Draft Preview 2023: Quarterbacks

April 20, 2023

by Steve Thomas

Washington may very well draft a quarterback this year, as they currently only have two who are probably worthy of the active roster, Jacoby Brissett and Sam Howell, with Jake Fromm in a practice squad role last year.  None of those three are exactly bound for the hall of fame.  Translation – Washington could use a new rookie quarterback, even if he’s a day 3-type who doesn’t have a realistic shot at starting absent a catastrophic injury situation.  Therefore, I expect that if someone worthy is available at the appropriate spot in the draft, Washington may jump, when they make that selection is another question.  We’ll see.  I don’t view this year’s class as a particularly strong one, but that won’t stop NFL teams from drafting some of these players in an irrationally high draft slot.  Let’s jump right in, in my rank order:

C.J. Stroud (6’3” / 214, Ohio St.):  Stroud is a true junior and two-year starter for Ohio St., having played in a total of 26 games, with 575 completions in 830 attempts, for a 69.3% completion percentage, 8123 yards, 85 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions.  In 2022, he played 13 games, with 258 completions in 389 attempts, for a 66.3% completion percentage, 41 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions, and was selected as a Second team All-American.  Stroud is the most pro ready of this year’s class, and looks the most like an NFL pocket-passing quarterback.  His arm strength isn’t quite at the level of some others, but it’s good enough.  More importantly, he has solid mechanics and can read the entire field.  One skill he will need to work on is anticipation – he doesn’t always throw people open.  Stroud sometimes has a tendency to wait for players to come open first, which isn’t a recipe for NFL success.  Stroud also isn’t much of a runner, which is something NFL teams look for in the modern game.  But for me, Stroud is #1 in the class by a mile.

Steve’s recommended draft position: round 1, top 5

Where he’s really be drafted: round 1, top 5

Will Levis (6’4” / 229, Kentucky):  Levis is a redshirt senior who spent three years at Penn St., including his redshirt freshman year, before transferring to Kentucky for the 2021 and 2022 seasons.  In five seasons, Levis, who is 23, played in a total of 38 games, and had 479 completions in 738 attempts, for a 64.9% completion percentage, 5876 yards, 46 touchdowns, and 25 interceptions.  In 2022 with Kentucky, he played in 11 games and had 185 completions in 283 attempts, for a 65.4% completion percentage, 19 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions.  At the NFL Combine, he jumped 34 inches in the vertical leap and 10’4” in the standing broad jump.  Levis looks like he fell out of the quarterback factor and has all of the prototypical measurables.  His positives are a very strong arm, good size, and experience in a pro-style offense.  On the other hand, despite his decent completion percentage, his passes are frequently off-target, and he suffers from inconsistent mechanics.  Levis also had a concerning number of interceptions.  In total, Levis looks the part, mostly, and has the physical qualities of an elite NFL starter, but will need time and a good coaching to succeed.

Steve’s recommended draft position: high round 2

Where he’ll really go: round 1

Hendon Hooker (6’3” / 217, Tennessee):  Hooker is 25 years old, having spent 3 years at Virginia Tech before transferring to Tennessee for the 2021 and 2022 seasons.  In total, he played 45 games, with 632 completions in 944 attempts, for a 66.9% completion percentage, 8974 yards, 80 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions.  In 2022, Hooker played 11 games, and had 229 completions in 329 attempts, for a 69.6% completion percentage, 3135 yards, 27 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions, and was selected as the SEC Offensive Player of Year.  Hooker’s strengths are his quick release, fairly good mechanics, and strong arm.  His negatives are that he frequently doesn’t read the field, often, going to his first option, and ran a non-pro style offense.  Hooker also loses accuracy deep, and doesn’t slide well on scrambles.  Some will also view his age as a negative.  Most importantly, Hooker tore his ACL in a game against South Carolina in mid-November, 2022, so odds are very good that he won’t be ready to start the season.  In fact, it may be ultimately best for the team that drafts Hooker to just count on 2023 as a redshirt year.  Hooker is a talented quarterback who is yet another player who will need some time to adjust to the NFL game, irrespective of his injury.

