Quarterback scouting reports: What NFL Draft analysts, scouts are saying about 2025 class

Will the New York Giants choose a quarterback in the 2025 NFL Draft? We were asking the same question before the 2024 draft, when the Giants kicked the can down the road.

Below, culled from a variety of draft guides and subscription websites, are opinions about the four quarterbacks most likely to interest the Giants in the first two rounds of the draft from scouts and some of the best analysts in the business.

Shedeur Sanders, Colorado

GoLongTD.com

(NFL writer Bob McGinn annually talks to a number of scouts, anonymously)

“I like him over Ward,” one scout said. “He’ll start from Day 1 wherever he goes. Biggest thing he’s gonna have to do is getting used to his dad (Deion, Colorado coach) not being around all the time. He’s poised. Things aren’t going to faze him. He got hit more than anybody in college football over the last couple years (behind) bad lines. He’s going to have to get used to getting rid of the ball quicker. Outside of that, he gives you everything you want. He’s athletic enough. It’s not fair to say he’s not his dad, but he’s not his dad. But he’s got a strong arm and he can slide and move in the pocket. He’s been coached and trained by all these people. I don’t see a lot holding him back right away. And he’s going to work. He’s a worker.”

Another McGinn scout:

“Shedeur has no explosive traits. He is the flashiest, most overhyped game manager I’ve ever graded. There’s no way on this earth he should go in the top three. He’s a second- or third-rounder, at best, and he’s gonna go top 10?” Played for six offensive coordinators in his collegiate career. “If his name was Joe Blow I don’t know if he’d get talked about nearly as much,” a fourth scout said. “He’s tough and has decent arm talent. He’s a pretty accurate thrower. Problem is, he’s a complete backyard football player. Hero balls, holds the ball. He’s not going to be able to play the way he plays in college. He’ll get crippled his first season. Not a wow athlete for his size, and not a big man. He just scares me. I think he’s in for a very rude awakening.”

Mike Tanier (Too Deep Zone Substack):

Shedeur Sanders is a great quarterback for some other team to draft. Not your favorite team. Not your arch-rival, either: you don’t want to wish a prospect this polarizing on a hated opponent then spend a decade paying for it. Sanders is a perfect fit for some neutral team in the other conference.

Sanders is talented and interesting in a way that is best appreciated from afar. He will be fun to watch on Thursday Night Football and read about on Pro Football Talk (or here). He’ll be a blast in Madden and a useful fantasy quarterback. The whole tavern will stop and look at his highlights during an NFL Gamebreak. His team may not win much and its coaching staff might be engulfed in flames before Halloween, but that’s just compelling NFL theater when you are not planning your Sundays and season-ticket purchases around him.

Sanders, you see, makes people stupid. He’ll make a team’s fanbase stupid in two diametrically opposed ways. He’ll make the local media stupid, as he is doing to the national media. He’ll make your social network and favorite Discord stupid.

Pro Football Focus draft guide:

If you didn’t know his last name, you’d still recognize that Shedeur has NFL bloodlines—or at least that he’s been around high-level football minds—just from watching his tape. He has followed his father as head coach from Jackson State to Colorado and has developed into a legitimate NFL prospect. His scouting report starts with his clean fundamentals. At under the 30th percentile in both height (6-foot-1.5) and weight (215 pounds), those fundamentals are paramount, allowing him to maximize his average arm talent. His throwing motion is highly repeatable, leading to good accuracy and ball placement. His experience at the position helps him see the field well, both pre- and post-snap, resulting in very few turnovers and turnover-worthy plays throughout his career. His mobility is limited, especially by NFL standards. His top trait is likely his mentality— he’s tough as nails in the pocket and has delivered some true “ice in his veins” throws under pressure and on big downs.

Matt Waldman:

Sanders is an aspiring Geno Smith/Tua Tagovailoa style of passer. He can create when necessary – and it was all too necessary for him to create at Colorado – but he’s at his best as a distributor.

Sanders has enough throwing talent and athletic ability to start in the NFL, but those are not the difference-making traits of his game. His mind for the game and willingness to work at it will have to be.

Todd McShay:

Sanders is the fastest processor and best pure passer in the 2025 quarterback class. He shows excellent poise under pressure and has a tough demeanor that coaches will love. He’s unfazed by the circus around him and shows zero fear of the big moment on the big stage. While the protection at Colorado was often poor, Sanders also did not help out his linemen, frequently drifting too deep in the pocket or bailing too early. He took too many big hits. His lack of pocket awareness and his touch-and-go ball security can be scary, and he’s not a particularly impressive athlete. Still, his processing and accuracy make him a clear

Sports Info Solutions:

Sanders is an extremely tough competitor and a visible leader on the field. He is confident, wants the ball in his hands, and trusts players over plays in big situations, attacking favorable matchups when presented. As tough as he is, he doesn’t have the stature to withstand beatings like he took in each of his last games of the past 2 seasons, and he’ll need to adjust his play style to the NFL.

