The 2025 NFL Draft will be here before we know it. While there’s still plenty of football left in the 2024 college season, now’s the perfect time to start diving into which quarterbacks are shaping up to dominate the top of the board when it comes to next-level talent.
These 2025 NFL Draft QB Rankings highlight both Cam Ward, a massive riser, and Quinn Ewers, a player who has started to cement his long thought of status as a next-level player.
2025 Draft QB Rankings, 1-10
We’ve looked at these quarterbacks as college football prospects for some time now here at College Football Network. And though these Draft QB rankings will look a bit different than our college football QB rankings, one thing is for sure: We know what these quarterbacks have brought to the table during their college careers, and now we’re piecing together what they’ll take with them to the NFL eventually.
The list of top 10 2025 NFL Draft QBs is evolving, but we’re pretty certain who belongs at the top.
10) Will Howard, Ohio State
Despite the slip-up at the end of the Oregon game, Will Howard has consistently looked like the prototype NFL QB since stepping up at Kansas State. His strong football IQ and knack for making those “NFL throws” give him serious potential at the next level.
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While Howard might not be a talent-elevator just yet, which could put a cap on his immediate NFL prospects, he’s got everything in his toolkit to make the transition to the pros smoother.
With plenty of grit and even stronger leadership qualities, Howard’s journey to potentially becoming a starting NFL quarterback will ultimately be shaped by his on-field performance.
9) Kurtis Rourke, Indiana
For MAC fans, Kurtis Rourke needs no introduction. And for those who discovered him during his standout debut with the Hoosiers—welcome to the show.
Rourke is an electric athlete who followed in his brother’s footsteps to Ohio, but it didn’t take long to see that Kurtis was the more polished, pro-ready player compared to Nathan.
After four years in Athens, the younger Rourke rolled the dice, entered the transfer portal, and made waves on the national stage with Curt Cignetti and the Indiana offense. He’s a dynamic threat with the ball in his hands, but what truly sets him apart is his precision at every level.
When given a clean pocket, Rourke picks defenses apart, but he’s just as lethal as a playmaker when things break down. His arm strength might not be elite, but he’s more than capable of delivering NFL-caliber throws on a consistent basis.
8) Garrett Nussmeier, LSU
With one of the most electric arms in college football, Garrett Nussmeier breaks into the top 10 in his first season as a starter. The LSU Tigers QB has thrown some jaw-dropping passes in 2024 that scream first-round potential, but there have also been some rough patches that highlight areas for growth.
For Nussmeier, the key is improving his play within the offense’s structure and getting through his reads faster. If he can sharpen his game in the pocket and make better progressions, the Tigers are primed to win the bulk of their remaining games, and he’ll send his draft stock soaring.
A big plus for Nussmeier this season? He’s had NFL scouts’ attention, as they’re watching his tackle duo, Will Campbell and Emery Jones Jr., dominate. Nussmeier has to show up every game.
7) Drew Allar, Penn State
Drew Allar’s got a huge arm and the kind of pro-style game that makes him one of the safest bets for next-level talent in this group. Yet, it feels like Penn State hasn’t fully tapped into his potential as a downfield passer, leaving some parts of his game still a bit of a mystery.
When it comes to arm strength, Allar’s off the charts—he can thread passes into tight windows in an instant. But he sometimes struggles with consistency in his reads and can get shaky under pressure, making some rough decisions when the heat’s on.
Those lapses, though, aren’t common. When he’s got a clean pocket, he delivers more often than not. He’s got the arm talent to hit every part of the field, and his downfield accuracy, especially on deep balls, is elite. We just haven’t seen enough of it yet.
6) Carson Beck, Georgia
He’ll incorrectly be labeled as a game manager for any who haven’t actually spent time watching Carson Beck, because he does just that, while doing so much more. Beck has a live arm, perhaps at his best when he’s forced to throw from his spot atop the pocket and deliver tight-window strikes across the field.
Don’t make the Texas game a one-game sample size of Beck’s abilities, as both he and Ewers did not fare well under the bright lights during the anticipated showdown. Still, Beck has done far more good in 2024 than he did bad during the Texas outing.
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Beck can push the ball on a rope downfield or take something off and layer brilliantly over second-level defenders all the same. The benefit of playing quarterback at Georgia is the fact that Beck likely doesn’t have to be a world-beater at all times, and thus, that’s where the mis-monikered ‘game manager’ comes from.