Steve’s recommended draft position: round 2

Where he’ll really be drafted: round 2

Anthony Richardson (6’4” / 244, Florida):  Richardson is a redshirt sophomore, having spent three years at Florida and just one as the full-time starter.  In total, he played 22 games, with a total of 215 completions in 393 attempts, for 3105 yards, a 54.7% completion percentage, 24 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions.  Richardson also rushed for another 1116 yards in 161 attempts, for an average of 6.9 yards per attempt, and 12 touchdowns.  In 2022, Richardson had 176 completions in 327 attempts, for 2549 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions, and rushed for 654 yards in 103 attempts, for an average of 6.3 yards per attempt, and 9 touchdowns.  At the NFL Combine, he ran the 40 yard dash in 4.43 seconds, and jumped 40.5 inches in the vertical leap and 10’9” in the standing broad jump.  Richardson is a bit of a dichotomy, in that he looks the part, has off-the-charts athleticism, and a cannon for an arm, but has some major negatives.  For one thing, he isn’t very good at actual quarterbacking.  Richardson has an inconsistent throwing motion, bad footwork, serious accuracy problems, throws off balance, frequently holds the ball too long, can look awkward in the pocket, often doesn’t do well under pressure, and is very inexperienced.  He got by in college mainly because of his superior athleticism and arm strength.  He’s a classic example of a quarterback who someone will take a chance on in round 1 out of a belief that his natural gifts will outweigh the bad, and that NFL coaching can fix him.  Perhaps that’s true, but I believe that Richardson will need to sit for multiple seasons before he is ready to be a plus-level starter in the NFL.

Steve’s recommended draft position: Round 3

Where he’ll really go: Round 1

Bryce Young (5’10” / 204, Alabama): Young is a true junior who played three seasons at Alabama.  In that time, he played a total of 34 games, and made 624 completions in 949 attempts, for a 65.8% completion percentage, 8356 yards, 80 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions.  In 2022, Young played 12 games and made 245 completions in 380 attempts, for a 64.5% completion percentage, 3328 yards, 32 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions.  He won nearly every major award in 2021, including the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award, the Davey O’Brien Award, and the Manning Award, and was a Consensus All-American.  His 2022 was not as successful, with only a Second team All-SEC award to his name.  He didn’t do the objective measurables at the NFL Combine.  Young is too small to be a full-time quarterback in the NFL.  Full stop.  This is a shame because he has nearly everything else necessary to succeed, including good mechanics, strong enough arm, solid ability to read the field, mostly accurate throws, and he appears calm under pressure.  His most obvious negative is his size – his 204 pound weight at the Combine was 10 pounds heavier than his published weight at Alabama.  The number of quarterbacks who made it to the NFL career, franchise QB level at 5’10” or less can be counted on one hand, and that’s what teams want for a top 5 draft pick.  Someone will take a chance on Young in round 1 because of all of his other skills, but it’s a dangerous gamble, odds-wise.

Steve’s recommended draft position: day 3

Where he’ll really be drafted: round 1, top 10

Aidan O’Connell (6’3” / 219, Purdue):  O’Connell, who is 24 years old, is a sixth-year senior who did not play for his first two seasons, which was 2017 – 2018, he then got some playing time in 2019 and 2020 before earning the starting job in 2021 and 2022.  In total, O’Connell played in 33 games, and made 826 completions in 1239 attempts, for a 66.7% completion percentage, 9219 yards, 65 touchdowns, and 30 interceptions.  In 2022, he played 12 games, with 320 completions in 499 attempts, for a 64.1% completion percentage, 3490 yards, 22 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions.  O’Connell earned Second-team All-Big 10 honors in both 2021 and 2022.  O’Connell’s strengths are that he is decisive and not afraid to throw into tight windows, and that he played in a pro-style offense.  However, that same decisive nature is also his biggest weakness, as he frequently reads the field poorly.  This results in throws into spaces which he doesn’t have the arm strength to fit into, which in turn causes interceptions.  This will likely continue in the NFL.  O’Connell also looks long and gangly, doesn’t have a compact throwing motion, and doesn’t move particularly well in the pocket.  O’Connell is probably a backup with potential in the NFL.

