If you can believe it, we are entering post-season play in the NFL after yet another season has seemingly flown by. With an influx of All-Pro lists and MVP musings, I wanted to turn our collective attention to the play of the rookie quarterback class. Nine rookie quarterbacks took at least a single dropback in 2025, a total we have seen only twice in the last six seasons, so without further ado, let’s put all nine under the microscope in chronological draft order.
Cam Ward, Tennessee Titans
1st round (1st overall)
Stat line (17 GP, 17 GS): 323-540 (59.8%) for 3,169 yards, 15 TDs, and seven INTs / 39 carries for 159 yards, two touchdowns, and 11 fumbles
The first overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft reminded us all why the Titans were in such a position last spring. Ward finished with the eighth-most yards lost due to drops this season, while only the Chiefs had a lower yards after the catch over expectation mark than the Titans, per NextGen Stats. Head coach Brian Callahan was fired following a consecutive 1-5 start and a negative-78 point differential that ranked second-to-last in the NFL through the first six weeks. Such a firing brought Ward into familiar territory as the third consecutive rookie quarterback to lose his head coach amid their rookie campaign. It has occurred four times in the last five years, with a rather unremarkable stretch over the last decade as a whole.
Ward paced all rookies with his passing yards-total and tied fellow first-rounder Jaxson Dart for the most passing touchdowns amongst the rookie class. It’s fair to wonder if Ward would’ve been supplanted in both categories had Dart and Saints rookie Tyler Shough equaled his 17-game total, though Ward did essentially miss Week 18 after suffering a shoulder injury five snaps into the game. Nevertheless, he did unquestionably lead the rookies in one category: sacks.
He was taken down 55 times this season, sharing the fifth spot with Blake Bortles for the most sacks ever taken by a rookie per Pro Football Reference dating back to 1933. It is worth noting, however, that amongst the top-10 rookie sack-takers in NFL history, he and Kyler Murray are the only players with a sack percentage in the single digits per PFR. And they weren’t all the result of porous offensive line play! Per Pro Football Focus, the Titans finished with the 10th-highest Time to Pressure and the 13th-ranked Pass Blocking Grade. They also finished 16th in ESPN’s Pass Block Win Rate.
Long story short, Ward wasn’t unlike most rookie quarterbacks. The untenable situation around him forced him to drastically lean into his gunslinging style of play (Tennessee had the fewest red zone scoring opportunities per game and, therefore, the fewest offensive touchdowns per game in the league last year) that yielded results like the sack totals and the lowest EPA per dropback total amongst qualified quarterbacks via NGS, in conjunction with the higher accumulation totals and a litany of throws like those above. Only 10 players in NFL history threw the ball more times in their rookie season than Ward did, with the additional factor of regularly doing it against some pretty good defenses! It was, all things considered, the toughest job for any starting quarterback in the NFL. All in all, I am very excited about Ward’s future because of reps like this.
Jaxson Dart, New York Giants
1st round (25th overall)
Stat line (14 GP, 12 GS): 216-339 (63.7%) for 2,272 yards, 15 touchdowns, and five interceptions / 86 carries for 487 yards, nine touchdowns, and five fumbles
I’ve been a Jaxson Dart fan for some time now, marveling at his ascension from a junior at Ole Miss to his rookie campaign in New York. It’s a shame that it featured a fired head coach and injury disruptions, given that New York surrendered multiple draft selections to choose him in the first round before waiting until Week 4 to tab him as the starter following Russell Wilson’s uneventful start to the season.
What stands out when examining Dart’s season is the rushing production that simply isn’t rivaled by the rest of the rookie quarterback group. While his propensity to seek yardage with his legs sparked the aforementioned injury disruptions, it certainly didn’t come without its historical impact. His 487 rushing yards were the third-most by an NFL quarterback this season, while his nine rushing touchdowns ranked only behind Josh Allen amongst other passers. Dart also tallied more Big Time Throws than Turnover Worthy Plays via PFF, a positive split that only he and Saints quarterback Tyler Shough shared amongst those nine year-one quarterbacks.
Dart’s 24 total touchdowns paced all NFL rookies in 2025 as the second-most in franchise history (Daniel Jones scored 26 in 2019), an impressive feat given his scattered playing time; those nine touchdowns on the ground also shared the top spot with Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson amongst rookies. Through Week 17, NGS had credited him with the NFL’s sixth-highest scramble rate (18.2%) and 10th-highest scramble run rate (10.3%), the latter of which had produced 7.7 yards per scramble run. That was, at the time, the eighth-most among quarterbacks with 20+ scramble runs this season. Dart’s success rate of 71.4% at that Week 17 mark was the second-highest mark among the same group of quarterbacks, trailing only Caleb Williams (75.6%).
Now, higher scramble rates are not exclusively a positive representation of a player. Poor pocket management skills created high scramble rates for players like Josh Allen and Justin Fields during their rookie campaigns, an element of the position that is fairly stable from year to year: those who scramble or get sacked often continue doing so. And Dart was no exception, where some scramble selections could’ve been mitigated by proper responses within the pocket because the Giants’ offensive line was, by all accounts, mostly good! They posted PFF’s 10th-best Pass Blocking Grade, ESPN’s 11th-best Pass Block Win Rate, the eye test is comforting.
This is hardly an uncommon negative for a rookie quarterback adjusting to NFL play, and it’s not to say Dart won’t improve over time in that arena. Especially for a player with over 1,300 collegiate attempts under his belt and a notably impressive line of production against the blitz. Check this out from NGS:
To cap it off, his -0.01 EPA per dropback as a whole put him in the neighborhood of Jalen Hurts, Baker Mayfield, Aaron Rodgers, and Lamar Jackson. A healthy trio of Dart, running back Cam Skattebo, and receiver Malik Nabers ought to attract an exciting head coaching candidate who can build around this young offensive nucleus.
Tyler Shough, New Orleans Saints
2nd round (40th overall)
Stat line (11 GP, 9 GS): 221-327 (67.6%) for 2,384 yards, 10 touchdowns, and six interceptions / 45 carries for 186 yards, three touchdowns, and three fumbles
Shough is perhaps the most fascinating quarterback to unpack in this exercise for a variety of reasons. For starters, his combination of age, film, and injury history did not exactly make him a widely-celebrated selection as a top-40 pick. Detractors were provided with additional ammunition via his training camp and preseason performances. He threw two passes through the first seven weeks of the season, both of which were incompletions. Hardly the collective start to an NFL career one dreams of.
Nevertheless, staring down a 1-7 start to the season, New Orleans turned to Shough over the incumbent Spencer Rattler in the midst of Rattler’s porous Week 8 performance that essentially encapsulated his 2025 season up to that point. Shough would go on a 5-4 run as the starter over the back half of the season, including a run of four-straight victories between Weeks 14-17 to push the Saints to a 6-11 record for the year. Those five wins set a new franchise record for wins by a rookie quarterback as Shough also became the first rookie quarterback in Saints history to surpass 300 passing yards in a single game.
Following that Week 8 loss to the Buccaneers, the Saints ranked 16th in completion percentage, 22nd in passing yards per game, and 31st in offensive touchdowns per game. They would finish the season 7th, 13th, and 28th, respectively, but their 2.3 offensive touchdowns over the last three weeks specifically were the 14th-most. The most glaring aspect of his first-year performance is the 27.3% pressure-to-sack ratio that will certainly need to improve over time, even with what’s been established regarding the struggles to solve problems against pressure for rookie quarterbacks. The loss of Rashid Shaheed after the first nine games didn’t serve as a positive reinforcement either, notwithstanding the performance of Chris Olave this season.
A full season of Shough as the starter will be a storyline to follow in 2026 with how the preliminary 2027 quarterback draft class is unfolding (we do this every year, I know). Despite nailing the addition of left tackle Kelvin Banks to an otherwise middling offensive line, Shough also paced the group of rookie quarterbacks with a passing success rate of 44.1%, good for 25th in the league per PFR. Will he still have the same willingness to push the ball down the field next season after finishing with the 11th-most intended air yards per attempt?
Dillon Gabriel, Cleveland Browns
3rd round (94th overall)
Stat line (10 GP, 6 GS): 110-185 (59.5%) for 937 yards, seven touchdowns, and two interceptions / 14 carries for 86 yards
This is the portion of the article where the depth of the coverage begins to tail off, simply because the sample sizes begin to shrink. Gabriel was a fine NFL prospect. He was experienced and therefore accomplished with nearly 20,000 yards of total offense at the FBS level, the most passing touchdowns for said subdivision (155). Again, a terrific college quarterback. But I know I’m not alone in my belief that he didn’t project as a viable starting quarterback on a weekly basis.
Now, it’s not to say he couldn’t become some semblance of one were he to move on from Cleveland, but the physical limitations were generally hard to ignore. Selecting a metric of your choosing indicates that he is not going to push the ball vertically. He was last in intended air yards per attempt, he posted an ADOT of 6.6 yards per PFF, he completed just 34.2% of his 10+ air yard throws this season per NGS (the lowest mark amongst qualified quarterbacks through Week 10). Take this from NGS through that same Week 10 mark: “He has also gone 0-for-5 on deep attempts (20+ air yards), making him the only qualified passer without a single completion on such throws this season (all others have 3+).”
Garbiel isn’t unplayable by any means; again, maybe a change or scenery/being somewhere other than Cleveland will get the most out of him because he does have a valuable number of collegiate reps at his disposal. What they trotted out every week along the offensive line would also be classified as below-average. As it stands, he will not be Cleveland’s starter in 2026.
Shedeur Sanders
5th round (144th overall)
Stat line (8 GP, 7 GS): 120-212 (56.6%) for 1,400 yards, seven touchdowns, and 10 interceptions / 21 carries for 169 yards and one touchdowns
The Browns would double on quarterback with the Day 3 selection of the accomplished Sanders, who, while a better option than Gabriel, didn’t definitely do enough to stamp himself as the 2026 starter in Cleveland.
Sanders entered the fray in Week 11 following a Gabriel concussion and retained the starting job for the remainder of the season, leading the Browns to three of their five wins. He was especially effective against the Titans by throwing for 364 yards and three touchdowns, and generally outperforming Ward on a variety of fronts. His pressure-to-sack ratio was lower than a handful of other rookie quarterbacks, he posted one of the best yards per scramble across the entire league. PFR also credits him with one of the best rookie quarterbacking seasons from an Approximate Value standpoint by a fifth-rounder since 1942, which… isn’t nothing!
Now for the less-than-stellar parts of 2025. He joined fellow rookies Ward and Gabriel amongst the top eight in bad throw percentage. His 7.2 intended air yards were one of the lowest marks in the entire league and second to Gabriel amongst the qualifying rookies. An on-target percentage of 69.6% was the second-lowest mark amongst qualifying passers, all above marks hailing from PFR.
No matter how you slice it, Cleveland will be looking elsewhere for their starting quarterback. They were at or neat near the bottom in all meaningful statistical categories as a result of their quarterback play. As for Sanders, I do believe there is enough at his disposal to maintain a reserve career in the league with spot-starting potential pending the pocket improvements that need to be made.
Riley Leonard, Indianapolis Colts
6th round (189th overall)
Stat line (5 GP, 1 GS): 39-67 (58.2%) and 415 yards, two touchdowns, and three touchdowns / six carries for 27 yards, two touchdowns, and two fumbles
Leonard was the third of five quarterback selections in the sixth round, but the only one with a dropback to his name in 2025 (79 to be exact). He entered the season as the third Colts option behind Daniel Jones and Anthony Richardson, but a Richardson injury in Week 6 bumped him directly behind Jones. He would go 0-2 with one rushing yard two weeks later before seeing extensive time in Week 14 following a Jones injury in the second quarter; he would finish that game against the Jaguars 18-29 (62.1%) for 145 yards and an interception with five yards and a score on the ground.
Once Jones’ injury was classified as season-ending, Indianapolis turned to ol’ reliable. They would bring 44-year old Philip Rivers back to appear in a game for the first time in five seasons, though failing to secure the Colts a playoff spot. They turned to Leonard in the season finale against the Texans for a relatively impressive starting debut: 21-34 (61.8%) for 270 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception with 21 yards and one touchdown rushing (he would also fumble twice).
The prevailing news out of Indianapolis is that Daniel Jones will remain Quarterback One upon his return with a reliable backup in Leonard, who, perhaps with additional opportunities…
Quinn Ewers, Miami Dolphins
7th round (231st overall)
Stat line (4 GP, 3 GS): 55-83 (66.3%) for 622 yards, three touchdowns, and three interceptions / eight carries for 19 yards and three fumbles
The once ballyhooed high school recruit never quite met the Texas-sized expectations with the Longhorns, resulting in a late Day 3 selection. Ewers began the season as the Dolphins’ third of three quarterbacks behind starter Tua Tagovailoa and newly-acquired Zach Wilson, but was promoted above Wilson near the midway point of the season when he entered their Week 7 game against the Cleveland Browns to replace the benched Tagovailoa. The former first-round pick out of Alabama would suffer the same fate in Week 15, thus opening the door for Ewers to start the remainder of a lost season for Miami.
Ewers honestly had some encouraging moments in his brief stint, insofar as an extended look as a potential starter is concerned. Again, by the time he was thrust into the starting lineup, I can’t imagine the vibes were very high for the Dolphins. Mike McDaniels’ firing yesterday helps confirm that. It is telling that Eweres unsat another ex-first-rounder in Wilson, whether it be a strategic move for the franchise to see what they have in the rookie or not. He succumbed to sacks more often than you’d wish, taking eight across 101 dropbacks with three scrambles per PFF; Ewers hasn’t been known for his escapability or extension skills. Conversely, there was some willingness to push the ball down the field with 8.3 intended air yards that pairs well with his completion percentage over expected of +3.3%.
To summarize, given his skillset, I wish he could remain in McDaniels’ system. The carelessness with the ball needs to be reigned in to establish his role as a reliable secondary option, but I do believe he will find his way into a number two role to start 2026 (possessing a five-star recruiting background certainly doesn’t hurt, either).
Brady Cook, New York Jets
Undrafted
Stat line (5 GP, 4 GS): 88-153 (57.5%) for 739 yards, two touchdowns, and seven interceptions / 13 carries for 49 yards and three fumbles
It was a valiant effort for the first of our passers who didn’t hear their name called during the draft. Cook signed as an undrafted free agent in May, was waived on August 26th as a casualty of final cuts, and then signed to the practice squad the following day. When starter Justin Fields was made inactive in Week 14, Cook was elevated to the active roster for the third time to serve as Tyrod Taylor’s backup. He would find himself logging meaningful snaps against the Dolphins that week, finishing 14-30 (46.7%) for 163 yards and two interceptions in a lopsided, 34-10 defeat. Cook would go on to start the final four games of the 2025 campaign.
I don’t have much to add on Cook’s behalf. He wasn’t devoid of any positive reps, I enjoyed who he was as a college quarterback with 39 such starters under his belt. But the entire body of work to close out the season was… not good in essentially any capacity. Reality suggests we will see a starting quarterback for the Jets in 2026 who isn’t currently on the roster.
Max Brosmer, Minnesota Vikings
Undrafted
Stat line (7 GP, 2 GS): 47-71 (66.2%) for 328 yards, and four interceptions / seven carries for 11 yards and two fumbles
We’ll conclude our analysis with a rather unique player in Brosmer, a five-year FCS quarterback who transferred from New Hampshire to Minnesota for his final collegiate season. Members of the NFL Draft community had carved out a corner of that space as fans of the collegiate veteran, their support reinforced by a preseason performance that earned him a spot on the 53-man roster.
He would make his first appearance in a Week 3 blowout of the Cincinnati Bengals before a Week 12 JJ McCarthy concussion would thrust him into the starting lineup the following week against the Seattle Seahawks. It’s rather unfortunate that his first career start featured some… forgettable moments that ultimately served as a microcosm of the performance as a whole. Brosmer would, for better or worse, make NFL history in his second shot as a starter on Christmas Day, a 23-10 victory over the Detroit Lions. In the regular season finale, Brosmer would replace McCarthy and post his best line to date by going 7-8 for 57 yards while taking two sacks and fumbling once in a 16-3 defeat on the Green Bay Packers.
Expectations are naturally held at bay for starting quarterbacks who weren’t drafted, and Brosmer is a good reminder of such. On a more positive note, I still view Brosmer as a developmental non-starter whose increased probability of sitting atop a depth chart will be commensurate with his sack-avoiding improvement.
Tampa Two 
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