Who are the quarterbacks who’ll matter in the 2020 NFL Draft, and what’s the college perspective on all of the top prospects?
2020 NFL Draft Quarterback Rankings
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It’s one of the more interesting NFL Draft years for quarterbacks in a long, long time. There aren’t a lot of teams that need to draft a quarterback, but the ones that do really need a one.
From the college perspective, here are the top quarterbacks in your 2020 NFL Draft, starting with the ones who’ll be in the mix, and then diving into the five who’ll actually matter over the next ten years of the pro football world.
BetMGM: bet on who’ll be the 1st Overall Pick …
15. Cole McDonald, Hawaii
Size: 6-3, 215
The Good: Very athletic with good size, a live arm, and with the ability to wing it all around the yard, he knows how to keep on pressing a passing game and has a necessary fearless streak.
The Not-So-Good: He’s got a funky throwing motion that doesn’t seem to matter on his rhythm throws, but requires effort on big passes. He’ll be an interception machine at times.
NFL Draft College Perspective Thought: A nice late-round flier as a guy who can come off the bench in an emergency and make a passing game go.
Projected Round: Free Agent
14. Bryce Perkins, Virginia
Size: 6-3, 215
The Good: A terrific leader and all-around baller who stepped up his passing game against a terrific Florida pass defense in the Orange Bowl. Mobile, he runs well to go along with a live arm.
The Not-So-Good: He doesn’t feel the pressure well enough and relies on his mobility a bit too often. He’ll force a few too many throws and had problems with picks when he tried to do too much.
NFL Draft College Perspective Thought: The skills and upside are there to develop into a reliable backup who’ll get his shot to start with a little time. He’s a veteran who can grow into a role.
Projected Round: Free Agent
CFN in 60: 2020 1st Overall Draft Pick Odds
13. Kelly Bryant, Missouri
Size: 6-3, 229
The Good: He’s got a nice all-around combination of skills and tools. Just fine for Missouri when he was healthy, he played through his problems and gave it a go late in the season. The NFL arm is there.
The Not-So-Good: He’s missing the steady accuracy. He can throw, run, and do all the things to become an intriguing prospect, but he’s missing the next-level all-around passing ability.
NFL Draft College Perspective Thought: It will take an overhaul to make him a consistent NFL passer, but there’s a whole lot to like about his game and his upside to develop into a good backup.
Projected Round: Sixth
12. Steven Montez, Colorado
Size: 6-4, 231
The Good: Everything is there. The NFL size, the mobility, the experience, the mobility, the moxie, the look, and even the upside to do a whole lot more. When he was on, he played like a quarterback with the tools to be fantastic, but …
The Not-So-Good: He’s just never been able to put it all together. He’ll look like a world-beater one game, and then something’s a little off the next. It always seemed like he was about to turn a corner and be massive, but it never happened.
NFL Draft College Perspective Thought: There’s too much talent to ignore. He’ll show off enough in practices to keep him on a roster, but there has to be a steadiness to his game to make any step forward. Someone will like the possibilities.
Projected Round: Fifth
11. Jake Luton, Oregon State
Size: 6-6, 224
The Good: Very big with a live arm and a ton of experience, he’s got the pure-passing skills and talent to quickly step in and at least push the ball down the field. Give him a little time in the pocket and he can produce.
The Not-So-Good: There’s not enough mobility to matter, and he’s going to be pegged as a pure pocket passer. His passes don’t quite look effortless, but he gets the ball there.
NFL Draft College Perspective Thought: He’s the type who ends up being in the background on Hard Knocks in the quarterback meetings. His size and deep ball passing skills will get him at least a No. 3 spot in the league for a long time.
Projected Round: Sixth
NEXT: 2020 NFL Draft Quarterback Rankings Top Ten
2020 NFL Draft Quarterback Rankings Top Ten
10. James Morgan, FIU
Size: 6-4, 229
The Good: Great size to go along with – possibly – the best arm in the draft. He can put the ball anywhere without a problem hitting the deep shots. He’ll sit in the pocket as long as he has to.
