The 13 best QBs in the 2023 NFL Draft, ranked

As is the case almost every draft cycle, the quarterback position has been the most talked about group in this year’s class. There’s an open debate as to whom amongst Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, and Anthony Richardson is the best prospect, let alone who should be selected first overall. Amongst our SB Nation writers who is viewed as the best of the three and beyond?

13. Max Duggan. TCU

Duggan, arguably college football’s biggest breakout star, did receive 7th and 8th place votes from our panel, which should have moved him further up the list, but the majority of our group had him ranked far worse. Despite having a fantastic year that saw him finish second in the Heisman voting, it is difficult to see him being a quarterback in any capacity at the NFL level due to significant concerns about his ability as a passer.

12. Clayton Tune, Houston

Tune, who is coming off of a 4,000-yard passing season at Houston, received two 8th-place votes. The former University of Houston quarterback is likely to get drafted at some point on Day 3. He has a fine build and plenty of experience, but multiple areas of concern as a passer will prevent him from becoming a starter in the NFL.

11. Stetson Bennett, Georgia

Bennett, who is one of the more talked about prospects in this year’s class, falls to 11th on our list. One voter had him at 7, but the rest had him in double digits. Bennett has one of the more storied college careers in recent memory. He walked on at the University of Georgia, then transferred to a JUCO, before going back to Georgia and winning the starting QB gig and claiming back-to-back National Championships. Coming into the pre-draft process Bennett was looking like a later Day 3 pick. However, there is now a genuine question as to whether or not he will even be drafted due to off the field concerns.

10. Aidan O’Connell, Purdue

O’Connell, who was one of the more underrated passers in college football in 2021, received rankings of 6 and 7 from a pair of our voters, but the rest of the panel did not agree. He took a disappointing step back in 2022 with his passer rating dropping 26.3 points and his completion percentage slipping down 7.5 percent. However, O’Connell will still be drafted and likely developed into a backup quarterback in the NFL.

9. Dorian Thompson Robinson, UCLA

“DTR” had a strong five-year career for the UCLA Bruins where he passed for 10,710 yards and threw 88 touchdowns. On the ground, he rushed for 1,826 yards and picked up another 28 touchdowns. Despite his college success though, it is likely he will become a backup at best in the NFL due to multiple shortcomings as a passer.

8. Jaren Hall, BYU

The third quarterback from our top eight who is 6’ tall or shorter. Hall was a two-sport athlete at BYU as he played in 32 games for their baseball team between the 2019 and ‘20 seasons. On top of that, he comes from a very athletic family with both things being significant pluses in the eyes of NFL organizations. However, he isn’t a plus thrower and doesn’t have high-end arm strength which likely makes him a backup at the next level.

7. Tanner McKee, Stanford

Our voters were quite split on McKee. He earned a fifth-place vote from one of our voters but was also ranked as the 15th-best quarterback in the class by another. The former four-star quarterback didn’t get his college career started until two years after he graduated high school due to a Latter-day Saints mission in Brazil. His TD/INT ratio in his two years as a starter is a rough 28/15. There is a decent amount of unknown with him because of how little he’s played over the last 5 years, but he has the potential to become a starter down the road.

6. Jake Haener, Fresno State

The best ranking from our panel for Haener was 6 and the worst was 10. The 24-year-old is another smaller quarterback as he measured in at 6’ even and 207 pounds. Haener threw for 9,120 career passing yards and 68 touchdowns at Fresno State across 4 seasons. Despite those numbers, it does look like Haener is more future backup than starter due to a lack of overall arm talent.

5. Hendon Hooker, Tennessee

This is where the gulf in talent between the top five quarterbacks and the rest of this year’s class opens up significantly. Outside of the three quarterbacks that ultimately top this list, Hooker was the only other one to receive a top-3 vote. Hooker offers a lot of appeal and is coming off a Heisman-worthy season where he finished fifth in the voting. He tore his ACL at the tail end of the season against South Carolina. Looking past that though, Hooker is an extremely smart quarterback who is fantastic in the pocket and has good mobility. It remains to be seen how NFL teams view him as reports have Hooker going as high as the top 10 to as low as the third round.

4. Will Levis, Kentucky

The former Kentucky Wildcat was the nearly unanimous fourth selection in our polling. Only one voter placed him at number 5. Like Richardson, Levis is a tough evaluation, but for different reasons. He’s viewed as a rather pro-ready quarterback who will be able to start on the first day of his rookie season. He played in a very pro-style at the University of Kentucky which should help ease his transition. His 2021 season came with former Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator and assistant coach Liam Coan as his quarterback coach and offensive coordinator. While Levis is able to make plenty of strong-arm throws with anticipation, he also makes a lot of questionable decisions and needs to work on his anticipation and timing.

3. Anthony Richardson, Florida

Richardson received a top-2 pick from one voter on our panel. The third-place overall finisher is one of the most difficult quarterback evaluations in recent memory. He’s extremely raw, as he has only 393 collegiate passing attempts. (For perspective, it is only 13 more than Bryce Young’s total attempts in 2022.) What makes Richardson such an intriguing player though is he’s one of the most athletic quarterbacks the draft has ever seen. He’s a 6’ 4-inch, 244-pound quarterback who ran a 4.43 40-yard dash, had a 40.5-inch vertical jump and 10’9-inch broad jump. That’s an unheard-of combination of numbers for a QB. In addition to that he has one of the most powerful arms we’ve seen recently, which allows him to make Mahomes-type throws from any platform.

2. Bryce Young, Alabama

For the most part, Young ranked within the top two of our voting however, he did receive one third-place vote behind Richardson. As things currently stand in the ever-changing draft landscape, it does appear Young is the strong favorite to be selected with one of the first two picks. From a pure passer standpoint, the appeal in him is evident as he can make any throw in the book as well as being an extremely intelligent player on and off the field. The concern when it comes to Young is his smaller frame as he is just 5’10” and 184 pounds.

1. C.J. Stroud, Ohio State

In our rankings, the former Ohio State Buckeye only received first- and second-place votes, the only player here who can claim that. Stroud has just about everything you want in a franchise quarterback in terms of his measurables, athleticism, and maturity. From an on-field standpoint, Stroud is dominant with his high-level accuracy and overall arm talent. Over his two seasons at Ohio State as a starter, he posted elite numbers throwing for 8,123 yards and 85 touchdowns.