Quinn Ewers, Will Howard among college QBs with most to prove in 2024

As the 2024 NFL Draft inches closer, there is one common observation that just about every draft analyst on the planet can agree upon – this class is loaded with talent at the quarterback position.

With that said, there were plenty of QB prospects who made the decision to return to college for another season, as opposed to taking their chances in a stacked QB draft class. Many of those QBs also made the decision to enter the transfer portal and have since landed at new schools.

Next year’s college QB class has the potential to be special, but a lot of those talented signal-callers have plenty to prove as they enter the final season of their college careers.

On the latest edition of “The No. 1 College Football Show with RJ Young,” host RJ Young provided his five quarterbacks with the most to prove in the 2024 college football season.

5. Miami QB Cameron Ward

2023 stats (with Washington State): 3,736 passing yards, 25 passing touchdowns, eight rushing touchdowns, seven interceptions, 145.4 passer rating, completed 66.6% of his passes.

RJ’s thoughts: “I think that this is a man that needs to win at a high level to boost his NFL Draft stock into the first round because that was my question: Is that a first-round quarterback? Not for me, but he can be. Take better care of the football, put up the kind of numbers that we’re used to seeing you put up … lead Miami to an ACC title game appearance, play in a New Year’s Six bowl, and then we’ll see. I think that’s what he has to prove.”

4. Florida State QB DJ Uiagalelei

2023 stats (with Oregon State): 2,638 passing yards, 219 rushing yards, 21 passing touchdowns, six rushing touchdowns, seven interceptions, 145.0 passer rating, completed 57.1% of his passes

RJ’s thoughts: “I also think that he’s going to Florida State because he wants to show he is the guy that we thought he was in 2020 when he was able to bring Clemson from 18 back to beat Boston College, when he’s putting on really great displays against Notre Dame. He’s got everything you want from an athletic standpoint. … 

“If I [Florida State head coach Mike Norvell] have another talented quarterback who does not get hurt, can put up the same sort of numbers as Jordan Travis, what will they do with us then? I think DJ Uiagalelei would like to see the answer to that question too, because he wants to prove that he can lead a team at a major college football program to a conference title, if not to the College Football Playoff, if for no other reason but to vindicate his talent. I think that is in the offing for him at Florida State.”

3. Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel

2023 stats (with Oklahoma): 3,660 passing yards, 373 rushing yards, 30 passing touchdowns, 12 rushing touchdowns, six interceptions, 172.0 passer rating, completed 69.3% of his passes

RJ’s thoughts: “You are inheriting a really great program. Bo Nix did everything he could with that team. Nobody looked at Bo Nix last year and said ‘he’s the guy that’s holding back Oregon.’ That is the standard. You have to demonstrate that you are as least as good as Bo Nix was in his last year at Oregon, which is very, very good. … I don’t think a Heisman Trophy-winning season is going to change your opinion overall of Dillon Gabriel, but it could ensure that he is drafted in the middle of the first round versus say the top of the second round.

“And at Oregon, where he wanted to go, where he wanted to wear Marcus Mariota’s number, they are going to expect you to vindicate that number, which means you need to put up some Heisman-level stats, and you need to lead Oregon to what we think is an appearance in the Big Ten title game, if not win a conference title.”

2. Ohio State QB Will Howard

2023 stats (with Kansas State): 2,643 passing yards, 351 rushing yards, 24 passing touchdowns, nine rushing touchdowns, 10 interceptions, 140.1 passer rating, completed 61.3% of his passes

RJ’s thoughts: “I think Will Howard is trying to show NFL teams that he is a first-round quarterback. I think right now, from an athletic standpoint, you can see it getting there. I can see that guy turning into the kind of dude that we talk about, like, say Josh Allen. I think his ceiling is a little bit higher than Dillon Gabriel’s, but at a place like Ohio State, you’re going to have to do this right now. They’re not going to wait for you, and there are guys in that quarterback room who I think could be more talented than he is. But he is the most experienced guy in that room. 

“I think he wants to prove that if you give him the kind of roster that Ohio State has, he can help lead them to the College Football Playoff and lead them past Michigan for the first time since 2019 — and that would go a long way, not just at Ohio State and in college football, but in the NFL.”

1. Texas QB Quinn Ewers

2023 stats: 3,479 passing yards, 22 passing touchdowns, five rushing touchdowns, six interceptions, 158.6 passer rating, completed 69.0% of his passes

RJ’s thoughts: “Can he stay healthy? That’s No. 1. And then, if he can stay healthy, can he lead Texas back to the College Football Playoff and perhaps to a National Championship? It is a dude that really should’ve been at Texas the whole time, and I think even he would say that now. But it is also a man that wants to do what Colt McCoy could not: win the National Championship, beat the best team in the SEC to do it. He has everything to prove because there are some folks that still don’t think that he’s one of the better quarterbacks eligible for the 2025 draft. 

“It’s a little too erratic on his behalf, but you can see the arm talent is there; you can see the accuracy is there. If he is getting that PhD in quarterbacking that he claims to be getting from Steve Sarkisian, I expect that to show up in 2024, and I think he has to go and prove that.”

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