Four late-round quarterbacks the Seahawks could draft
By Rhys Knott
Some experts suggest every team should draft a late-round quarterback each year. Tom Brady and Brock Purdy turned out ok after all. And with perennial injury risk Geno Smith departing for Las Vegas while Sam Darnold heads to the Pacific Northwest the Seahawks should definitely take a shot at a “project QB” in 2025.
They already have Sam Howell (a high-ceiling player with a subterranean floor) and Jaren Hall. They have 20 starts between them, and 18 of those are Howell’s. Mike Macdonald has Darnold’s experienced head, but adding a rookie will only enhance the competition for the backup job.
There are only two quarterbacks worth a high-round draft pick this year, but there are seven others who should be available after the first round. Jaxson Dart may be taken late in the first round if a GM sees a rough diamond their coaches can polish, but he projects as the 36th to 39th pick.
Seattle has the 50th pick in the second round, so Dart will probably be gone by then. After trading away D.K. Metcalf and allowing 54 sacks in 2023, the Seahawks have bigger fish to fry in the first round. Luckily, three successful quarterbacks, and one wildcard will be available later in the draft.
Will Howard, Ohio State
Winning a National Championship is no guarantee of a good scouting report. There are some who still believe J.J. McCarthy will be a bust in Minnesota. That seems unlikely, but he needs to prove he can play a full season first. Howard guided a very effective, if not dazzling offense to a comfortable victory over Notre Dame in January, but still projects as a third-round pick.
Just like McCarthy before him, Howard’s decision-making really stands out. He can sometimes take a fraction of a second too long to decide what to do with the ball, but he usually makes a smart decision.
There are questions surrounding his athleticism. He didn’t run a 40-yard dash at the combine, and according to some social media “experts”, he had a horrendous weekend in Indianapolis. If that has impacted his draft stock, someone will get a late-round gem.
In 2024, Howard led the Big Ten in completion percentage (73%), passing yards (4,010) and touchdowns. The 23-year-old also scored seven rushing touchdowns, two fewer than he managed in 2023 as a senior at Kansas State.
The only reason not to draft Howard in the third round (if he’s still available) is to avoid a QB controversy in the first year of Darnold’s expensive contract.
Jalen Milroe, Alabama
There are athletic quarterbacks, and then there’s Jalen Milroe. Comparing every athletic signal caller with Jayden Daniels is just lazy. Expecting Milroe to have a superhuman rookie season would be to ignore how much input Kliff Kingsbury had in the Commanders’ offense. And who expected Daniels to make the NFC Championship game? Milroe does have similar traits to Daniels. He will be a devastating offensive weapon with the right coach in the right situation.
At Alabama, Milroe threw 45 touchdown passes in 38 games and scored 33 on the ground. In his senior year, he ran for 726 yards and scored 20 of those touchdowns! However, he faced some issues with his passing game in 2024. The Texas native threw 11 interceptions in 13 games, and his passer efficiency rating fell to 148.8 from 172.2 in 2023.
Milroe’s late-season form has seen his draft projection fall from a mid-first-round pick to closer to the 52nd pick (Seattle has the 50th pick, remember?). The 22-year-old is far from the finished article, but with a season or two to develop behind Darnold, he could become the Seahawks starter for 10 years.
Dillon Gabriel, Oregon
The man who filled Bo Nix’s boots in Eugene isn’t a Nix clone, but he does give off some Nix vibes. 24-year-old Gabriel throws left-handed, has a big arm and lots of experience, so he’s a bit like Michael Penix Jr. in that respect. Both Nix and Penix Jr. looked comfortable in the NFL as rookies.
Gabriel is much shorter than Nix and Penix Jr., though, and he locks on to his primary receiver. But his ability to pull the ball down and run makes him difficult to defend, and it’s not like Josh Allen sits in the pocket waiting for his receivers to get open. Gabriel isn’t built like a defensive lineman, though. The first-team All-American steps up into the pocket to avoid pressure, and that’s a rare trait in rookie signal callers these days.
The Hawai’i native didn’t run a 40-yard dash at the combine, but one source says he clocked a 4.83 second time when he tested away from Indianapolis. Disturbingly, that’s the same time DeShone Kizer, Andy Dalton and Brock Osweiler clocked.
He certainly looks quicker on the field than he tests. Despite only averaging 2.9 yards per rushing attempt, Gabriel scored 33 rushing touchdowns during his college career, and he even caught a touchdown pass in Gus Malzahn’s UCF offence.
Gabriel completed 73.2% of the passes he threw in 2024, ranking second in the country! He was named the Big 10 MVP in 2024 and holds the record for the most touchdown passes thrown in FBS football with 156!
During his six years in college, Gabriel played in the AAC, the Big 12 and the Big Ten, so adapting to the NFL shouldn’t be a concern. Gabriel’s draft stock has fallen recently, and he is now projected as a fifth-round pick. Even if he falls into the ”reliable backup” category, he’s well worth taking a chance on.
Tyler Shough, Louisville
Usually, “raw” means unreliable or just flawed, but in Shough’s case, it means he has plenty of talent that needs to be harnessed by a coach. The 25-year-old can make outrageous throws, complete a pass off his back foot or even when he’s being sacked, whether he should be throwing those passes is the question. He’s like a bigger, stronger Sam Darnold then.
Shough is 6-feet-5, so he’s more of a hang-in-the-pocket guy than a take-off and run guy. But he can beat defenders when he needs to. In college, he averaged 3 yards per rushing attempt but only scored 11 rushing touchdowns.
Like Gabriel, Shough played at three different colleges in three different conferences and ironically began his career at Oregon where Gabriel finished his. Despite moving around so much and being 25, Shough is quite an inexperienced quarterback. He only played 42 games in seven years in college and didn’t start more than seven games until last season.
The Arizona native completed 63% of his passes throughout his career, throwing 59 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. After clocking a 4.63 40-yard time at the combine Shough is attracting some admiring glances from scouts and members of the media. He projects as a third-round pick, but that seems high for someone who isn’t a surefire prospect.
RHYS KNOTT
NFL/FANTASY FOOTBALL ANALYST
Rhys has been watching the NFL for 30 something years and still hasn’t managed to pick a team to support. When he’s not fixatED on pass rushers you can find him blithering on about most sports on Twitter @wrhys_writes