Most scouts thought the 2019 NFL Draft lacked the quarterback depth of the previous year’s draft. QB Kyler Murray should be a good quarterback, but there were huge question marks with the other first-round quarterbacks selected.

The 2020 NFL Draft should be stacked with quarterback talent. There are a few underclassmen that could hold out for another year, but there will be enough QBs in this coming year’s draft to fulfill the never-ending need for youth at that position in the NFL.

We will list ten of the best quarterbacks who can potentially be in the 2020 NFL Draft class and a few honorable mentions that could be diamonds in the rough. We are only a few weeks into the college football season, so a lot can change until the draft in May, but this is a nice primer to help you get to know this year’s quarterback class.

1. Tua Tagovailoa (Alabama Crimson Tide) – Tagovailoa is the consensus #1 quarterback in this year’s draft class. There were some rumblings last week that there are a couple teams that could possibly select Herbert over Tagovailoa in the 2020 NFL Draft, but I doubt those teams will leapfrog the Miami Dolphins in the draft order. The Dolphins have long been rumored to be enamored with the young quarterback and are probably tanking to secure him for their team.
2. Justin Herbert (Oregon Ducks) – Herbert would have been the second quarterback taken last year, but decided to go back to college for another year. He’s having a fantastic year so far, through four games he has thrown for 1,127 yards with 14 touchdowns and zero interceptions. The toughest part of their schedule is still ahead of him, so his numbers are expected to take a considerable dip, but should still have insane numbers by year’s end.
3. Jake Fromm (Georgia Bulldogs) – It’s always tough being the third quarterback in any draft class, especially if that QB is a junior. There are rumors that he could come back for his senior season and be in the 2021 NFL Draft class that could be topped by Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence. Through four games, Fromm has thrown for 788 yards with six touchdowns and zero interceptions. He is coming off a nationally-televised win over #7 Notre Dame. He may not wow you on the stat sheet like some of the other quarterbacks on this list, but there’s no doubt the young man is already NFL-ready.
4. Joe Burrow (LSU Tigers) – Burrow lost a quarterback battle to Dwayne Haskins during Spring Football last year at Ohio State and instantly-transferred to LSU before last season. He put together a better-than-expected season with a few late-game heroic moments on his résumé. Through four games this season, he has already threw for more touchdowns than in 2018. He has thrown for 1,520 yards with 17 touchdowns and two interceptions. He is coming off a six touchdown performance against Vanderbilt that awarded him SEC Offensive Player of the Week. A difficult SEC conference schedule is ahead of him, so we will see where he will end up on this list come the 2020 NFL Draft.
5. Nate Stanley (Iowa Hawkeyes) – I’m much higher on Stanley than just about every mock draft maker on the internet. The senior has been excellent for multiple seasons and helped transform the once-defensive first Iowa team into a powerful offensive squad. He threw for 26 touchdowns in 2017 and 2018 and is on pace to match of exceed those numbers this season. Through three games this season, he has thrown for 689 yards with six touchdowns and zero interceptions. He’s a battle-tested Big Ten quarterback that has years of winning under his belt. I would compare him to a Kirk Cousins in that regard.
6. Steven Montez (Colorado Buffaloes) – This is where some of the quarterbacks start to be drowned in question marks. Montez is a big quarterback with a good strong arm, but he struggled last year when he faced the best Pac 12 secondaries. NFL scouts still seem to love him even though he’s throwing to one of the better wide receivers in the country, WR Laviska Shenault. Montez will need to produce better this year in Pac 12 conference games to stay this high on the list.
7. Jacob Eason (Washington Huskies) – It feels like forever ago when Eason put together a solid freshman season at Georgia. An injury forced the Bulldogs to play Fromm and the rest is history. He transferred to Washington and he has looked pretty good so far. Through four games, he has thrown for 1,063 yards with 10 touchdowns and two interceptions. He did have a stinker of a game against Cal in Week 2, but rebounded nicely after that loss. He still has another year of eligibility left in case he wants to shoot for a less-crowded quarterback draft class is 2021. It could be a smart decision as the seventh or eight quarterback selected in the 2020 NFL Draft could be in the fourth-round range.
8. K.J. Costello (Stanford Cardinal) – Now that is seems like most of the best teams in college football play in some sort of a spread offense or with quarterbacks only lining up in shotgun, some teams just prefer to draft college quarterbacks that have already played in a pro-style offense. Costello’s senior season started out rough with injuries to his head and hand. He’s missed some time and the recent hand injury has hampered his production. Through three games, he has only thrown for 471 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He will need to improve his numbers and have better performance on tape if he hopes to get drafted in the first few rounds.
9. Jalen Hurts (Oklahoma Sooners) – Hurts is an interesting and confusing NFL quarterback prospect. He was efficient when he was at Alabama, but as soon as Tagovailoa started to appear in games, Hurts began to lose playing time. He transferred to Oklahoma and is on pace to eclipse the insane numbers Kyler Murray produced last season. Through three games, Hurts has thrown for 880 yards with 9 passing touchdowns and zero interceptions. He has also added 176 rushing yards and three more rushing touchdowns. How much of this is the system and how much can you solely attribute to quarterback ability of Hurts? We always knew he was athletic as hell, but oddly, his stock could rise or fall depending on how Kyler Murray does his rookie year in the NFL. 
10. Jordan Love (Utah State Aggies) – In 2018, Love threw 32 passing touchdowns and rushed for another seven. He currently isn’t on pace to meet those benchmarks this season. Through three games, he has thrown for 1,003 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions. He hasn’t been effective on the ground at all. Scouts still like his athleticism and size and could pad his numbers during the Mountain West conference section of their schedule. He will be an interesting prospect to keep an eye on during the ever-changing NFL Draft class quarterback rankings. 

