{"id":796,"date":"2026-05-19T10:35:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T10:35:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=796"},"modified":"2026-05-19T10:35:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T10:35:29","slug":"mid-rounds-big-dreams-qbs-selected-later-in-nfl-draft-strive-for-success-despite-long-odds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=796","title":{"rendered":"Mid rounds, big dreams: QBs selected later in NFL draft strive for success despite long odds"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FILE – Miami quarterback Carson Beck (04) runs a drill at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Feb. 28, 2026. (AP Photo\/Julio Cortez, File)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

TEMPE, Ariz. \u2014 Carson Beck had his fans and also some detractors<\/a> during the NFL draft process, which explains why the quarterback fell to the third round before being selected by the Arizona Cardinals with the No. 65 overall pick.<\/p>

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The 24-year-old spent six years in college, had some ups and downs and dealt with a major elbow injury<\/a> that kept him off the field for months. He might not be viewed as the perfect prospect, but in his mind none of that matters.<\/p>\n

All he needed was an opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody\u2019s got to run their own race,\u201d Beck said. \u201cIt looks different for everyone regardless of the opinions that others have of that race or that journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beck is part of an intriguing incoming class of quarterbacks that\u2019s out to prove it\u2019s not just Fernando Mendoza<\/a> and the misfits. Guys like Beck, the Steelers’ Drew Allar<\/a> and the Jets’ Cade Klubnik<\/a> face uphill battles to achieve NFL stardom after being selected in the third and fourth rounds.<\/p>\n

But the league has a long history of great QBs who weren\u2019t early picks.<\/p>\n

The most famous example \u2014 of course \u2014 is seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, who was selected in the sixth round of the 2000 draft by the New England Patriots and had one of the best careers in the history of the sport. More recently, Dallas\u2019 Dak Prescott (fourth round) and San Francisco\u2019s Brock Purdy (seventh round) have been productive starters.<\/p>\n

Stories like Prescott\u2019s and Purdy\u2019s are starting to become an anomaly, however.<\/p>\n

Only three quarterbacks drafted in the third round or later \u2014 Prescott, Purdy and Jacoby Brissett \u2014 made at least nine starts last season. That\u2019s down from a high of 17 such quarterbacks in 2001 and 10 in 2017.<\/p>\n

Maybe that\u2019s because teams are better at evaluating QB prospects.<\/p>\n

Matt Miller, an NFL draft analyst for ESPN, has a different take.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had this conversation with agents before \u2014 the round you\u2019re drafted in stays with you a long time,\u201d Miller said. \u201cYou\u2019re given a lot more opportunity based on that first-round moniker over fifth or sixth round. I wouldn\u2019t say teams are better, I think teams are stubborn about wanting to admit they\u2019re wrong on a quarterback.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller said many recent highly drafted QBs like C.J. Stroud, Anthony Richardson, Kenny Pickett and Bryce Young have received long runways to become a starter because of the money and draft capital invested in them. Sometimes it works out, but sometimes it doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s pressure to stick with those guys,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n

Mid- to late-round QBs can still make their mark and Miller said college experience is a good indicator of success. Purdy started 46 games over four seasons with Iowa State, while Prescott made nearly 30 starts for Mississippi State against Southeastern Conference competition.<\/p>\n

Then each of them caught a big break. Purdy got playing time in 2022 after both Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo were injured, and he finished the season with a 5-0 record as the starter. Prescott fell into the starting job in 2016 when both Tony Romo and Kellan Moore got hurt.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the key: Their stout college resumes helped them take advantage of the opportunity presented.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have the experience factor to come in, make plays and perform at a high level,\u201d Miller said. \u201cThat\u2019s not to say that experience can cover up a lack of tools \u2014 the tools have to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller said Beck\u2019s situation in Arizona is one that has a lot of promise. The Cardinals have two experienced options in Brissett and Gardner Minshew, but both are journeymen who don\u2019t have huge contracts.<\/p>

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First-year coach Mike LaFleur isn\u2019t concerned that Beck \u2014 who started 43 games over three seasons for Georgia and Miami \u2014 was selected in the third round.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of our job in this building is to say, \u2018Hey, take all that away and develop them at the pace that they can develop,\u2019\u201d LaFleur said. \u201cLet\u2019s make sure we have great urgency in the way we coach them. They need to match that urgency back, because the clock starts now for all these guys.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one really cares. You\u2019ve got to put the best 53 on the roster and the best 22 out there from a starting standpoint.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allar was selected by the Steelers in the third round with the No. 76 overall pick out of Penn State. Pittsburgh is hopeful the physically gifted but raw prospect can blossom under first-year coach Mike McCarthy, who has a long track record of working with talented quarterbacks.<\/p>\n

Allar begins his pro career not as a potential franchise savior but instead as a longer-term project. Barring a series of injuries, he will spend his rookie season third or fourth on the depth chart, absorbing as much as he can from McCarthy and four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers, who has returned<\/a> to Pittsburgh on a one-year deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now it\u2019s just really focusing on the fundamentals and not really caring about where I am at in terms of depth-chart stuff,\u201d Allar said.<\/p>\n

Klubnik, 22, also checks the college experience box after playing in 49 games over the past four seasons at Clemson and throwing for more than 10,000 yards. The New York Jets took him in the fourth round at No. 110 overall.<\/p>\n

Klubnik has a chance to compete for the No. 2 job behind Geno Smith, unless the Jets sign a proven veteran for that role. New York\u2019s quarterback room is thin on experience after Smith with Klubnik, Brady Cook and Bailey Zappe.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a really smart kid. Not kid, but he\u2019s a really smart man,\u201d Jets coach Aaron Glenn said of Klubnik. \u201cI don\u2019t think he\u2019s swimming as much as you probably think he is and that\u2019s a lot because of the way the coaches are actually teaching them.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, listen, we\u2019re going to push the envelope with that player and see exactly where he\u2019s at and how he\u2019s going to be able to operate with our offense.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP Pro Football Writers Josh Dubow and Dennis Waszak and AP Sports Writers Will Graves and Dave Skretta contributed to this story.<\/p>

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___<\/p>\n

AP NFL: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/NFL<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Carson Beck had his fans and also some detractors during the NFL draft process, which explains why the quarterback fell to the third round before being selected by the Arizona Cardinals<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":794,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nMid rounds, big dreams: QBs selected later in NFL draft strive for success despite long odds - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=796\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mid rounds, big dreams: QBs selected later in NFL draft strive for success despite long odds - 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