Beck is an elevator of talent and shown to be a versatile athlete with the ball in his hands. He may lack some creation capacity from within the pocket, but he’s no slouch when it comes to just about everything else an NFL QB needs to be able to do.
5) Quinn Ewers, Texas
Quinn Ewers brings a commanding presence to the field, but there are undeniable injury concerns. He’s proven his ability to locate open receivers against any coverage type and performs equally well under pressure or with a clean pocket.
Ewers operates with precision from the pocket when given time to analyze defenses, and his arm talent allows him to attack every level of the field. What sets him apart is his gritty, leave-it-all-on-the-field mentality that’s sure to win over his future NFL fanbase.
The next step for Ewers is demonstrating he can stay healthy through an entire season and refining his consistency along the boundary. But honestly, that’s just nitpicking at this point.
4) Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss
Jaxson Dart stands out among quarterbacks with his natural leadership, his ability to elevate those around him, and his unwavering trust in his receivers. He’s got the talent to deliver pinpoint passes into tight windows against zone coverage, find soft spots, and make sharp reads against complex defenses.
What truly sets him apart, though, is his ability to recognize man coverage, identify the ideal matchup, and confidently put the ball up to give his receiver the edge on those critical 50-50 plays.
Simply put, Dart is a playmaker.
There’s little to criticize about his game, but if you had to nitpick, it’s his tendency to lock in downfield a bit too long while trying to create something out of nothing, which can lead to ball security concerns.
Those tight single-coverage throws won’t always translate against NFL corners, so he’ll need to rely on his full skill set to thrive at the next level.
3) Jalen Milroe, Alabama
The most athletic quarterback on this list, Jalen Milroe has both the strongest arm and perhaps the most gifted set of athletic abilities from a QB we’ve seen in some time, and that includes last year’s No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams. The only problem in Milroe’s prospects at this time is the fact that his howitzer is without much of a tracking system from the 10-19-yard range.
If Milroe can start to increase his accuracy to the short and intermediate range, his portfolio will be complete. Until then, he’s got some development work ahead of him, but Milroe can bank on his athletic gifts being enough to speed past linebackers in the SEC or NFL, and his arm strength enough to rocket past defenders to his receivers with a step or less of separation.
2) Cam Ward, Miami-FL
Cam Ward has skyrocketed into the top 10 NFL Draft quarterbacks after a stellar start to the 2024 college football season. No quarterback has boosted their draft stock more than Ward, as he’s proven he can hit every level of the field with pinpoint accuracy and impressive anticipation.
What truly sets Ward apart from the rest of this class, though, is his ability to manipulate arm angles and navigate the pocket to create easy throwing lanes. No play is ever off the table with Ward under center—whether he’s launching an accurate pass while sprinting to his left or threading the needle from a collapsing pocket, he always finds a way to make it work.
At times, Ward looks like he’s playing backyard football. At others, he commands the field with a poise and presence that makes every moment, no matter how big, seem manageable. That’s the growth we’ve been waiting to see in his game.
Turnovers have been Ward’s Achilles’ heel throughout his collegiate career, but he’s made major strides in that department in 2024 with Miami. With his natural talent and the improvements he’s shown, the sky is the limit for Ward heading into the second half of the season.
1) Shedeur Sanders, Colorado
For now, Shedeur Sanders is undoubtedly the top quarterback for the 2025 NFL Draft. Colorado’s starting quarterback has done more than his fair share of elevating the talent around him in 2024, elevating his own game in the process.
Sanders has showcased what he can do when he’s not pressured on what felt like 70% of his dropbacks last year. He’s been brilliant from within the structure of the offense, but perhaps no quarterback in the past two-year window of college football has shown what they can do under duress more than Sanders.
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And Sanders’ play under pressure is some of the best quarterbacking we’ve seen, at least in 2024. With pressure coming in, Sanders will break contain, maintain vision downfield, and find the right time to uncork his cannon of an arm to a streaking receiver in a dominant display of backyard football.
The trust and rapport he’s built with his receivers at Colorado will be tough to replace, but within a few weeks time at his NFL stop, that should return and he should be good to go in no time at the next level.
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