APRIL 16: After their Thursday Sanders workout, Giants brass will head to Tuscaloosa and Louisville this weekend. The team will conduct its Milroe workout Friday, per SI.com’s Albert Breer, and go through its Shough session Saturday. Forming a potential path that includes a Travis Hunter or Abdul Carter selection at No. 3 before circling back to a quarterback, the team will meet with each prospect at dinner prior to the meetings.
APRIL 15: While likely the recipient of a few Tommy Boy references regarding his college duration, Tyler Shough has managed to become an intriguing prospect despite his three-school college odyssey spanning seven years. Shough’s stock may now be rising to the point where a first-round pick is not out of the question.
Not entering the pre-draft process on this level, Shough certainly appears to have gained steam as the journey nears its conclusion. Meeting with a few teams, Shough has seen multiple clubs label him this draft’s top QB prospect, according to NOLA.com’s Jeff Duncan. The Athletic’s Dianna Russini also indicated (via her Scoop City podcast) one coach told her Shough is this draft’s best quarterback.
Mentioning first-round buzz in connection with Shough, Russini adds Shough’s name is coming up in NFL circles far more than he was a few weeks ago. The former Oregon, Texas Tech and Louisville arm will be one of this draft’s most interesting players, and he enters the NFL as part of a draft crop that features a muddled QB race behind likely No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward. It would still surprise if Shough heard his name called before Shedeur Sanders, but he may be making inroads toward the Sanders-Jaxson Dart tier.
At 25, Shough would be an atypical first-round pick. Although Jayden Daniels, Michael Penix and Bo Nix all played age-24 seasons as rookies, Shough bridges the gap between this trio and the unusual Brandon Weeden/Chris Weinke NFL entrances. A 2012 Browns first-rounder, Weeden was 28 as a rookie due to a minor league baseball past. A Florida State national championship game starter, Weinke turned 29 before his rookie season. The age issue helped drop the ex-Seminoles standout to the fourth round. Shough’s profile veers closer to Weeden’s; Shough will turn 26 in September, undoubtedly creating an issue for teams eyeing a long-term quarterback solution.
This draft does not feature the depth and upside last year’s crop brought, and teams will need to weigh an investment now against waiting until 2026. Shough has met with the Browns, Saints and Seahawks, and CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones adds the Giants will work out the 2024 Louisville starter this week.
New York, which already used one of its “30” visits on Shough, is already preparing to work out Sanders this week as well. While the Giants are now viewed as unlikely to draft a quarterback at No. 3 overall, the prospect of the team trading back up for one should be considered in play — especially with Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll on hot seats. Schoen attended Shough’s pro day last month.
The Giants hold the No. 34 overall pick as well, and NewOrleans.football’s Nick Underhill notes the Saints may not see Shough on the board by the time their No. 40 overall pick arrives. Shough stands to be one of the players teams consider moving up for, and a move into the first round would give a team a fifth-year option on him. Shough’s age would make that prospect a bit more interesting, as he would be 30 for said fifth-year option season. QBs rarely reach their option year, though, and a second contract would cover Shough’s early 30s. A team may not have Shough for quite as long, but were he a true starter-caliber option, it would check a rather important box for many years.
The Saints have been tied to both Dart and Texas’ Quinn Ewers, as links to potential second- or third-round passers persist, and Russini adds the team is “on a mission” to leave this draft with a quarterback. Considering Derek Carr‘s now-uncertain status — due to a potential shoulder surgery stemming from a 2023 injury — there will be pressure on the Saints to have another answer.
Shough accompanies Ward as the most pro-ready options in this draft, longtime NFL QB2-turned-Russini cohost Chase Daniel offers. At No. 9 overall, New Orleans may well have all this year’s QB prospects except Ward on the board. That juncture appears early for Shough, but a trade-up may from No. 40 may be necessary to acquire the well-traveled passer. Though, other options figure to be available at 40, should Mickey Loomis and Co. stay put and hope to address this need there.
New Orleans will send a sizable contingent to Athens, Ga., for the Jalon Walker and Mykel Williams workout Thursday, Duncan adds. Both Georgia defenders would be options for the Saints at No. 9.
The Giants will be in the same boat as the Saints if they go elsewhere in Round 1, but New York does hold an extra third-round pick if a QB-motivated trade-up is to be strongly considered. The team’s previously reported Jalen Milroe workout will happen this week (per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport), and Fox Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano adds Syracuse’s Kyle McCord — an Ohio State transfer — visited the Giants today. McCord would be a Day 2 option at best for the Giants, who have placeholders Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston as midlevel insurance.
Smokescreen
@bills1. Not sure about a smokescreen. It’s looking teams might try one in the 2nd or third round.
He will be 26 September.
I saw an article today that one NFL coach said he’d take him first overall.
Im just not buying it.
It happens every year – some rumors get started about so – and – so lesser quality prospect being a high riser. It turns out to be false more often than not.
Yeah, that headline gave me a chuckle.
@bills. Yeah that’s bs. I can see dart going over Sanders. It’s probably going to be all weird after those three. Don’t think much is separating the rest probably comes down to whoever did better on the qb tests they do.
His age doesn’t matter if he’s the real deal. A team isn’t going to pass on a guy they think is a potential franchise QB just because he’s older. QBs are among the longest playing positions in football. He could play for a decade or more if he’s good enough.
6 years in college and only 32 starts. Guessing college coaches saw it early and didn’t bother much. Hard pass on this guy.
He was behind Herbert at Oregon, injuries at Texas Tech…his only full yeasr was last one.
Broken collarbone in 2021 and 2022. Broken fibula in ’23. All came as the starter. I’m not saying he should be a 1st round pick but I wouldn’t be surprised either. I think we’ve seen enough from NFL owners and GMs on draft day to not be surprised by much anymore.
Yo should probably do more research before making asinine assumptions like these.
Actually I don’t care enough to do research on every little guy coming out. Its a lot easier to make a comment and have everyone of you simple people jump on here and give me that info. I saved my self at least 30 minutes of research time by just letting you guys “correct” my asinine assumption. HAHAHA thanks Lackeys, now go get me some info on that Shavon Revel Jr fella, I heard he was complete garbage wink-wink.
DANCE MY PUPPETS DANCE
I thought he’d be a good Steelers pick early on
He looked good against better defenses this past season
Others scoffed
Suddenly, he’s “gaining steam”
Sheesh, where do they come up with this stuff?
I think being an older prospect is detrimental for all positions in football except QB. Due to the physical nature of the game and necessary athletic traits required to play, namely speed and power, which erode over time it’s a tough sell to draft a skill position player, pass rusher, linebacker, safety, etc that is starting their career at 25+ years of age early in the draft. But with the rules in place in today’s game that protect QB’s it’s essentially a non-factor. Not just the greats like Montana and Brady but above average starters who aren’t quite superstars have been playing well into their mid-late thirties for decades such as Testaverde, Gannon, Dilfer, Hasselbeck, Jeff George, etc and currently guys like Russell Wilson and Geno Smith. If a team thinks Shough is starter caliber for 8-10 years in the league then late first/early second isn’t really a bad spot to go and get him.
The dude was in Penei Sewell’s recruiting class, he’s played one full season as a starter as a 25 year old, and he was good, not spectacular. Drafting him even at the very end of the first would be a fireable decision for a GM.
@oooof. He will probably be a 2nd. I wouldn’t worry about the 5th year option with this class besides ward. Worse case scenario he’s good, and you sign him to a market value deal regardless if he was a 2nd or 4th. He’s probably getting traction over milroe
I wouldn’t touch him in round two either. This feels like a lot of wishcasting in a bad class. And even with that, he wouldn’t be one of my top five QB bets in this draft.
Gannon won two MVPs and did you seriously just say Russell Wilson and Hasselbeck weren’t stars?
Correction: He won one MVP. He did however have two First Team All Pro nods and four Pro Bowls.
I hesitated to put Gannon in that group and probably shouldn’t have included him. Hasselbeck and Wilson have never been top 5 Qb’s in any year they played and in their most successful years the offenses relied heavily on Shaun Alexander (arguably the most underrated RB ever) and Marshawn Lynch so I stand by my decision to call them above average and not superstars.
Hasselbeck was every bit as good as Gannon, and Russ in Seattle was arguably better than both. He had countless 30+ TD seasons.
Hasselbeck wasn’t Manning but few were back then because teams ran the ball far more than passed it. Even Holmgren preferred to do the screen game and other smaller plays rather than long bombs for TDs or letting Hasselbeck really cook. I watched him in his prime, and he was definitely Top 5 in a few of those years in terms of his actual level of play.
Let’s also not forget the WRs he was throwing to for most of his career.
Also, since when does somebody have to be top five in order to be more than just above average?
Did we learn nothing from Brandon Weeden? Any team taking a 26 year old on days 1 or 2 should lose their drafting privileges.
Other than age..why not? I’m not saying he will be a star but if a team wants him a 26 is not that old in this nfl era where qbs are better protected and play longer. Weeden didn’t just have age issues he also had skill issues. Weeden was also 2 years older.
Remember when the Giants also reached on Daniel Jones? How did that end up?