The Not-So-Good: There’s no mobility and he’ll be too much of a sitting duck at the next level. Yeah, he has the howitzer, but he’s not accurate enough. However …
NFL Draft College Perspective Thought: He could be a real find in the late rounds once he gets into a camp and gets to start working with NFL-caliber receivers. He’s got the tools to hang around the league for a long time.
Projected Round: Sixth
9. Nate Stanley, Iowa
Size: 6-4, 235
The Good: There’s a safety-pick aspect to him that’s not all that bad. With a live arm, a great NFL quarterback body type, and enough experience to be a ready-made backup, he can fit into a system and get it out of the box.
The Not-So-Good: You can’t teach accuracy – or so the cliché goes. He’s too off too often and he didn’t crank up the production as a three-year starting senior.
NFL Draft College Perspective Thought: 2019 was supposed to be when he took over and became something special. He was fine, and the team was great, but he didn’t take his game up a few notches. There’s no shot for the stars here, but he can be a longtime backup.
Projected Round: Sixth
8. Anthony Gordon, Washington State
Size: 6-2, 205
The Good: He’s a Mike Leach-Washington State quarterback, so you know what you’re getting. Quick reads, good decisions, strong accuracy. It got lost in Joe Burrow’s amazing 2019, but Gordon obliterated the field in yards-per-game – a whopping 51 more than Burrow, who finished second.
The Not-So-Good: He’s a Mike Leach-Washington State quarterback, so you know what you’re getting. Inflated college stats without the consistent NFL mechanics to go along with them. Gordon isn’t all that big and he’s not a runner.
NFL Draft College Perspective Thought: He doesn’t have a whole lot of experience, but he’s a potentially ideal backup to step in for a game or three and get the midrange passing game going. It’ll take a little bit to get there, though.
Projected Round: Fifth
7. Jake Fromm, Georgia
Size: 6-2, 219
The Good: He was able to beat out Jacob Eason and Justin Fields to lead a national championship-caliber team. It’s not a knock to call him a game-manager who knows how to play within a system. Always the coolest guy in the room, nothing seems to faze him on the field.
The Not-So-Good: There’s a HARD ceiling on what he can do at the next level. The arm is fine, but hardly special, and he’s not going to do much running. If he’s your starter, the guy on the other NFL side is going to have much, much better tools.
NFL Draft College Perspective Thought: Think of a high-end Case Keenum. He can absolutely play in the league and be a functional starter, but is he the guy you win a Super Bowl with because he’s your guy? On the plus side, he’s going to be a fantastic value pick after the first wave of QBs are picked.
Projected Round: Third
6. Jacob Eason, Washington
Size: 6-6, 231
The Good: Arm, arm, arm, arm, arm. He’s exactly what you want tools-wise in an NFL pro passer with the stature and an otherworldly gun with the ability to push the ball all over the field. There’s more than enough there to work with and mold.
The Not-So-Good: There’s no mobility, no consistency, and way too many strange misfires. He’ll need a great line in front of him – there are too many negative plays when he has to come up with something quick-hitting.
NFL Draft College Perspective Thought: He’s the power-pitcher a whole lot of teams will like. Even though he has plenty of experience, there’s a home run swing to be made here considering his massive upside. The NFL ability is there.
Projected Round: Early Second
NEXT: 2020 NFL Draft Quarterback Rankings No. 5
2020 NFL Draft Quarterback Rankings Top Five
5. Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma
Size: 6-1, 222
The Good: The ultimate leader and character guy, who transfers from a place like Alabama and becomes more beloved than ever? He has played in the biggest of big games, had what it took to be Nick Saban’s starting quarterback as a freshman, and was able to adapt and mature his game to go from being a mobile guy who could throw a little to a Heisman-caliber passer in the Oklahoma attack.
He was a better thrower than he ever got credit for at Alabama. His biggest crime was that he wasn’t Tua Tagovailoa throwing the ball.
However, he only threw one pick in 2017, was brilliant at times as a freshman, and was special with the Sooners with 1,298 rushing yards, 20 touchdowns, and one of the highest single-season passer ratings in college football history.
