2025 NFL Combine Recap - Quarterbacks

 

The 2025 NFL Scouting Combine officially came to and end on March 2nd. Among the 15 quarterbacks in attendance, 13 prospects participated in the throwing drills, and 3 of them also participated in the usual circuit of general athleticism drills. Here is a recap of everything we saw from the quarterback prospects at the 2025 NFL Combine:

As expected, Cam Ward did not participate in any drills at the Combine. For his measurements there were no major surprises, though his official height of 6 foot 1 and 5/8 inches and his hand size of 9 inches were both a bit smaller than expected. Otherwise, it was a quiet weekend for the man projected to be the first quarterback drafted this year.

Shedeur Sanders did not participate in any drills either, but he made headlines with some of his interview answers. He responded to reports asking why NFL teams should draft him with confident answers that referenced his winning record at Colorado, his desire to change a team's culture, and having the same ability to ignore criticism in the media that his father Deion Sanders was known for. His official measurements were in line with what has been reported by Colorado all along, checking in on Saturday at a height of 6 foot 1 and a half inches and weighing 212 pounds.

Jaxson Dart only participated in throwing drills, but he put up a great performance in those areas and might have done enough to put himself in the conversation for being the third quarterback drafted in this class. He looked good on almost all of his throws, showcasing good ball placement at every level. His fastest pass in the velocity drill hit 58 miles per hour. Checking in at 6 foot 2, 223 pounds, Dart has a little more size to him than Ward and Sanders, but his main criticism is not something that can be rebuked by a good performance at the Combine. Teams are wary of Jaxson Dart because they don't believe he is capable at reading a defense post-snap, something he was rarely asked to do in the quick progression offense he ran for 3 years at Ole Miss. There might not be much he can do to change the scouts' opinions of him between now and April, but choosing to throw at the combine definitely has help this guy rise up a few spots on the big boards.

Quinn Ewers was another prospect who chose to only participate in the throwing drills. He looked really accurate on short and intermediate throws, but had a much more difficult time placing the deep passes. He measured in at 6 foot 2 inches, 214 pounds. Aside from his inconsistency with deep throws, Ewers' biggest knock against him is his injury history. The former Texas Longhorn played three seasons in college football and missed at least a few games in each season due to diagnosed shoulder injuries, then announced a few weeks ago that he was playing through an oblique injury for most of this past season. His odds of getting drafted largely hinge upon how likely NFL teams believe it is that he could stay healthy if he saw the field early in his career.

Jalen Milroe generated some controversy with his day at the Combine. Some analysts found it curious that he did not run the 40-yard dash, as his speed and athleticism were major strengths of his at Alabama. His official measurements saw no major discrepancies to height and weight, checking in at 6 foot 1 and a half inches tall with a weight of 217 pounds. The more interesting inconsistency was his hand size. At the Senior Bowl, Milroe got his hands measured at 8 and 6/8 inches. His official combine measurements saw that number rise to 9 and 3/8 inches. That's an unusual difference for measurements taken just a few weeks apart. Like many of the other quarterbacks mentioned above, Milroe only participated in the throwing drills. He demonstrated impressive arm strength and had great velocity on his passes, but didn't do as well with accuracy. Most throws looked fine, but a notable amount of his passes looked to have either the timing wrong for the route or were just slightly off target. There shouldn't be much change in his draft stock based on this performance.

Kyle McCord showed up and demonstrated exactly the same skill set that he did all season long - he is very accurate, but doesn't get much velocity on the ball and has one of the slower releases in the class. He looked confident and poised during the throwing drills, but didn't do anything to make anyone think he has been underrated so far. McCord checked in at 6 foot 3 inches, 218 pounds and followed the trend of not participating in any drills other than the throwing ones.

Dillon Gabriel checked in as the smallest quarterback at the combine in terms of both height and weight, with his official measurements of 5 foot 11 and 1/8 inches tall and 205 pounds. While he was able to show some pretty good velocity on a few of the shorter and intermediate throws, it was very obvious on the deep passes that his arm strength is not really NFL-caliber. His accuracy was a bit worse than desired overall, but not enough to make a significant difference to any teams thinking about drafting him. 

Brady Cook measured at 6 foot 2 and 1/8 inches tall, 214 pounds, and stood out as a surprisingly athletic prospect. While his game tape is working against him, he did well in the throwing drills and turned heads in the other drills. Cook ran a 4.59 in the 40 yard dash and demonstrated a 37-inch vertical leap. While it isn’t enough to launch him up anyone’s big board, it does help him a little bit to have a performance like this on the record.

Tyler Shough checked in at 6 foot 4 and 7/8 inches tall, 219 pounds. He also had the largest hand measurement of any quarterback in the class, with a result of 9 and 3/4 inches. Shough then ran a 4.63 in the 40 yard dash. In the other general skill drills he showed that he was just a little bit less athletic than Brady Cook. He put his arm strength on full display during the throwing drills, but had trouble with accuracy and timing. 

Will Howard had a disappointing day, given how the final stretch of his final season went. It probably would’ve been better for his draft stock if he didn’t participate at all. After measuring in at 6 foot 4 and 1/4 inches tall, 236 pounds, he opted to just participate in the throwing drills, the vertical leap and the broad jump. Though it was a small pool to compare him to, Howard's vertical of 31.50 inches and broad jump of 9 feet, 4 inches were both the lowest scores of any quarterback. If he had done well in the throwing portion, those drills might not have mattered. Instead, the former Buckeye's passes lacked accuracy at every depth as he struggled to hit short, intermediate and deep passes. Most of the time when he did miss, his throws were too high and too late, leading many scouts to question his ability to throw the ball with anticipation at the next level. If any teams were considering spending a Day 2 pick on Will Howard, they're probably comfortable with waiting until Day 3 after seeing this performance. 

Other quarterbacks at the combine included: 

-Graham Mertz from the University of Florida: 6 foot 3 and 3/8 inches, 212 pounds

-Riley Leonard from Notre Dame: 6 foot 3 and 6/8 inches, 216 pounds

-Max Brosmer from the University of Minnesota: 6 foot 1 and 5/8 inches, 217 pounds

-Kurtis Rourke from the University of Indiana: 6 foot 4 and 2/8 inches, 220 pounds

-Seth Henigan from the University of Memphis: 6 foot 3, 215 pounds

Henigan was the only other QB to participate in the general athleticism drills, and it may have helped his draft stock a little bit. He ran a 4.76 40-yard dash and generally finished just behind Brady Cook and Tyler Shough in the other drills.

There were no surprises in the throwing performances from any of these guys. From this list we are looking at a group that will be taken near the very end of the draft or possibly find a spot as an undrafted free agent afterwards.