This Louisville quarterback could be the latest of college late bloomers. Could he also be a possible fit for the Seattle Seahawks?
Longtime NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah held a media conference call ahead of next week’s Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
Seemingly as the only Seattle Seahawks representation, Field Gulls was on this conference call, which ran two hours and 45 minutes. At least 160 people asking north of 200 questions in this marathon session. This isn’t like a one-on-one interview where you have a boatload of questions and/or too many opportunities for follow-ups upon follow-ups is a need to respect everyone’s time in the queue. Most people had a maximum of one question and that was it.
For transparency, here was my question.
“The big story up here in the Pacific Northwest regarding the Seattle Seahawks is whether or not they extend Geno Smith and keep him as a starter in 2025, but even if he does stay, there is the possibility that Seattle could actually draft a quarterback this year, which is something they’ve only done twice ever under John Schneider.
“There are a lot of options, seemingly, in the late day 1, day 2-3 range. The most common names I’ve seen mock drafted to Seattle are Will Howard of Ohio State, Kyle McCord of Syracuse, Quinn Ewers of Texas, and Jaxson Dart of Ole Miss, whom I think you suggested could be an option for Seattle at No. 18. With the expectation of a run-oriented, play action-based, more under center offense under Klint Kubiak, which of the quarterbacks do you believe best fits the new Seattle offense?”
The following is from the official transcript of the call as provided by NFL Media.
Jaxson Dart – Ole Miss
“Look, coffee would probably be a little rich for me at 18 for Jaxson Dart. I have him in the 40s. He’s my third quarterback there.”
To provide some extra context since he didn’t elaborate too much on Dart in the response, here’s his breakdown of Dart later on during the call. This was not from my question.
“The things that you like about Jaxson, I see — there’s some similarities, people will maybe raise their eyebrows on this, but I do see some similarities to [Jalen] Hurts when Hurts was going through the process. Got kind of a similar build, similar frame. They’re both really good athletes. They’re both beloved by their teammates, say the right things, do all the right things, do all the stuff on and off the field. There’s a lot of similarities there. I thought with Jalen, he got better every year. He kept taking steps.
“We’ve seen it since he’s come into the league, he just keeps getting better and better and better. He’s got great wiring. He works really hard, and there’s a competitiveness and a toughness to him.
[…]
“So that’s some of the things that I really like about Jaxson. This offense, they’re not going to get real deep into progressions. Lane [Kiffin] does a really good job of getting to the point where early in progressions you’re going to have places to distribute the football. You’ll see some RPOs. You’ll see some seams, some — they take a lot of deep shots, but they’re kind of designed deep shots. You kind of know where the ball is going, but he throws a nice deep ball to work on from that regard, not just kind of getting deeper in progressions. There’s times where I think his eyes can be a little bit ahead of his feet, just kind of syncing that up, marrying that up a little bit better, and just continuing to be cautious and careful with the football in some key moments. That’s some areas for him.
“I have met him. He’s a really, really good kid, presents himself really well, and I think there’s a lot of tools to work with. That’s why I have him as the third quarterback.”
Will Howard – Ohio State
“You know, Will Howard had the hot playoff run. He’s got obviously the size. Almost 6’4”, 240 pounds. Ultra competitive kid. I love the fact that he won at two spots at K-State. Then obviously this year at Ohio State. He’s a touch thrower. He is quick to get to No. 3 in his read.
“The big question is just going to be the arm strength. Had a couple of brain cramps during the year, but I thought he cleaned all that stuff up. Everybody is going to look at the Oregon game. The first meeting with run the clock out there at the end of that ball game and some turnovers against Penn State. I thought he got better and throughout the year. I just want to see him throw live. I’ve never seen him throw live. I want to see what his arm looks like.”
Tyler Shough – Louisville
“Tyler Shough from Louisville is older; he is 25. He has four degrees, so he’s probably going to be as well-educated as anybody on your football team. I can’t imagine anybody having more than that.
“He can drive the ball. He is big and strong. He’s another one who can get to No. 3 in the progression. He can throw off balance. He has a lot of arm talent. There’s a lot to like there. One of the things with him is just pocket awareness stuff. He bails too much instead of just sliding, shuffling, and finding space within the pocket, but he’s a big, strong dude.”
Quinn Ewers – Texas
“Ewers, there’s a few guys that are on my list to go back after the combine after I get some time after watching all these guys and go back to ‘23 tape. I know he wasn’t healthy this year, but he did not take the step I was hoping he would take. He is still young at 21. He has quick feet, quick release, but he got in a lot of bad habits.
“I didn’t think he played with any conviction. Just not trusting what he is seeing. Got real sloppy with his feet and everything kind of got away from him. The team had tremendous success, and he obviously made some big-time throws in the playoffs.
“Overall, not the step forward I was hoping for him.”
Kyle McCord – Syracuse
“Last one was Kyle McCord after Syracuse. Reminded me a lot of Derek Carr at Fresno. Quick feet, quick eyes. You see some RPO stuff there. He is accurate. He has a touch down the field.
“He can gas it up and give you some velocity when needed. Just played real aggressive and was a little bit frenetic at times and also ran himself into some sacks.”
Who’s the best fit for the Seahawks offense?
“All those guys have different strengths and weaknesses. They’re all intriguing type players. To me they’re more ideally you would love to get them in the third round. I think Dart will be gone by then, but I think the rest of the guys that’s more the range that I have them.
“In terms of someone you would want to work with, gosh, it sounds weird even though he is older, but for what they’re doing, I mean, Tyler Shough to me would be someone I would be interested in maybe taking a flyer on there in the third round.”
Incidentally, not a single person asked about Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe until two hours in. Jeremiah was not bullish on Milroe largely because of his limitations (particularly his footwork mechanics) as a passer.
Shough is not only 25 years old but he’ll be 26 in September. He was in college for seven seasons, starting at Oregon (where he was Justin Herbert’s backup) before going to Texas Tech and then Louisville. His final season at Louisville was his first “normal” full season as a starter—he started every game for Oregon in a pandemic-shortened seven games in 2020—and it was his most productive, throwing for 23 touchdowns and 6 interceptions and over 3,100 passing yards in 12 games.
Obviously Jeremiah doesn’t have serious reservations about drafting Shough that high given his age and status as a late bloomer within the college ranks. Shough was one of the better performers at the Senior Bowl, where the Seahawks have had deep ties and drafted many players who’ve participated in it.
The Seahawks’ quarterback situation is still uncertain given the looming March 17 deadline for Geno Smith’s $16 million roster bonus. Even if Smith stays, it’s more than reasonable to continue looking at the QB class to see if Schneider will finally select a young, promising prospect… although in Shough’s case, not that young.