Steve’s recommended draft position: round 5 – 6

Where he’ll really be drafted: round 6

Jaren Hall (6’0” / 207, BYU): Hall played a total of 4 seasons at BYU, but is 25 years old.  He served a two-year Mormon mission before enrolling at BYU in 2018, then missed the entire 2020 season due to a hip injury.  He started in 2021 and 2022.  In total, Hall played 29 games, with 468 completions in 718 attempts, for a 65.2% completion percentage, 6174 yards, 52 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions.  In 2022, he played 12 games, and had 248 completions in 376 attempts, for a 66% completion percentage, 3171 yards, 31 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions.   Hall is undersized and lacks adequate arm strength, but for the most part, he can scan all the way through his reads, and has some athleticism.

Steve’s recommended draft position: round 5 – 6

Where he’ll really be drafted: round 5

Clayton Tune (6’2” ½ / 220, Houston):  Tune, who is 24 years old, played 5 years at Houston, with 47 games, and made 956 completions in 1497 attempts, for a 63.9% completion percentage, 11994 yards, 104 touchdowns, and 41 interceptions.  In 2022, he played in 13 games, with 3334 completions in 496 attempts, for a 67.3% completion percentage, 4074 yards, 40 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions.  At the NFL Combine, he ran the 40 yard dash in 4.64 seconds, and jumped 37.5 inches in the vertical leap and 10’2” in the standing broad jump.  Tune is a four year starter and has prototypical NFL size, and can be accurate in the short and mid-field areas, but lacks plus-level arm strength and loses accuracy deep.  Tune has NFL size and is mobile and athletic, but has inconsistent footwork and can be inaccurate.

Steve’s recommended draft position: round 5 – 6

Where he’ll really be drafted: round 5 – 6

Jake Haener (6’0” / 207, Fresno St.):  Haener is 24 years old, having began his college career at the University of Washington in 2017.  He redshirted his first year, then served as a backup in 2018 before transferring to Fresno St.  Haener had to sit out the 2019 season because of the then-existing transfer rules, then was a backup in 2020 before starting the 2021 and 2022 seasons.  In total, he played in 32 games, with 740 completions in 1085 attempts, for a 68.2% completion percentage, 9120 yards, 68 touchdowns, and 18 interceptions.  In 2022, Haener played 10 games, and had 252 completions in 350 attempts, for a 72% completion percentage, 2896 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 3 interception, and earned First team All-Mountain West honors.  Haener has good mechanics and an average arm.  For the most part, he makes good decisions an is an intelligent quarterback who tries to throw his receivers open.  However, he sometimes stares down receivers, can be inaccurate, particularly deep, and doesn’t have the arm strength to fit the ball into tight NFL windows.  He’s most likely a backup at the next level.

Steve’s recommended draft position: round 6 – 7

Where he’ll really be drafted: round 6 – 7

Tanner McKee (6’6” / 231, Stanford):  McKee is a true junior who played 23 games in three seasons, with 473 completions in 748 attempts, for a 63.2% completion percentage, 5336 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions.  In 2022, he played 12 games, with 264 completions in 426 attempts, for a 62% completion percentage, 2947 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions.  At the NFL Combine, he jumped 33 inches in the vertical leap and 9’6” in the standing broad jump.  McKee is a big pocket passer with a strong arm, but lacks mobility, is inexperienced, and has a bad touchdown to interception ratio.

Steve’s recommended draft position: round 6 – 7

Where he’ll really be drafted: round 5 – 6

Stetson Bennett (5’11” / 192, Georgia): Bennett, who is 25 years old, spent his freshman year at Georgia, then transferred to a junior college, then later transferred back to Georgia for the 2019 through 2022 seasons.  In total, he played 41 games in 4 seasons at Georgia, with 601 completions in 924 attempts, a 65% completion percentage, 8429 yards, 66 touchdowns, 21 interceptions.  In 2022, Bennett played 15 games, and had 310 completions in 455 attempts, a 68.1% completion percentage, 27 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions.  At the NFL Combine, he ran the 40 yard dash in 4.67 seconds and jumped 33.5 inches in the vertical leap and 9’10” in the standing broad jump.  Bennett is a quality leader, outstanding intangibles, and won at Georgie very slightly built by NFL standards and has a substandard arm.  He isn’t a realistic option as an NFL starter.

Steve’s recommended draft position: undrafted free agent

Where he’ll really be drafted: round 6 – 7