NFL HC Says Tyler Shough is 'Better Than Cam Ward' and the Best QB in 2025 NFL Draft

One of the reasons the 2025 NFL draft is shaping up to be unpredictable is because there's very little consensus at the quarterback position, as evidenced by at least one head coach ranking Tyler Shough as the best of the bunch.

On the latest episode of the Scoop City podcast (starts at 15:15 mark), The Athletic's Dianna Russini said a current NFL head coach called Shough "better than Cam Ward" and the best quarterback in the 2025 class.

While this certainly doesn't seem to be a commonly-held opinion, the Shough fanbase does seem to be growing as we get closer to the draft.

Shough's biggest selling point is arm talent. Nate Tice of Yahoo Sports praised him as "a creative and flexible thrower who can contort his body and arm slot to get the ball off" with the ability to "deliver to all three levels and wins with his timing and ability to change arm angles."

Ward has also earned high marks for his arm talent, but that's not a trait some of the other top quarterbacks in this year's draft can brag about. Shedeur Sanders has been dinged slightly for having a capable arm, but making it work with touch and accuracy.

The two big caveats for Shough are age—he will turn 26 on Sept. 28—and skittish play when he faces pressure. He had a very good pressure-to-sack ratio at Louisville in 2024 (9.3 percent), but The Athletic's Ted Nguyen noted a big reason for that is because he will make panicked throws "whenever he feels even a little bit of unexpected pressure."

A good example of this is the interception Shough threw in Louisville's 38-35 loss to Stanford. He had pressure come right up the middle from an unblocked linebacker on a blitz, so he bailed to his right and threw an underhand toss in a direction he wasn't looking when the ball left his hand.

If there's a coaching staff that believes they can get rid of that type of play and build up the arm talent Shough possesses, it's not hard to imagine a team talking themselves into him as the best quarterback in the draft.

We might find out who that coach is Shough goes higher in the draft than expected. He is projected as a third-round pick to the Seattle Seahawks at No. 82 overall by B/R's NFL scouting department.

Shough threw for 3,195 yards, 23 touchdowns and completed 62.7 percent of his attempts in 12 games at Louisville last season.