Underdogs. Yes, the 2024 season has been all about the underdog programs. Looks like the 2025 season is going to be about underdog players. And a Louisville Cardinals QB caught the hype. Things are going to be pretty challenging for the player though. After all, he will be competing at a time when quarterbacks like Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward have already raised the bar high.
The player in question is none other than Tyler Shough, who has already earned a big thumbs-up from Boston journalists. Even though he is yet to move past the Colorado Buffaloes and Miami Hurricanes’ quarterbacks, he is giving the other two strong QB prospects a tough time.
Tyler Shough comes off with flying colors with NFL spotlight on him
Shough is going to be a “steal” deal. That’s what ESPN analyst Louis Riddick believes. The Shough hype peaked after his standout performance at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama on February 2. He tweeted, “Want to see QBs Shedeur Sanders, Tyler Shough, and Cam Ward all actually THROW at the scouting combine.” Looks like Riddick’s wish is going to come true soon. The quarterback comes off as the perfect fit for several NFL offensive systems. The 6’5”, 225-pound framed signal caller earned the top QB honors for the National team and landed directly on NFL Rookie Watch’s radar.
On February 17, the IG page posted about Shough stating, “Tyler Shough is one of the most gifted QB’s in this year’s draft and he’s not being talked about ENOUGH.” Now, we don’t have doubts about the fact that Shough is a gifted man. After all, his stats do all the talking. Over his entire college career, he threw for 7,820 yards, and 59 touchdowns. Plus he came up with 23 interceptions while completing 63% of his passes. He has already drawn comparisons with the legends.
As the IG post stated, “Shough is reportedly generating ‘first round buzz’ within some scouting circles, with one scout even comparing him to Matthew Stafford at 6’5”, 225.” The former Louisville Cardinals QB finished the last season with an 87.7 PFF grade. In the Senior Bowl, on Day 1 he completed nine of his 13 passes with two big-time throws. The NFL Rookie Watch post further stated, “He’s [Shough] one of the biggest hidden gems in this class. It’s hard not seeing him being a Top-5 QB by the time the draft rolls around.” However, this comes off as a surprise for many as the QB gives a head-to-head competition to two other top 5 QBs.
Tyler Shough makes his mark despite injury setbacks
Even before the NFL Rookie Watch, Todd McShay discussed the Cardinals QB on his podcast. He was the first one to have high hopes for Shough topping the charts. McShay along with NFL Draft analyst Steve Muench discussed “Todd’s Top 10-QB.” In the list, Shough holds the No.4 rank as he moves past Alabama Crimson Tide QB Jalen Milroe who holds the No.5 rank. On that note, McShay came up with a shocking verdict. Even though the Cardinals QB is below Ole Miss Jaxson Dart who holds the No.3 rank, turns out Shough has the power to catch up with Dart.
The analyst stated, “Going off of last year’s tape – Dart versus last year’s tape – Shough, I don’t think there’s much of a difference between the two and I think an argument honest to God… Shough might be slightly better.” But why did scouts fail to hype Shough for so long? Maybe they could not trust him because of his long and bad history with injuries.
Injuries have marred Shough’s football journey big time, ever since he started his career in 2018. As Todd McShay recalled, “September 25th that year clavicle injury misses the rest of the season. Comes back, and earns the starting job again at Texas Tech. Six games into that year another broken clavicle and that’s 2022. Misses six games then. Final year, 2023 on September 23rd breaks his left fibula he’s out for the rest of that season.” Shough is ready for a new chapter — and let’s just hope the injury gods don’t tag along.
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