After seeing a whopping six quarterbacks selected in the top 12 picks overall of the 2024 NFL Draft, should be expecting to see teams value the quarterback position just as highly in the 2025 NFL Draft? Not necessarily, but especially when it comes to the quarterback position, two things are typically always true: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and it only takes one team.
As of right now, there are seemingly two quarterbacks who are locks as first-round projections: Cam Ward of Miami and Shedeur Sanders of Colorado. Everybody else behind them is a wild card, a projection, or even a potentially shocking addition to the first round. What quarterbacks could we see potentially be surprise names coming off the board in round one this year?
At the risk of seeing something similar to the 2022 NFL Draft, let's talk about some of the names that could factor into that conversation.
2025 NFL Draft: 4 sleeper QBs who could sneak into the 1st round
1. Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss
There has been a growing hype surrounding Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart ever since the 2025 Senior Bowl. Dart had a nice college career capped off with a strong year in 2024 at Ole Miss, but his first-round hype (or even top 64 hype) didn't really begin until we got to the offseason news cycle. And that really should only serve to fortify the fact that he's well thought of by NFL teams because the in-season hype is usually what's fabricated by media. The offseason hype might be coming from agents, but where there's smoke there's fire.
Dart has all of the tools and traits to be an effective starter in the NFL, it's just a matter of whether or not some NFL team will see him that way.
2. Jalen Milroe, Alabama
Jalen Milroe made an appearance in the first round of my latest 2025 NFL Mock Draft and he's got to be one of the most polarizing players in this class. On the one hand, how is it that Anthony Richardson was the 4th overall pick and nobody is talking about Milroe as a top-10 pick, even though they shared similar strengths and weaknesses coming up from the college level?
Milroe is so impressive athletically and the best that we saw from him at Alabama was enticing enough for a team to roll the first-round dice, potentially.
Milroe has elite speed and ability to win as a runner. Even though he needs refinement as a passer, his traits are exactly what a lot of folks in the NFL covet annually. And since when has a guy being a bit of a work in progress as a passer really prevented NFL teams from throwing darts at the board?
3. Tyler Shough, Louisville
I guess it's not always a matter of "if" you're able to put it together at the quarterback position, but "when". The transfer rules and extra eligibility from the pandemic-shortened 2020 season have created some of the most bizarre college careers we have ever seen, and maybe the most unique of all is Louisville QB Tyler Shough.
Shough had a good year this past year at Louisville after pitstops at Oregon and Texas Tech. And by pitstops, I mean he spent three years each with the Ducks and Red Raiders. Shough spent a whopping seven years at the collegiate level, but he might have figured things out just in the nick of time.
He's not generating a ton of first-round hype right now but he's a name a lot of people are throwing around as one NFL teams are intrigued by. After running a rather impressive 4.63 in the 40-yard dash, he's also given teams even more to think about with his athletic upside.
4. Will Howard, Ohio State
One thing that I found very interesting at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine was the mention by Ian Rapoport of Will Howard possibly being a first-round pick.
Big fan favorite here. 50 starts, like Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix. Fresh off a national championship. High completion percentage and fast processor. Could he sneak into Round 1? https://t.co/kMzdYSc4j3
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 1, 2025
Those nuggets can be thrown around for a couple of reasons. It can potentially be lip service from an insider doing a favor for an agent, or it could legitimately be the way NFL teams are talking about the guy.
With Howard, it wouldn't be shocking to see him sneak into the 1st round given his experience and his strengths. And one of his top strengths is playing point guard and operating the offense. If you need an offense creator, Howard might not be your guy, but there is a place for guys like this in today's NFL.
The note from Rap Sheet is fascinating and makes you wonder what teams are saying about this kid behind closed doors.