Sanders projects as a “win-with” starter on the NFL level based on his accuracy, athleticism, leadership, and toughness. He is somewhat limited in terms of size, speed, and arm strength, but he has a feel for the position and competitiveness that jumps off the film. A key inflection point will be whether or not Sanders can learn to consistently get the ball out of his hands more quickly on deep dropbacks.

Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss

Mike Tanier (Too Deep Zone Substack):

Dart reminds me a lot of Mitch Trubisky and (yes) Daniel Jones: overdrafted first-rounders with pretty deep balls, sound mechanics and decent-to-good rushing ability who both cracked badly under pressure and lacked high-precision fastballs into traffic. Kenny Pickett also comes to mind as someone the NFL talked itself into because he was productive, met all the minimum requirements and could be sold as a poised/mature “leader” with intangibles to someone eager to buy. Sam Darnold, with his Jekyll-and-Hyde performances based on how much peril he faces, is Dart’s absolute upside.

If your team drafts Dart on Day Two, they are taking a reasonable developmental flyer on someone who could develop into a stopgap starter. A team that drafts him in the first round, however, is committing the NFL’s most common sin: mistaking the sound of the sport’s own myth-making machinery for music.

McGinn scout:

“He’s a guy you take late in the second round or in the third. I don’t believe this hocus-pocus about putting him in the first but stranger things have happened. We all know that.”

Second McGinn scout:

“I might take Jaxson over Shedeur. He’s got a lot more moxie and quick-mindedness. He’s got a good arm, not a great arm. He kind of heaves it deep. That’s the thing. He can’t really drive stuff. But quick passing game, he’s good. He reminded me of a mini-Drew Lock or Gardner Minshew, one of those wildish throwing dudes that do enough to entice you but ultimately aren’t that great.”

Pro Football Focus draft guide:

A natural athlete and solid playmaker, Dart has earned an elite passing grade over the last two seasons. His playing style is enticing — he is light on his feet in the pocket, capable of slipping sacks and possesses a decently quick release. His arm strength appears average by NFL standards. He is too comfortable throwing off his back foot, even when not under pressure. While his tape shows plenty of deep throws, his ball placement on those attempts leaves more to be desired. He is experienced in throwing concept routes that put a single defender in conflict (e.g., slant-flat, curl-flat, smash) but lacks anticipation when making full-field reads. His mobility is solid, and he is best suited for a shotgun-based system, having taken just eight snaps under center over the last two seasons.

Matt Waldman:

If Dart can unlock his accuracy beyond 25-30 yards, look out. How he’ll do it? Good luck.

That’s the gist of Dart’s scouting report if you only have 10 seconds. Dart’s evaluation would scare me off him as an NFL decision-maker unless there’s an excellent veteran ahead of him and years to watch, learn, and work on his vertical game with the advice of players who also had to work at it.

Otherwise, Dart’s game has a Jekyll-Hyde quality to it. His accuracy is solid-to-good in the shallow and intermediate zones. He can maneuver well from pressure, and he’s a chain-moving runner who can buy time before opting to break the pocket.

Dart’s accuracy wanes somewhere between 25-30 yards and beyond and become scattershot. He’s overthrowing, underthrowing, and behind and ahead of targets.

Todd McShay:

I actually have the same grade on Dart as I have on Shedeur Sanders, and I think Dart could provide massive value to any team with a quarterback need—especially one in the top three, which may be best served taking one of the blue-chip players with its top pick and then grabbing a QB elsewhere in the draft (looking at you, Joe Schoen).

Maybe it’s because Lane Kiffin’s system at Ole Miss featured too many predetermined reads, obscuring how Dart’s game will transfer to the NFL. I do think he will need a year to adjust to the intricacies of the pro game. But I’ve said before that Dart has some Josh Allen in his game, and I’ve meant it—his suddenness in the pocket and ability to make throws under pressure could make him special.

Sports Info Solutions:

He has the prototypical size and body composition for the position. Additionally, he is a good athlete with good speed in the open field as a runner. He also isn’t afraid to fight for yardage when he runs, showing his leadership through his toughness on the field.

