Projected No. 1 pick Cam Ward is the latest star quarterback to save his best for last.
After a winding college journey, the Miami Hurricanes quarterback put together his most impressive season, making a serious case to go first in the NFL draft.
Ward, a West Columbia, Texas, native, wasn’t heavily recruited out of high school and started his collegiate career at an FCS program. He began his college career in 2020 with the Incarnate Word Cardinals, where he played quarterback for two seasons. He amassed just under 7,000 yards in his two seasons in San Antonio, Texas, including 4,648 yards as a sophomore.
Then Ward jumped in the transfer portal, following his then-head coach Eric Morris to the Washington State Cougars, where he would spend two more seasons.
He started in all 13 games for the Cougars in 2022, throwing for 3,231 yards and 23 touchdowns to receive All Pac-12 honorable mention honors. Ward built on that success the next season, throwing for 3,732 yards and 25 touchdowns while adding eight more scores on the ground.
Ward entered the transfer portal again in December 2023 and later tested the NFL draft waters, entering his name into the draft in January 2024 without an agent. Less than two weeks later, Ward announced on social media that he would be withdrawing from the draft and transferring to Miami.
Ward completed his best college season at Miami, throwing for 4,313 yards and 39 touchdowns, earning the Manning Award as the nation’s top quarterback and finishing fourth in Heisman voting.
Though he might have had an under-the-radar start, he finished strong.
Here are some other standout college quarterbacks from the 2020s who elevated their draft stock in their final year.
Year drafted: 2024
Pick: No. 2
Who selected him: Washington Commanders
The LSU Tigers standout quarterback and 2023 Heisman winner Jayden Daniels made an immediate impact when he began his college career as a quarterback at Arizona State. He became the first true quarterback to ever start at the school in his freshman season. Daniels made the risk of transferring to LSU after his junior season pay off in a big way.
Year drafted: 2024
Pick: No. 8
Who selected him: Atlanta Falcons
Penix Jr. showed flashes of brilliance with the Indiana Hoosiers, where he started three of his four seasons but was repeatedly sidelined by injuries, including a torn ACL (twice) and a separated shoulder. Despite the setbacks, he beat out Peyton Ramsey for the starting job in 2019 and gave the Hoosiers real hope. But he never made it through a full season healthy. After an injury ended his 2021 campaign, Penix entered the transfer portal in search of a fresh start.
He found it with the Washington Huskies. Reuniting with former Indiana OC Kalen DeBoer, Penix stayed healthy and thrived. He threw for 4,641 yards and 31 touchdowns in 2022, followed by 4,903 yards and 36 scores in 2023 while leading the Huskies to the national title game. He capped his comeback story with a runner-up finish in Heisman voting.
Year drafted: 2024
Pick: No. 10
Who selected him: Minnesota Vikings
McCarthy became a big deal at Michigan once he stepped foot on campus, but he wasn’t immediately named starting quarterback. He was a four-star recruit and ranked 25th in the ESPN 300 Class of 2021. In his first season at Michigan, McCarthy played in only 11 games, serving as a backup to Cade McNamara. But not for long.
Then-Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh announced before the first game of the 2022 season that McNamara and McCarthy would battle for the starting spot. McCarthy shined. In two seasons as a starter, he led the Wolverines to a 27-1 record and two College Football Playoff appearances. McCarthy finished his college football career on a high note, leading Michigan to a 15-0 record and the program’s first national title since 1997.
Year drafted: 2022
Pick: No. 20
Who selected him: Pittsburgh Steelers
Pickett began his college career with the Pittsburgh Panthers as a backup quarterback to Max Browne and Ben DiNucci in his freshman season, earning the starting position in the following 2018 season. He had 7,475 passing yards and 38 touchdowns in three seasons as the starter.
Pickett opted for a fifth year at Pittsburgh, which would be his best by far. He threw for 4,319 passing yards and 42 touchdowns, more scores than his previous four seasons combined, and finished third in Heisman voting.
Year drafted: 2021
Pick: No. 2
Who selected him: New York Jets
Wilson had an impressive freshman season for the BYU Cougars. He threw for 1,578 passing yards and 12 touchdowns, though BYU boasted a .500 regular-season record that season. But during that season, he was playing with a shoulder injury that required him to sit out during the offseason.
When Wilson returned the following season, he encountered more injury trouble, this time a broken thumb that was expected to keep him out for six weeks. Instead, he recovered in four, still amassing 2,382 passing yards and 11 touchdowns that season. He also threw nine interceptions.
Wilson was healthy in his final season. He led BYU to an 11-1 record in 2020 and finished in the top 10 in Heisman voting after collecting 3,692 passing yards and 33 touchdowns.
Year drafted: 2021
Pick: No. 15
Who selected him: New England Patriots
Jones redshirted as a freshman for the Alabama Crimson Tide, where he landed third on the depth chart behind Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa. Though Jones saw the field six times in the 2018 season, he had only 13 pass attempts — completing five (38.5%) — and finished the season with just 123 yards.
In the 2019 campaign, Tagovailoa was the starting quarterback for Alabama before being carted off the field after a hip injury that ended his season. The guy next up was Jones.
Next season, the Jacksonville, Florida, native took his playing ability to the next level. From 1,526 passing yards in his 2018 and 2019 seasons, the signal-caller skyrocketed to throw 41 touchdowns and 4,500 passing yards, leading Alabama to an undefeated season and finishing as the Heisman runner-up.
Year drafted: 2020
Pick: No. 1
Who selected him: Cincinnati Bengals
Burrow started his college career at Ohio State in 2015, where he redshirted in his freshman season. He served a reserve role the following two seasons, throwing for 287 yards.
Burrow transferred to LSU after the 2017 season and instantly put his skill and potential on display. After throwing for 61 yards the season before, Burrow passed for about 47 times more yards in the 2018 season with the Tigers — 2,894 in total.
Burrow might have had the ultimate 2019 season. Not only did he lead LSU to an undefeated regular season, but his 5,671 yards and 76.3% completion rate led the Tigers to a national championship win over the Clemson Tigers and earned Burrow a Heisman.
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