A return of our Summer Scouting Series here at Steelers Depot as we highlight 2025 NFL Draft hopefuls who are generating buzz prior to the start of the 2024 college football season. This year, we will highlight several position groups the Steelers may have interest and three to four names that could interest Pittsburgh once the pre-draft process gets underway.
CARSON BECK, QB, GEORGIA – 6-4, 220 POUNDS
The Georgia Bulldogs offense didn’t miss a beat in 2023 with Carson Beck stepping into the starting job. He led the team to a 13-1 record while throwing for 3,941 yards and completing 72.4% of his passes, throwing for 24 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. The redshirt senior originally committed to Alabama while in high school before switching to the Bulldogs. He sat his first three seasons after being a four-star recruit coming out in the 2020 recruiting class, biding his time and making himself QB1 in many draft experts’ eyes prior to the 2024 season getting underway.
Beck is a pro-style quarterback who operates more as a pocket passer. Having some mobility to maneuver the pocket and scramble if he needs to, he does his best work when kept clean to pick the opposing secondary apart. He has a powerful arm and can layer throws down the field as well as uncork deep balls if he wants to attack defenses vertically. He also displays impressive touch and accuracy on tape, being able to fit the ball into tight windows with various arm angles at the release point. Beck’s lack of mobility compared to the rest of the class could hurt his prospects, but he is possibly the best pure thrower in the class and will warrant a first-round draft selection next spring.
SHEDEUR SANDERS, QB, COLORADO – 6-2, 215 POUNDS
Sanders has been building hype ever since he committed to Jackson State to play for his father, Hall of Fame defensive back Deion Sanders. Shedeur joined his father in Colorado when Deion became the Buffaloes’ head coach, putting up respectable numbers in his first season at a Power Five school after impressive production his first two seasons at Jackson State. In 2023, Sanders only won four games, but completed 69.3% of his passes for 3,230 yards and 27 touchdowns, along with just 3 interceptions. Sanders also rushed for four scores in 2023, displaying a dual-threat skill set that can beat defenses with his legs as well as his arm.
Sanders needs to improve his composure under pressure and learn to take what defenses are giving him instead of putting the ball in harm’s way. To be fair, he was under duress for most of last season with a poor offensive line, yet still managed to create sparks on offense thanks to his playmaking savvy.
His arm talent is there for an NFL prospect, having the arm strength to stretch defenses as well as work the short and intermediate portions of the field. He will need to continue to show that he can create outside of structure and make more of those NFL-caliber throws in 2024 to warrant a first-round pick, making plays with his arm rather than running the scheme of short swing passes and screens that Colorado had him running on a large volume of his passes last season.
JALEN MILROE, QB, ALABAMA- 6-2, 220 POUNDS
The freakiest athlete of the 2025 quarterback class is Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, who has thrust himself into a potential Day 1 selection after a strong 2023 campaign. The redshirt junior was a four-star recruit out of Katy, Texas, before signing with the Crimson Tide, entering the starting lineup this past season.
In his first year as a full-time starter, Milroe helped lead Alabama to the CFP while completing 65.8% of his passes for 2,834 yards and 23 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. He also carried the ball 161 times for 531 yards and 12 touchdowns. Milroe possesses impressive mobility for the position. He is able to make throws on the run while tucking and running the ball himself as a threat to take it the distance if he gets into the second level of the defense untouched.
While known for his athleticism, Milroe has a powerful arm and can drive a deep ball down the field with ease. He displayed multiple moments of heroic play last season as Alabama finished strong down the stretch to earn a spot in the playoffs, utilizing his athleticism, arm talent and leadership to propel the offense.
He needs to work on reading the field more consistently as well as sticking in the pocket and delivering throws rather than relying too much on his legs. But now with new HC Kalen DeBoer employing his offense that dominated at Washington and made QB Michael Penix Jr. a top-10 pick, Milroe is in great position to have a career year and boost his draft stock.
QUINN EWERS, QB, TEXAS – 6-2, 195 POUNDS
Quinn Ewers didn’t work out at Ohio State after having such lofty expectations placed on him coming out of high school. Ewers was a five-star recruit and considered the best recruit in the nation coming out in his class. He never got a hold on the starting job with QB C.J. Stroud with the Buckeyes and transferred to Texas to play for the Longhorns. After a mediocre 2022 season, Ewers helped Texas reach the CFP with a strong 2023 campaign, completing 69% of his passes for 3,479 yards and 22 touchdowns compared to just 6 interceptions while rushing for another 5 scores.
Ewers has decent mobility in the pocket as well as a scrambler, and he throws a pretty ball at all depths of the field. He layers his passes well in the bucket and along the sideline and can uncork deep bombs down the field with relative ease. He’s shown he can fit passes into tight windows and produce against some of the best defenses in college football. Ewers can continue to work on his frame and prove to be more consistent completing possession-down passes throughout games. That will lead to more scoring drives in 2024, helping his chances to be one of the top quarterbacks drafted next April.