• Kellen Mond (Texas A&M Aggies) – The honorable mention section has some interesting prospects. Mond has been on the NFL radar since his freshman year, but still hasn’t put everything together. He still hasn’t another year or eligibility, so it’s highly unlikely that he will be in the 2020 NFL Draft class.
• Sam Ehlinger (Texas Longhorns) – Ehlinger is another junior that is most likely in the 2021 NFL Draft class, but he has gotten off to a hot start this season. Through four games, he has thrown for 1,237 yards with 15 touchdowns and one interception. If Texas can put together some wins in marquee Big 12 games, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he could strike while the iron his hot and forego his senior season…but I still think it’s smart to focus on the 2021 draft.
• Case Cookus (Northern Arizona Lumberjacks) – Cookus is the best NFL prospect in the FCS this year. He does have a history of season-ending injuries, which will affect his stock. If he can stay healthy and put together some game film that scouts fall in love with, maybe he can get an NFL Combine invite and outperform some other QBs in his class. 
• Kelly Bryant (Missouri Tigers) – Bryant lost the starting QB job at Clemson to Trevor Lawrence. He decided to transfer to Missouri for his senior season. He got off to a rough start against Wyoming, but has looked pretty darn good since that loss. If he can play well against some elite SEC teams and make some noise, he could appear on some NFL teams draft boards.
• Brian Lewerke (Michigan State Spartans) – I mentioned Kirk Cousins earlier when talking about Iowa QB Nate Stanley, but have heard the Cousins comparison before from people about Lewerke. I honestly don’t see it myself and think people use the comparison just because both went to Michigan State. He had a rough 2018 season, but has played well so far through four games. He has thrown for 1,025 yards with seven touchdowns and one interception. I don’t see Lewerke as a legit NFL prospect at the moment, but there’s a lot of games left on the schedule.
• Mason Fine (North Texas Mean Green) – Fine is a smaller quarterback that is listed at 5’11, but college tend to fudge those numbers a bit. He has a big arm on him and should continue to stack some big numbers as he faces Conference USA opponents. Fine would need to really wow scouts on tape to get a Combine invite.

Follow us on Twitter @Sweetbob & ‘LIKE’ us on Facebook!

About the Author…

Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob.