With this year slated to have one of the biggest quarterback classes since 2018, it’s important to get to know the prospects ahead of draft day. These players may not be the top tier prospects such as University of Southern California quarterback Caleb Williams or Louisiana State University quarterback Jayden Daniels, but in a draft class this deep it’s important to learn about the other potential leaders for franchises to pick up.
The end of the college football season saw the Michigan Wolverines hoist the trophy as national champions which they did large part because of their quarterback J.J. McCarthy. The 21-year-old phenomenon was the perfect game manager for the Wolverines as they would go on to have an undefeated 15 win season despite a late season suspension of head coach Jim Harbaugh.
McCarthy is amazing at not making mistakes, only throwing 11 interceptions in his three year career at Michigan. One of the best parts of his game is shown on third down where his completion percentage was 67%, which means he gets key first downs when his team needs it.
However, the big red flag with him as a prospect comes in his lack of experience and reps as a starter. For comparison, projected first overall selection Williams threw the ball 1,099 times over a three-year career while McCarthy in that same time period only attempted 713 times. A team that is needy for young quarterback play may take a chance on him early in the draft, but he could also fall into the later half of the first round.
Assuming McCarthy is gone early in the draft, another dynamo prospect to fill the position could be Oregon Ducks starter Bo Nix. Nix is arguably the most pro-ready of the prospects in this entire draft. Spending five years in the college game, Nix developed into one of the most efficient passers in the game, scoring 45 touchdowns while only throwing three interceptions. The numbers and stats are astounding with Nix, but there are two glaring flaws with his game and that is his game awareness and age.
Entering the draft at 24 is something teams hate, as that is two years out of your potential prime that you could help their team. Nix is able to get the ball out to his playmakers very quickly, but this calls into question his ability to make big plays downfield at the professional level. Nix should be available going into the second round but a team desperate to upgrade may move up into the late first to select him.
If both McCarthy and Nix have been selected, and assuming top prospects such as Williams and Daniels have been taken, a team may take a flier out on Washington Huskies quarterback Michael Penix, Jr. to try and fix their quarterback room. Penix is a statistical marvel and is no doubt the best deep ball thrower in the entire draft class throwing for 4,903 yards on the season, which is just absolutely absurd. Penix is also very creative and is known for improvising to make down the field throws when his protection breaks down.
Much like Nix, however, Penix is an older prospect, playing six years in college, which may cause some pause for teams. But the main concern with him has to be his injury history. While being the starter at Indiana, Penix tore his right ACL twice, potentially creating concern from teams. He should be available in the second round for a team to pick up if they don’t want to sign a free agent as a starter for the position.
Just because a team can’t land a player like Williams or Daniels in the draft doesn’t mean other teams shouldn’t take a swing at players like Nix or McCarthy in this draft. All the time in sports later picked quarterbacks are able to turn into star players like San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy who was selected with the last pick in his draft. It’s important to not overlook a prospect and these three have the potential to be special in the years to come.
Jasper Greuel is a junior studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note the views expressed in this column do not represent those of The Post. Want to talk to Jasper about his column? email him at jg453620@ohio.edu.