Dart projects as a circumstantial starter who has the traits and ability to develop into a sufficient “win-with” starting QB in the right system. Because of his experience and background in college, working in a quick-passing that utilizes RPOs and a good play-action game will benefit him the most. His athleticism, toughness, and arm strength are good building blocks to his game. However, he still needs to develop as a true under center QB who can make full field progressions, so going into an environment where he doesn’t have to start games right away would be best for him.

NFC personnel man to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler:

“Fringe starter who makes good decisions and does some good things but won’t get you over the top.”

Tyler Shough, Louisville

McGinn scout:

“He does things that are intriguing if he was a third-year junior. But he’s 26 years old. He’s been at three different schools. What are we doing here, people? C’mon. He can move around. He can throw it, and throw it on the move. But he’s so inconsistent and he’s really scattered and his accuracy is not good. If the blitz gets in his face he falls completely apart. He does enough that makes you (notice), then he’ll have five bad plays where he just misses or overthrows. There’s just a lot missing with him for an old guy.”

Second McGinn scout:

“I know you have to factor it (age) in but if you went out and just watched the guy throw he’d be (the No. 4 quarterback). He’s had five season-ending injuries and seven years of college. He is the most athletic. He ran 4.6. He throws it well. He’s mature. He’s from the quarterback camps. He’s helped himself the most of any of these guys … He’s no throwaway. I think there’s something to Shough.”

Pro Football Focus draft guide:

Shough is a big-bodied quarterback with ideal NFL size. He has a good but not great arm. He can zip passes into tight windows over the middle and has a higher big-time throw percentage than turnover-worthy play percentage in that area. He is at his best when throwing with velocity but also displays good touch and ball placement on deep passes—though he becomes more inconsistent at shorter distances. One of the older prospects in the class, coming from the 2018 recruiting cycle. He spent three years at Oregon before playing three more at Texas Tech and finishing his career at Louisville. His injury history is concerning, with two season-ending collarbone injuries and a broken fibula on his record. In terms of pocket management, he must be more willing to step up. Too often, he fades away on throws even when pressure is not imminent. While he won’t offer much in terms of mobility or playmaking outside of structure, he has the arm talent to attempt and complete throws from various arm angles.

Matt Waldman:

Shough is going to have his niche of fans as that under-the-radar player who either moves up the NFL’s draft board or surprises a team with his development. He’s a good athlete with a big arm and vertical-range potential as a passer from the pocket or on the move.

The highlights will get many excited because Shough has some speed as a runner, he makes some impressive throws from a variety of arm slots, and he can do it on the move. Squint hard enough and you’ll see some of the things that made Jay Cutler a compelling prospect early in his career.

Right now, that potential is a projection more than a reality.

Todd McShay:

Shough is being underrated because of concerns about his age and durability. The consensus sees Shough as a fringe day-two pick, but I think he should be solidly in Round 2 consideration for teams that want a battle-tested passer who is ready to go when it comes to understanding pro-level concepts and verbiage. He’s pro-ready.

Shough is aggressive as a passer, processes well, and understands NFL defenses. He has great physical traits (he’s the tallest QB in the draft and also has the biggest hands), has a live arm, and is a good runner. His straight-line speed is the best of the top four QBs in the draft. The Louisville offense averaged 36.5 points in 2024 as Shough went 8-4 as a starter.

Sports Info Solutions:

Shough projects best as a quality backup and circumstantial starter in an offense with an emphasis on bootleg plays to utilize his strengths of throwing on the run and off-platform. He has the makeup of a reliable backup QB as long as he can improve when faced with pressure and throwing with more anticipation. His age limits some of his appeal as a franchise-type player since he’ll likely be 30-years-old when his 2nd contract hits, but he brings experience and has the tools to ascend with proper coaching.

Jalen Milroe, Alabama

McGinn scout:

“I’ve watched too many of his balls hit guys in the ankles. He’s a rare athlete and, in the right system and with the right coaching staff, who knows what they can get out of him? Jalen Hurts wasn’t the most accurate quarterback coming out of Oklahoma. He’s young. You never know. Jayden Daniels, too. I never saw the player he is now at Arizona State.”

Another McGinn scout:

“He just can’t play quarterback in the NFL. Just has no feel for the game. He can’t throw. Not accurate at all. He can run, but as a runner he doesn’t have any feel. He just runs straight into things. The playoff game last year (against Michigan) he just ran into it (failed fourth-and-3 run to end the game). What are you doing? Just not a football player.”

