With the college football season right around the corner, we’re taking a break from New Orleans Saints training camp coverage to highlight prospects for our 2024 NFL draft watch list. We’re starting off with the game’s most important position: quarterback.
Now, the Saints likely won’t be on the hunt for a new quarterback in the spring — having signed Derek Carr and drafted Jake Haener to back him up, they’ve resolved that question for at least a few years. But there’s a very good chance one of the top rookie passers ends up in the division on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or Atlanta Falcons. We just saw the Carolina Panthers make a surprise trade to pick Bryce Young first overall, so who’s to say one of those NFC South rivals won’t follow that blueprint?
Here are our top five quarterback prospects eligible for the 2024 draft, along with a couple of honorable mentions:
1 | Caleb Williams, USC
The 6-foot-1, 220-pound reigning Heisman Trophy winner is leading a program with national title ambitions, coming off a season in which he threw for 4,537 yards and scored 42 touchdown passes against just 5 interceptions while picking up 382 rushing yards and 10 scores with his legs. He’s a favorite to be picked first overall in 2024.
Williams’ “it” factor lies in his superior mental processing ability and the way he’s able to be quickly (and so accurately) decisive from the pocket — at this point college football’s best from the gun with what it takes to improvise out of structure when called upon as well. It’s what’s in between the ears that matters the most in quarterbacking, and while he’s still developing overall at this point in his career, it’s hard to ask more from a quarterback mentally than what Williams can give.
2 | Drake Maye, North Carolina
If anyone can unseat Williams at the top of the 2024 draft, it might be Maye. A protégé of legendary coach Mack Brown, he broke out with 4,321 yards and 38 touchdown passes (against 7 interceptions) while running for another 698 yards and 7 touchdown carries in 2022. Maye offers prototypical size by NFL standards at a listed 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds.
There were questions as to if North Carolina would be able to effectively reload without missing a beat in the midst of the departure of Sam Howell to the NFL, but Maye has effectively taken care of that, catching the attention of scouts with his consistent accuracy, touch on throws and athleticism.
3 | Michael Penix Jr., Washington
Penix Jr. enters the 2023 season as one of the most polarizing quarterback prospects in this class. The 6-foot-3, 216-pounder has dealt with injury issues more than his fair share throughout his college football career that caused his to fall out of the spotlight for some time, but has since been on the upswing since his reunion with Kalen DeBoer. He finished out the 2022 season with as 65.3% completion rate, passing for 4,641 yards with 31 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. That’s an improvement from the previous season in which Penix Jr. completed 53.7% of his passing attempts for 939 yards with a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 4:7 over five games, dealing with being sidelined.
Penix Jr. brings a lot to the table with his football IQ, arm strength and mobility, but his footwork, mechanical issues and ability to maintain accuracy out of structure all present some question marks.
4 | Quinn Ewers, Texas
Ewers, once a highly-touted recruit, has the ability to make a big splash in 2023 with a little bit of Heisman Trophy buzz also surrounding him heading into the season. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound sophomore saw action in nine regular season games in 2022, completing 58.1% of his passes for 2,177 yards with 15 touchdowns and 6 interceptions.
He’s still raw in some areas, as is to be expected from quarterbacks this early on in their college career, but has impressed with his velocity on throws and his accuracy at all three levels of the field both from in the pocket and on the run when it collapses.
5 | Bo Nix, Oregon
There was never a more interesting case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde than there was of Nix at Auburn. While he faltered early on in his career despite some of the hype that surrounded him, Nix seemed to get into more of a rhythm before he was sidelined with a lower-body injury during the loss to Mississippi State in the 2023 season.
Nix transferred shortly after, and while some may say that the grass is not greener on the other side, the Oregon green has been something that’s suited Nix quite well as he’s gone from off the radar to a potential first round draft pick. In his first season with the Ducks in 2023, he finished out with a 71.9% completion rate, passing for 3,593 yards with 29 touchdowns and 7 interceptions, an improvement from his 2021 stat line that held a 61% completion rate, 2,294 passing yards, 11 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.
Expect Nix to only continue to rise with this change of scenery when the schedule opens up in September.
Honorable mention | Riley Leonard, Duke
The 6-foot-4, 212-pound quarterback is seeking to build off his modest passing numbers (2,967 yards and 20 touchdowns, 6 interceptions) while remaining a rushing threat with 15 career touchdown runs, having led Duke to an impressive 9-4 record in his first season as a starter.
Leonard will be up against the lower-level competition narrative, but based upon what’s been reported from comments made by NFL scouts, plenty are already high on this Josh Allen-esque prospect who has an incredibly high ceiling.
Our Crissy Froyd recently spoke with Leonard on what he brings to the table. He noted his ability to adapt to any defensive front he was facing and his underrated ability as a runner.
“Tangibly, I think that there’s not much of my game that is lacking and there’s nothing I feel that I can’t do as a quarterback… I think any given week, depending on who we’re playing, I can find a way to play well against that defense…. Later in the 2022 season, teams started to send out a QB spy on me. So I wasn’t able to run the ball as much. So we were able to get the ball out and went more to one-on-one matchups on the outside.”
Honorable mention | Jordan Travis, Florida State
Travis faces scrutiny for his size at a listed 6-foot-1 and 201 pounds, but he could surpass first-round NFL quarterbacks Jameis Winston, E.J. Manuel, and Christian Ponder in the school record books with another productive season as a passer (3,214 yards and 24 touchdowns, 5 interceptions last season).
Travis has gotten better and better as his career has gone by, with 2022 really being his breakout. He also has really begun to shine as a runner, something that will help his case in the NFL to find his way onto a roster. He has 1,784 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns during his career. This, of course, takes into account the negative yards that affect your numbers when you get sacked in college.