The Not-So-Good: There’s something to be said for the Oklahoma system. Hurts was smart enough and experienced enough to adapt to it right away, but he also was helped by the scheme.
He’s not going to be a consistent pro-style passer who can push the ball through a window. He’ll be more of a playmaker on the move without the deep ball accuracy to hit covered receivers on a regular basis.
His running ability is a bit of a negative – he’s more of a power runner than slippery.
NFL Draft College Perspective Thought: Just draft him and figure it all out. He’ll need to have a good running game to help the cause, and he’s not going to be Aaron Rodgers when it comes to bombing away all over the yard with pinpoint darts, but he can start out as a solid backup who’ll grow into a decent starter.
Projected Round: Second
NEXT: 2020 NFL Draft Quarterback Rankings No. 4
4. Jordan Love, Utah State
Size: 6-4, 224
The Good: If the 2018 version is the real Jordan Love, look out.
With great size, mobility, decision-making skills, and the ability to carry an offense by himself, he was brilliant two years ago under then-head coach Matt Wells. The offense clicked, Love kept the mistakes to a minimum, and it all worked.
Last year under Gary Andersen, the receivers didn’t give Love a whole lot of help, there was too much pressing to get the offense going, and there were way too many mistakes. Love was fine – all of the tools and talent are still good enough to win with.
The Not-So-Good: 2019 was a little bit about Love.
He got better as the season went on, but he had a rough middle of the year including a total disaster of a performance a blowout loss to LSU.
Was he able to succeed only because of the way the Matt Wells system worked? He wasn’t good on his deep throws and wasn’t consistent enough in key moments. He was almost always the best player on the field last year, and he didn’t always play like it.
NFL Draft College Perspective Thought: The skill set isn’t the best in the draft, but it’s not far off. It’s always a concern when a quarterback rips it up against the mediocre but struggles against the big boys – he was awful last year against Air Force and San Diego State as well as LSU – but that was an aberration. He’ll be a good pro, but it might take growing pains to get there.
Projected Round: First
NEXT: 2020 NFL Draft Quarterback Rankings No. 3
3. Justin Herbert, Oregon
Size: 6-6, 236
The Good: On all-around talent and tools, he’s it. He’s everything you could want in an NFL quarterback with the 6-6 size, the sub-4.7 speed, the all-around athleticism to do a little of everything in any scheme, and the arm strength to put the ball wherever is needed.
While he wasn’t always on, he was able to usually find a way to get the job done. The Wisconsin defense had the Oregon offense shut down to a dead stop in the Rose Bowl, but Herbert was able to get the win with his three touchdown runs.
He’s a pro passer who doesn’t need a whole lot of technique work and tweaking.
The Not-So-Good: There’s something missing, and it’s hard to put a finger on it. For whatever reason, he has a reputation for not being a fiery leader or the type of Johnny Attaboy who’ll rally his team, but there’s no questioning his character in any way.
The bigger problem was his occasional disappearances against okay teams. Struggling to throw the ball against Wisconsin is one thing, but he struggled too much at times over the last two years and never got it going until it was way too late in the loss to Arizona State.
NFL Draft College Perspective Thought: Blow off any of the leadership questions immediately – so what if he’s not Baker Mayfield? If he produces, no one will care if he’s a locker room screamer.
We could all be looking back on this draft three years from now and wonder why we didn’t see the obvious – he might just be the best player in the draft, and we all made too many excuses to knock him down a bit.
Projected Round: Top Ten Overall
NEXT: 2020 NFL Draft Quarterback Rankings No. 2
2. Joe Burrow, LSU
Size: 6-3, 221
The Good: You can’t fake 76% for 5,671 yards and 60 touchdowns with six picks in the greatest single season by any quarterback in the history of college football.
So what if the scheme was right or if he was surrounded by ridiculous coaching and talent. He balled out in big moments away from home against Alabama, Texas, Georgia, Oklahoma and Clemson, and was brilliant when he had to be against Auburn and Florida.
