Top 3 Quarterbacks in College Football eligible for the 2025 NFL Draft heading into Week 4 games
Believe it or not the college football regular season is already a quarter of the way through. Real trends are starting to emerge as we see more reps and games from top players from around the country. And heading into Week 4 it's already quite clear that there have been three key quarterbacks playing much […]
Believe it or not the college football regular season is already a quarter of the way through. Real trends are starting to emerge as we see more reps and games from top players from around the country. And heading into Week 4 it's already quite clear that there have been three key quarterbacks playing much better than any others in the nation.
In the lead up to this year there were all sorts of questions surrounding the 2025 NFL Draft quarterback class as there wasn't a surefire first round pick among all returning talents at the position. Sure, there were several solid players coming back, but no Caleb Williams. No C.J. Stroud. No slam dunk early first round picks like that. Who would emerge?
The top three are clear when we take a look at the most meaningful metrics that help predict not only future college football success, but eventual NFL Draft capital as well.
Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss
To help objectively decide who the best three quarterbacks in the nation have been thus far, A to Z Sports utilizes a 16-pronged Quarterback Efficiency Model that looks at things like adjusted yards per pass attempt, QBR, EPA per play, passer rating, rushing yard market share, yards per play, and more. And to demonstrate how well this model typically does in measuring QB quality, the Top 6 quarterbacks via this metric were first round picks this spring.
However, it doesn't take any fancy metric to realize just how special Jaxson Dart has been thus far this year. Yes, Dart leads all power conference passers in total yards per game, yards per play, EPA per play, and passer rating. He's completing over 80% of his passes. But when he makes throws like the one featured in Ole Miss Football's post below it's easy to see how incredible he is.
Jaxson Dart drops back, navigates through his reads, finds Juice Wells down the sideline, and drops the ball into a bucket 40 yards down field just over the outside shoulder of his target for a perfect touchdown throw. It's passes like this one that make him nearly impossible to defend when he's in rhythm.
Ole Miss has played one of the softer schedules in the nation thus far, but Dart has played to absolute perfection, making essentially zero mistakes on the year so far. He already posted an amazing season last year. He's on potential Heisman Trophy-winning pace now. And he's the number one QB in the nation according to A to Z Sports' QB Efficiency Model. He's the obvious number one quarterback in the nation heading into Week 4 action.
Cameron Ward, Miami (FL)
The number two quarterback in all of college football so far has been Cameron Ward. He leads all power conference quarterbacks in passing touchdowns, quarterback rating, and total adjusted net yards per pass attempt (which includes sack yards).
But again, it only takes using your eyes to realize that Cameron Ward has taken his game to a whole new level this season. His late third quarter touchdown against Florida in Week 1 is likely his best throw of the season (as you can see below).
He spins away from pressure, resets his feet just before pressure gets to him again, and he launches a perfect throw to the back of the end zone for the score to wide receiver Jacolby George.
It's plays like that one that make NFL decision makers go, "Wow!", when they watch Ward play. He was admittedly inconsistent at times when he played for Washington State, and in many cases saw his production boosted by volume rather than efficiency before, but that's not the case this year. Ward has the second highest score in the A to Z Sports Quarterback Efficiency Model and he's still just getting warmed up.
Jalen Milroe, Alabama
Last, but very likely not least, is Jalen Milroe of Alabama. Milroe leads all power conference quarterbacks in total touchdowns per game, passing touchdown percentage, and is perhaps the most athletic quarterback in all of college football.
Early last season Milroe struggled with consistency in the intermediate passing game and quick decision making, struggling at times with an extremely high sack rate. And while he's still not perfect, Milroe is showing the great strides he's taken in quick decisions, and his deep accuracy has been absolutely deadly through three weeks. His deep touchdown to true freshman Ryan Williams was an absolute dime last week against Wisconsin (as you can see from Jordan Reid below).
If Milroe continues to improve on his pressures and sack issues while demonstrating phenomenal success on deep passing he's going to be a very early 2025 NFL Draft pick. On top of his incredible passing, he's adding over 50 rushing yards per game thanks to his unreal athleticism too. It's unlikely that Milroe tests as well as Anthony Richardson did just two draft cycles ago, but he certainly might be close.
Be looking for more College Football coverage here at A to Z Sports all year long! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!
