As recently as April 18, ESPN’s Field Yates mentioned that Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart, “or even” Louisville’s Tyler Shough, “could go ahead of” Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders as the second quarterback selected during the 2025 NFL Draft on Thursday.
For a piece produced by Bruce Feldman of The Athletic that was published on Monday, one unnamed NFL offensive coordinator compared Shough to a certain Cincinnati Bengals star signal-caller who finished the 2024 regular season as a Most Valuable Player Award finalist.
“I like Tyler Shough better,” the coordinator said in response to those who think that Dart is the second-best quarterback in this year’s draft class behind Miami’s Cam Ward. “I’m not saying he’s Joe Burrow, but he’s got some Joe Burrow to him. I think he has the best feet in this quarterback class. I know he’s had injuries, and if he didn’t, I think he’d be a first-round QB.”
Shough suffered serious injuries each college season from 2021 through 2023 (broken collarbone twice, broken fibula in 2023), and he’ll be 26 years old this coming fall. Despite those negatives on his resume, it’s now clear that some noteworthy members of the football community see him as “the best quarterback” and “the most talented thrower” in his class outside of Miami’s Cam Ward.
The Tennessee Titans will likely take Ward with the draft’s first pick.
“He’s probably the most pro-ready to go in and run an offense and be able to operate,” an NFL passing game coordinator told Feldman while speaking about Shough. “Some people bring up his age — nope, don’t care. This isn’t baseball, where you’re drafting 18-year-olds. He’s athletic. He’s a good interview. Smart. Arm talent is good.”
Meanwhile, ESPN’s Adam Schefter revealed on Monday that “there are teams that actually have Shough rated as their top quarterback in this draft.” It’s thought the Cleveland Browns (pick No. 2), New York Giants (No. 3), New Orleans Saints (No. 9) and Pittsburgh Steelers (No. 21) are among clubs that could target Shough after they spend their first-round selections.
“Cleveland also happens to own the ever-valuable No. 33 pick, the first pick at the top of Round 2, which is why the Giants or Saints could explore trading back into Round 1 to jump them. Shough is likely to land on one of these quarterback-needy teams,” Schefter added.
Just one of those clubs having Shough as the draft’s QB2 could result in a massive surprise taking place before the first round of the draft wraps up on Thursday night.