Pro Football Focus draft guide:

Milroe has one of the strongest arms in the class, and if he isn’t in the Tier 1 NFL arm category, he’s not far behind in Tier 2. That track background also makes him a lethal rushing threat. While his physical gifts make him an alluring prospect to invest in, his inconsistencies are why drafting and playing him early could end poorly. He is not consistently accurate. His twitchy throwing motion means that any deviation in his fundamentals can negatively impact ball placement. He also holds onto the ball too long, averaging over 3.00 seconds per dropback, leading to a high sack rate. He also struggles to read non-primary defenders — he can key in on one or two defenders pre-snap but fail to see the full coverage picture post-snap. Though he is a great athlete, his passing grades and efficiency on the run are poor. He does, however, post strong numbers on third-and-long, with more than 50% of his throws going beyond the sticks and a solid number of big-time throws.

Matt Waldman:

If I were a pivotal decision-maker for an NFL team, Jalen Milroe is the only quarterback I’m considering within the first three rounds of the draft in this class. I’ll take shots on passers available later who have growth potential as journeymen starters or reserves. Maybe one of them surprises us and proves there’s a lot more to his game.

Otherwise, Milroe is it. Period. End of story.

Todd McShay:

The team that pulls the trigger on Milroe—presumably on day two—will need to be prepared to play the long game with his development. He’s a uniquely gifted athlete and deep-ball thrower who also enters the league with a unique set of challenges to overcome before an organization can feel comfortable handing over the keys. He’s beloved in Tuscaloosa and is a smart player, but he struggles with processing, especially against complex coverages or disguises. He often waits for a receiver to come open before he gets the pass away. He also shows erratic accuracy on short and intermediate throws. I’m concerned his muscled-up frame doesn’t allow him the flexibility to operate smoothly as a passer (see past failures in Brady Quinn, Tim Tebow, and Will Levis).

Still, if Milroe can improve in those areas, his potential is electrifying. He’s the best athlete at the position in this draft, elite on designed runs, and reportedly ran a 4.37-second 40-yard dash at his pro day (top tier for a receiver, let alone a quarterback). Defenses will not want to play man coverage across the board against him because of his effectiveness as a scrambler, too. And when he flicks his wrist, the ball sails downfield. He has a beautiful spiral.

Milroe is not Jalen Hurts. He’s not Tebow (though he shares the element of incredible upper-body muscle mass). And he’s not Lamar Jackson. My concern is that he is more Vince Young. But Young entered the league with massive expectations as the third overall pick. Milroe, whom I grade as a Round 3 prospect, will have the luxury of time on his side.

Sports Info Solutions:

Milroe possesses good arm strength and has shown that he can push the ball at all levels of the defense with velocity. He possesses a quick release which allows him to make quick, decisive moves to get the ball to his receivers efficiently. His overall accuracy is good at every level, and he has shown the ability to throttle his throws to fit the ball into different layers of the defense but also to step in and drive the ball deep to the boundaries as well. He has a good spot accuracy on his throws, and has shown the ability to drop the ball in a bucket and drive through taut windows. There are times, however, that his footwork falters, either when pressure arrives or his internal clock rushes unnecessarily, causing him to misplace passes and put the ball in dangerous situations.

He can struggle to stay poised in the pocket and make his way through his progressions. He has the athleticism to improvise and make plays on the move, though he relies on his legs a bit too quickly and will pull the ball down quicker than he needs to. This leads him to taking a few more sacks than he needs when he has a checkdown option available because he cannot reach the edge of the defense to turn upfield and run. However, there are times that he can get outside the pass rush and make plays on the move. He has shown an ability to adjust his body position to throw on the move and hit a receiver in stride, but he has struggled with his mechanics and can float the ball a bit too much and allow a defender to make a play. He has shown a few times throughout his career the ability to make quick, decisive, and accurate throws to drive down the field in clutch situations and make big plays to lead his teams to wins.

Milroe projects as a sufficient starting quarterback at the next level with an upside that could provide an offense with an added dynamic in the run game. His best fit would be in a pro-style offense that operated mainly out of the shotgun and allowed him to utilize a read-option running game. While he still lacks the consistent composure in the pocket to dissect defenses, he still has the ability to stretch defenses vertically and even layer throws through gaps. He has shown the ability to conduct an offense in the clutch and make quick decisive throws leading his team downfield.

NFC scout to Fowler:

“If you can sit him for multiple years and then tailor your offense around him, you could really have something. But you would have to be all-in on his dual-threat ability. Work ethic is not a concern with him.”

