With the week of Shrine Bowl practices now concluded, how did the QBs at the 2024 NFL Draft showcase stack up? Devin Leary and Jack Plummer ended the week on a high note, but the top spot goes to an exciting Group of Five passer.
Shrine Bowl Final QB Rankings
Neither Jordan Travis nor Jason Bean participated in practice drills during the week of the Shrine Bowl. Bean was ruled out for the week due to an illness, and Travis was still recovering from a severe ankle injury suffered at the end of the 2023 season.
1) Austin Reed, Western Kentucky
Only one quarterback was at least a top-two signal-caller on each of our rankings across three days of Shrine Bowl practice. Austin Reed was that QB, and after two practices — the first and the third — he was our top passer on the day.
Reed kicked off the week with an incredibly consistent first day, minimizing mistakes and distributing well. Then, as the week progressed, more of his natural talent started to shine through. He was able to extend plays with mobility and adjust throwing windows with his arm elasticity.
There were occasional lapses in decision-making and precision under pressure, but overall, Reed had the best week of the Shrine Bowl QBs. With Reed, the baseline degree of physical talent and operational utility is there to be a quality NFL safety blanket.
Last cycle, Aidan O’Connell was a prospect whose Shrine Bowl performance helped him rise into Round 4 of the 2023 NFL Draft. He’d end up starting 10 games for the Las Vegas Raiders as a rookie and earning a place for himself as a quality backup.
Reed has a chance to follow a similar trajectory, and his Shrine Bowl showing helped accelerate that rise.
2) Devin Leary, Kentucky
A rough first day from Devin Leary pushed him below Reed on our final rankings. But over the final two days, Leary picked up his game and finished as the second-ranked QB at the Shrine Bowl.
Leary led all Shrine Bowl QBs in velocity and spin rate metrics, showing off his easy arm strength and elastic motion. On the first day, Leary failed to adequately channel that arm strength and was volatile throughout. But things started to click as the week went on.
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Whether it was boundary bucket throws or high-pace seam balls between closing defenders, Leary delivered some of the week’s best passes over the final two days of full practice.
Leary will need to strive for greater consistency on the football field in real-game situations. But at the very least, he awed evaluators with his arm in Frisco and also bounced back from a poor first practice. That’s big in the grand scheme of things.
3) Kedon Slovis, BYU
Kedon Slovis was a middle-of-the-pack QB for the entirety of the Shrine Bowl practice week. He never fell to the bottom of the pecking order, but after a strong first day, he was never quite able to replicate that level of consistency.
Fluctuations with accuracy proved to be the main issue for Slovis through the final two days, and that led to volatile results. But Slovis’ talent is clearly above average, and when he’s on his game, he can make some very impressive drive and loft throws.
Mechanically, Slovis was one of the most fluid QBs on his dropback, and his natural rhythm allowed him to trigger on passes with good timing. And when pressure flushed him out, he had the requisite mobility to extend plays and the arm elasticity to deliver with pace off-platform.
Slovis never reached a robotic level of operational consistency, but he reminded evaluators of the talent he possesses in Frisco — talent that helped him become one of college football’s best passers as a true freshman in 2019.
4) Jack Plummer, Louisville
Jack Plummer ended his week at the Shrine Bowl on the upswing, and that’s all that matters. Had the fourth practice been a full session and not predominantly a walkthrough, he might’ve been able to leapfrog Slovis for a podium spot.
There are some limitations that come with Plummer’s taller, more rigid build. His heavy feet can be an issue when recalibrating his base under pressure, and his lack of athleticism can make it more difficult for him to create in those situations.
Nevertheless, over the final two days, Plummer improved his accuracy and was actively pushing the boundaries on passing plays, anticipating throws, and drawing defenders out of windows with pump fakes and eye manipulation. And he also showed he could drive velocity on deep throws.
Plummer might not be drafted, but if he enters the UDFA pool, he’ll assuredly be a PFA who has demand as a potential QB3, particularly in schemes that place additional value on winning within the pocket and distributing effectively.
5) Taulia Tagovailoa, Maryland
More than most, the week of Shrine Bowl practices only reaffirmed what we already knew about Maryland’s Taulia Tagovailoa. There’s enough experience and operational ability for someone to add him to a summer rotation, but very little is guaranteed beyond that.
Throughout the week, Tagovailoa’s arm was one of the least inspiring. He struggled to drive much velocity on more demanding throws, especially when his platform was disrupted by pressure. And while he threw with good accuracy on checkdowns, he couldn’t consistently expand beyond that.
For Tagovailoa, aberrations with ball placement and decision-making still loom large, and without high-end arm talent, those issues are made even more distinct. He’s experienced, tough, and has enough creation ability, but his limitations may push him into the UDFA pool.
6) John Rhys Plumlee, UCF
John Rhys Plumlee‘s athleticism will always underpin his evaluation, and that’s why he’ll almost certainly have an opportunity to make an impression for an NFL team in camp. He’s shown a willingness to play different positions before, and that will help as well.
That said, as a quarterback, Plumlee didn’t leave a strong impression at the Shrine Bowl. He has good arm elasticity, but his overall strength and velocity underwhelmed, and his inconsistency processing windows made it hard for him to generate routine movement.
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More simply put, the offense simply didn’t function as well with Plumlee under center, and his operational framework may not be translatable at the next level. But his athleticism and team-first mentality will always serve as a silver lining.
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