one: he finally threw the ball deeper than 10 yards down the field. He only connected on 1-of-4 deep down the field, but two were dropped by the same receiver. Finishing on-target on 3-of-4 deep down the field is a huge step forward, considering he was just 4-of-12 on the season entering the game.
However, Ewers still does not throw over the middle of the field much at all, only 20 times all season, and continues to have the lowest average depth of target of any quarterback in the nation. He also has the worst Weighted On-Target Percentage of any quarterback charted this year still.
It’s going to take a run over his last three, including against a fierce Texas A&M front, and deep into the playoffs for my evaluation to be swayed much here. A win over the stumbling Florida Gators doesn’t move the needle much, but it did get Ewers back on his feet.