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OTHER OPTIONS

If the Giants can’t get the quarterback they want in the first couple of rounds, it still seems likely they will add a rookie at the position. Here are a couple of comments on some of the later options.

Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images

Will Howard, Ohio State

McGinn scout:

“He won’t ever be a top-tier guy but it wouldn’t surprise me to see him become the best of the entire group,” said one scout. “He’s got enough of everything. He’s an awesome kid. He’s a big dude. He’s a better athlete than people want to give him credit for. He’s going to do everything he’s supposed to. He’s not a jump-on-my-back-I’m-gonna-win-this-game-for-you (player). That said, he raised the talent on his team to the point they won the national championship. Was he driving a Cadillac? Yes, he was. Howard is a better version than Kenny Pickett coming out. He’s bigger, has a better arm. He may be the sleeper of the group.”

Another McGinn scout:

“He can’t play. People are trying to make him into a (prospect). What are we watching him for?”

Dillon Gabriel, Oregon

McGinn scout:

“He’s not a Northeast or NFC North quarterback. He’s a half-inch shorter than Tua (Tagavailoa) and 10 pounds lighter. Tua went No. 5 (in 2020) and Dillon might go in the fifth. I don’t understand it. I think he’s the same player.

Sports Info Solutions:

Gabriel projects as a backup quarterback in a run-first, RPO-dominant offense at the next level. He can be a great leader and asset in the locker room but isn’t a quarterback with win-with abilities. His lack of size is a factor. That, along with his inconsistent spot-on accuracy and lack of arm strength, makes it difficult for him to project as a high-end contributor at the next level.

Quinn Ewers, Texas

McGinn scout:

“He’s small, he’s not mobile and he doesn’t have a big arm,” a fourth scout said. “Does he throw a clean pass? Yeah. He throws it better than Arch (Manning) but Arch is twice as big. Look, he was so hyped. He took all that money to go to Ohio State and then he comes back to Texas. He completed a lot of passes in today’s short pass-oriented system but I thought he was a third-day guy. You saw the lack of mobility and the lack of pocket strength. It just killed him when they got against Georgia and Ohio State. He’s way down the line.”

Matt Waldman:

Ewers’ game is at that line of demarcation between a player with a decent chance of developing into a starter and having a career as a backup. His recruiting profile, career with a Division-I powerhouse, and solid fundamentals could earn Ewers NFL Draft capital that paves the way to an opportunity to start during his rookie contract.

It’s possible NFL teams like Ewers’ brand-name game enough to believe in him as a potential starter they can use immediately as a reserve and give him a shot if the season is lost. Think Desmond Ridder.

I like Ewers more than Ridder because he sees leverage better. I can see a world where Ewers has a better NFL career if he finds a landing spot with excellent surrounding talent that helps him level up his game faster than most. I may see that possibility, but I’m not buying it.

I land in the camp of Ewers as a journeyman starter, at best, who is better as a playable backup.

Kyle McCord, Syracuse

McGinn scout:

“Those fans and that (Columbus) media market can be tough and they just threw him out the door,” a second scout said. “But this is a pretty damn good quarterback. Ultra-high character guy. Very bright, humble, leader, all that’s solid. Has very clean mechanics, good compact throwing motion, the ability to change his arm slot and improvise when he has to work around obstacles. Has a nice snappy release and good arm talent to make all the throws. He needs to do a better job of manipulating the defense with his eyes. The biggest knock I have, and this is probably what showed up at Ohio State, is when pressured he doesn’t always step up and throw it well. He falls away and drifts in the pocket too much. But the good throws are really good.”

Matt Waldman:

McCord, like Quinn Ewers is at the line of demarcation between having the potential of a future starter and the potential of a top-end backup. Unlike Ewers, McCord has flaws that could also force him from the league.

… if McCord can’t overcome his tendencies to double-down on bad reads, any future as an NFL starter will evaporate. Watch McCord try to fit the ball into favorable defensive leverage that’s squatting over the receiver and reading McCord’s eyes, and one can imagine McCord yelling to Will Levis and Desmond Ridder to hold his beer.

There are lots of prospects with arm talent, chain-moving mobility, and fundamentally sound drops who can avoid making the same mistake twice, much less three or four times. McCord has the kind of belief Jameis Winston once had about being able to make the ball disappear into the defender’s chest and rematerialize behind them into the receivers’ hands.

McCord also leads players into unnecessary contact. When it comes down to the win/lose of McCord’s game, it’s about learning to read and respect the leverage of defenders on receivers. Either he doesn’t know how to do it, can’t see it, or he willfully ignores it.