This was always going to be a risky NFL Draft when it comes to taking a quarterback inside the top 5. Even Senior Bowl director, Jim Nagy, is cautioning against taking a quarterback, presumably any of the teams with a high pick that need a signal caller.
If the Senior Bowl director can see it, maybe teams like the Tennessee Titans, New York Giants and Las Vegas Raiders should hesitate before looking for their future in this draft. It’s too much of a risk to take a quarterback that isn’t a sure-fire franchise quarterback.
“It’s certainly not last year,” Nagy said, per Andrew Siciliano’s Bluesky account. “I don’t know if any of these guys would be in the top-6 last year.”
Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward have dominated the headlines as the top quarterbacks in this class. But both are more development pieces than immediate game changers. Over the last few years, when it comes to how quarterbacks have developed, outside of Joe Burrow, everyone else hasn’t quite taken that leap.
While Jayden Daniels led the Washington Commanders to the NFC Championship Game in his rookie season, one season doesn’t necessarily mean you’re the future. See what happened with C.J. Stroud this year? He took a step back from a rookie of the year campaign.
Bryce Young hasn’t quite reached his potential yet, neither has Anthony Richardson. Justin Herbert has been in the playoffs, but doesn’t have a playoff win yet. Tua Tagovailoa is in the same position.
2025 NFL Draft QB class should cause caution from needy teams
If the Titans, Giants or Raiders take a quarterback in this class, they better have a plan of development for them otherwise they’re setting themselves up for failure. There’s enough veteran options out there that any team that needs a quarterback needs to make that a package deal.
They also shouldn’t force starting said quarterback on day one. We’ve seen what happened with Young and Richardson. If teams go into the season throwing their rookie quarterback to the wolves, it’s not going to work.
This quarterback class isn’t at the level that they can instantly produce. Daniels and Caleb Williams were exceptions. The quarterbacks in recent years were more developed. None of these quarterbacks are ready to play day one.
And going in with that mindset will have you looking for another quarterback. Some teams may not get away with drafting best available and need to draft a quarterback inside the top 10. That’s fine, but if there’s no plan to develop them on the back end, it’s going to end up being a waste of a pick.