So what that he didn’t blossom until his final year? Some quarterbacks figure it all out once they get a bit older. His accuracy on deep passes, decision-making abilities, and ability to hit his mid-range throws were all flawless.
The Not-So-Good: Just like everyone seems to be looking for things to not like about Oregon’s Justin Herbert, everyone seems to be making excuses for Burrow’s issues.
It really was just a one-year thing after an okay 2018. It really was the scheme, and he really was able to hang the ball up in an area and let his phenomenal receivers make plays. But that’s not the issue.
His arm strength is okay, but nothing great. The tools and accuracy worked in the amazing LSU passing scheme last year, but is he an automatic fit for any team?
NFL Draft College Perspective Thought: Here’s the problem. Burrow isn’t the head-and-shoulder, be-all-end-all type of prospect when it comes to tools. That’s fine for a mid-to-late first rounder, but the No. 1 guy has to be special.
Take the 2018 NFL Draft, for instance.
Baker Mayfield could still turn into a superstar, but he was drafted because of his moxie, his mid-range passing skills, and his intangibles. He wasn’t a tools guy, and Cleveland took him over Saquon Barkley, Bradley Chubb, and Quinton Nelson – all prototypes for their respective positions – who all went in the top six.
And Lamar Jackson, who went 32nd.
Burrow isn’t a tools guy, and to get him, some team will pass on Chase Young, Jeff Okudah, and Isaiah Simmons, not to mention Justin Herbert and Tua Tagovailoa.
In a buyer’s market for quarterbacks, so is Burrow really worth the top pick in the draft, rather than go with a premier pass rusher in Young and then go get one of the many solid options still out there?
There’s almost no bust potential for Burrow, and he’ll be a terrific pro, but there could be hard limitations on what he can do if he’s not surrounded by elite talent.
Throughout the college football season and the offseason draft process, he has been the No. 2 quarterback in our rankings. However, that’s only because we’re willing to take a very, very big home run cut on the No. 1 guy.
Projected Round: No. 1 Overall
NEXT: 2020 NFL Draft Quarterback Rankings No. 1
1. Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama
Size: 6-0, 217
The Good: Now that we’ve established that height isn’t that big a deal when it comes to drafting a quarterback high – thanks to Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray – it really doesn’t matter that Tagovailoa isn’t 6-5.
Ask anyone around Alabama, and they’ll tell you the same thing – this guy was a special type of passer right out of the box.
Jalen Hurts might have had the starting gig for the Crimson Tide in 2017, but even if he was fantastic on the way to a national championship – he struggled before getting pulled in Bama’s CFP title win of Georgia – it was being talked about that Tagovailoa might have the starting job the following year.
Tagovailoa has got it when it comes to throwing a football.
He’s fearless, he’s decisive, and he’s brilliant at putting his passes where his targets can do big things. The throwing motion is close to flawless, he’s got every pass in the bag, and his character is impeccable.
BetMGM: bet on who’ll be the 1st Overall Pick …
The Not-So-Good: Can you trust him to get through the grind of an NFL season when he struggled to get through three months of a college slate?
He was never quite right – including in the offseason after playing just one half in the national championship in the 2017 season – and suffered a slew of various leg injuries. His most recent workouts appear fine, and his injured hip is supposedly okay, but …
Do you really want to hitch your wagon to a guy who’ll make you hold your breath every time he gets touched?
NFL Draft College Perspective Thought: We totally and completely wimped out in our 2017 NFL Draft quarterback analysis. Deshaun Watson wasn’t the No. 1 guy because of injury concerns.
Once he got to the league, the exact fear we had came true when he injured his knee early on in a non-contact drill. He’s built like a punter, he can’t hold up in the league, and …
He recovered and was still a superstar.
The party line on Tagovailoa remains the same as it has been for the last year. If you’re willing to be that he’ll start at least 100 career NFL games, you take the chance on greatness.
Projected Round: Top Five Overall
PHOTO CREDITS: Burrow Credit: Derick E. Hingle; Hurts Credit: Kevin Jairaj; Herbert Credit: Casey Sapio; Tagovailoa Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports
