The home stretch of the 2024 college football season is nearly upon us, which means the 2025 NFL Draft is right around the corner.
Of course, one of the biggest talking points in each year’s draft class centers around the quarterback position. Heading into Week 11, a handful of quarterbacks have proven to ESPN’s NFL Draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. that they may be ready to move on to the next level. He adjusted his top 10 rankings accordingly.
Making a slight change from his rankings after Week 9, here’s how Kiper’s rankings shaped up with only a handful of weeks left in the regular season.
Shedeur Sanders has been atop mock drafts all season when it comes to being the first quarterback taken in April’s draft. While Colorado was idle in Week 10, his performance against Cincinnati in Week 9 saw Sanders complete 25 of his 30 passes for 323 yards and scored two touchdowns through the air and another one on the ground.
That performance reflects the entire body of work he’s put together this season. One of the most accurate passers in the country, Sanders has completed 73.3% (220 of 300) of his passes this season for a total of 2,591 yards, 21 touchdowns and six interceptions. He’s added three additional scores on the ground as well.
Through 10 weeks, Cam Ward leads the country with 29 passing touchdowns in addition to 3,146 yards and only six interceptions. He also has his Miami Hurricanes off to a 9-0 start with a good chance to end the regular season undefeated and play for an ACC title.
Ward debated the option of turning pro after his last season at Washington State. He elected to make the transfer to Mario Cristobal’s program and it appears to be paying off for him heading into the final stages of the regular season.
Few quarterbacks impact the game as much as Jalen Milroe does for Alabama. A true dual-threat quarterback, Milroe has almost split his 25 touchdowns this season right down the middle. He leads the Crimson Tide with 12 rushing touchdowns while his other 13 come through the air.
He has over 2,000 yards of offensive this season thanks to his abilities, and NFL teams are certainly taking notice. If he can help lead his team to the College Football Playoff, he may be able to close the gap between him and Sanders and Ward on NFL team’s draft boards.
Garrett Nussemeier was ranked No. 9 on Mel Kiper’s list after Week 8 and continues to rise at a rate faster than any other quarterback on this list. While the Tigers haven’t been perfect record-wise over that span, Nussmeier appears to have impressed Kiper enough to put him in the top four.
One quality that works in his favor is the fact that he sat and waited his turn behind Jayden Daniels instead of entering the transfer portal. Nussmeier has largely backed his ranking up on the field as well, throwing for 2,627 yards, 20 touchdowns and nine interceptions this season.
Quinn Ewers won’t have the numbers to back it up this season thanks to him missing some time with injury this season, but Ewers is a proven winner as the Longhorns’ quarterback. This season he has 1,389 passing yards and 14 touchdowns.
However, Texas has continued to be one of the premier teams in college football over the last two seasons, and he’s been shooting up draft boards ever since. Depending how he can finish up what is expected to be his final season in Austin, there may be room for him to move up on some team’s boards at the end of the draft cycle.
Carson Beck did not help himself when he threw three interceptions during Georgia’s win against Florida over the weekend. While it didn’t result in the Bulldogs losing its status as a CFP contender, it did drop him two spots from where he was on Kiper’s list one week ago.
The concerning part is that this isn’t a one-off incident. In fact, it’s the third time Beck has throw three interceptions in a single game this season, and has thrown eight combined in Georgia’s last three games. He has 11 on the season, but appears to have done enough elsewhere on the stat sheet to remain in favor with Kiper and other draft analysts.
Penn State’s perfect season may have ended, but Drew Allar is still a top 10 draft eligible quarterback heading into Week 11. However, like Beck, his ranking suffers from his most recent performance.
Allar completed 12 passes for 146 yards and failed to throw a touchdown pass in the Nittany Lions’ most important regular season game of the season, and they came up short. However, four unranked opponents are left on the Nittany Lions’ schedule in the regular season — the perfect opportunity to help put him back on the radar as a top quarterback option for NFL teams in April.
In the same way that Indiana has played itself into College Football Playoff contention, Hoosiers quarterback Kurtis Rourke has played himself into potentially being one of the first 10 quarterbacks taken off the board in April.
Leading IU to an undefeated season through 10 weeks this year, he’s thrown for 2,204 yards and 19 touchdowns. His 91.6 QBR ranks No. 2 in the country behind Cam Ward.
Jaxson Dart has conducted one of the most potent offenses in football since taking over as Ole Miss’ starting quarterback in 2022. He also has one of the most impressive stat lines in the country and on track to record career-high numbers before the end of the regular season.
Boasting a career-high 71.7% completion percentage, Dart has thrown for 3,210 yards and 21 touchdowns compared to three interceptions. He has a 44-8 touchdown-to-interception ratio over the past two years and has also thrown for over 10,000 yards in his career.
Dillon Gabriel is new to the list this week, replacing Ohio State‘s Will Howard at No. 10 as the Buckeyes signal caller did not make the list after Week 10.
Through 10 weeks, he’s helped deliver Oregon a No. 1 overall ranking in the initial College Football Playoff Top 25 and has the Ducks undefeated with the hopes of winning a national title before he’s off to the NFL. If he can add a championship to his resume, he’ll be even more attractive to NFL teams heading into the pre draft process.
