College quarterbacks most likely to be NFL stars

Lawrence arrived at Clemson as one of the highest-rated high school recruits of recent years. In two years, he could come into the NFL as the surest thing at quarterback since Andrew Luck. As a freshman, Lawrence completed 65.2 percent of his passes for 30 touchdowns and four interceptions while averaging 8.3 yards per attempt. In the championship game against Alabama last season, he threw for 347 yards and three touchdowns with zero picks. Lawrence should only get better over the next two years before he’s eligible for the NFL draft.

Since winning the quarterback job away from Jalen Hurts, the only thing Tagovailoa has done at Alabama is compile a bunch of stats and win. Last season, he finished just shy of 4,000 passing yards while averaging 11.2 yards per attempt with 43 touchdowns and six interceptions. He’s also 16-1 as a starter, and that doesn’t even count the national championship game he entered in relief and won in January 2018. At the NFL level, the question is whether or not Tagovailoa can be as effective without all the advantages he receives playing at Alabama. He will certainly get his chance, as Tagovailoa should be an early first-round pick next spring.

Georgia’s dedication to running the ball hurts Fromm’s status on the national stage. All the attention given to Lawrence and Tagovailoa over the last year in the southern region of the country takes the spotlight away from Fromm as well (not to mention Justin Fields being highly regarded as his backup during 2018). But ever since the loss to LSU last October, Fromm has been spectacular, averaging 8.7 yards per attempt with 18 touchdowns and just two interceptions. The fact he’s beaten out two former 5-star quarterback prospects to keep his job at Georgia also says plenty about his talent and potential at the next level.

One of those signal-callers Fromm beat in competition was Fields, who was vying for the top spot in the 2018 recruiting rankings along with Lawrence. Fields didn’t play much at Georgia last season, so he transferred to Ohio State and was eligible to play immediately after filing a waiver. In two games so far at Ohio State, Fields has completed 76 percent of his passes for 458 yards, six touchdowns and zero interceptions. He also has 103 rushing yards and three touchdowns on the ground. With the NFL becoming more open to dual-threat quarterbacks in recent years, Fields should receive an opportunity to become a star at the next level.

The senior was one of the top candidates as the No. 1 drafted quarterback in 2019 but elected to return to Oregon at the final moment. He joins a potentially crowded 2019 class, but Herbert is still improving and has the potential to be a star at the next level. Last season, Herbert threw for 3,151 yards, 29 touchdowns and eight interceptions. In Week 1 against Auburn, he tossed for 242 yards with a score. During that game, he showed all the traits needed to be an NFL quarterback, but scouts would still like him to improve against pressure.

There wasn’t a single respected NFL draft expert targeting Hurts as a potential NFL quarterback six months ago, but with the way he’s playing at Oklahoma, that might change quickly. Hurts has been nearly perfect through two games with the Sooners. He has completed a whopping 82.9 percent of his passes for 591 yards while chipping in 223 rushing yards and nine total touchdowns this season. He’s averaging 14.4 yards per pass and 9.3 yards per rush. Oklahoma’s recent track record of producing NFL-caliber quarterbacks should help Hurts’ draft stock and NFL potential as well.

Similar to Hurts, Burrow’s NFL prospects are rising because of his hot start to the 2019 season. He has also completed about 82 percent of his passes for 749 yards, nine touchdowns and one interception this season. On the road against Texas last Saturday, Burrow went 31-of-39 with 471 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. Should he continue this pace, Burrow will be rising on all of the draft boards and become a contender to star in the NFL.

Experience operating a pro-style offense is probably the best quality Costello can offer, and that’s seemingly becoming less important with each passing year. But Costello still has numbers that compete with the other quarterbacks on this list. He completed 65.1 percent of his passes for 3,540 yards, 29 touchdowns and 11 interceptions last season. Costello played well against Northwestern in Week 1 before leaving with a head injury and he missed Week 2, but he is expected to return this Saturday against UCF.

Eason is yet another former Georgia quarterback on our list. He was the starter for the 2017 Bulldogs before suffering an injury in the season opener. But he never regained his starting role and transferred to Washington at the beginning of 2018 then had to sit out a year. As a result, Eason is playing this season for the first time in almost two years. Through a pair of games with the Huskies, he has completed 68.2 percent of his passes for 511 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.

Despite some accuracy issues, Mond starred as a sophomore last season and impressed scouts with his performance against Clemson, throwing for 430 yards and three TDs. He accounted for 3,578 total yards and 31 touchdowns with nine interceptions as a first-year starter. This past Saturday he wasn’t able to replicate his success vs. the Tigers, going 24-of-42 with only 236 yards, one TD and one interception. That doesn’t mean Mond won’t be able to become an NFL star, especially when considering he could return to school one more season, but he has work to do to rise back up these rankings. Mond has a 62.3 completion percentage with a 6.2 yards per attempt average, four touchdowns and two interceptions in two games this year.