Carson Beck’s NFL Draft status check-in: Is the Georgia QB still a first-rounder?
Ask anyone within NFL Draft circles and they will quickly tell you that this year’s class of quarterbacks is underwhelming compared to last year’s. Last year’s class produced five top-10 NFL Draft picks, including the first three selections. A sixth quarterback, Bo Nix, went No. 12.
Going into the season, many in those circles and in college football thought Georgia quarterback Carson Beck would be a first-rounder. But now most are asking each other, “What happened to him?”
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An NFL scout who spent 20 years in the industry told it The Athletics On Sunday, the day after Beck’s Bulldogs lost 28-10 at Ole Miss, the star quarterback was his and his NFL team’s highest-rated QB this season. The longtime scout, like others granted anonymity to speak honestly about Beck’s draft trajectory, said he believed if Beck had entered the 2024 draft, he could have been picked late in the first round.
“If he had come out last year, he would have had such a good trajectory,” the scout said. “I thought him and Jayden Daniels were the two most improved guys. There was a chance he could sneak into the late first round last year.
Beck and the Bulldogs opened the season strong and then blew out number one. 14 Clemson, 34-3, but when SEC play started, Beck started to struggle; in particular, he has had all kinds of problems turning the ball over. In seven SEC games, Beck has thrown 10 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Last year, in his first season as a starter, he threw fifteen touchdowns and only four picks.
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The scout said Beck was no longer their top QB prospect. And The Athletics NFL Draft analyst Dane Brugler believes that if the draft were to happen tomorrow, Beck would be a third-through-fifth round pick and wouldn’t be a lock for a top-100 selection.
“He has the quickest release of all these guys,” the NFL scout said. “For me, Shedeur (Sanders) has had the least difficult periods. He was probably the cleanest.
“If you look at Georgia’s tape, their offensive line has struggled,” he added. “Some of those guys got trapped. They are leakier than last year. I think this exposes his (lack of) mobility, and we’ve seen him become restless. There is a clear lack of balance. The first half against Alabama was really bad (Beck threw two of his three interceptions).
“He’s having a hard time now. He was our No. 1 guy coming into the year. But now, the combination of the lack of mobility and the lack of balance… You have to have one or the other. When you’re in the pocket and you can’t get out very well, you better hang in there and be tough and have the poise to make throws with people coming at you.”
Another piece that the puzzle explorers are trying to figure out outside of the film is how players deal with personal problems. With the rise of name, image and likeness (NIL) in college sports, professional personnel have tried to figure out how it has affected players. Last winter, Beck made headlines after posting photos on Instagram of himself receiving a Lamborghini Urus Performante. That’s also something people in the NFL world have taken note of.
“I would dig into the NIL stuff and how seriously he approaches football and eliminates the distractions and is focused on what he should be concentrating on,” the veteran scout said.
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A second NFL scout said Beck’s struggles this year are a reminder of how much all the pieces surrounding a quarterback can affect performance: “I still think he’s talented, but he looks the part right now.”
An SEC defensive coach who played against Beck this past month pointed out both the Bulldogs’ problems up front and the team’s “major deficiencies” at receiver.
It certainly didn’t help Beck that he no longer relied on elite playmakers like tight end Brock Bowers (drafted No. 13 overall in 2024) or wideout Ladd McConkey (No. 34 overall). But those are just a few reasons why Beck doesn’t look like the same quarterback.
“It seems like Beck is forcing things instead of letting the game come to him,” the SEC coach said. ‘He pays a lot of attention to reporting. They (Georgia) have really good running backs, as always, but they just don’t have home run hitters on the outside.
‘They’re not what they used to be. He (Beck) doesn’t have those guys who can win and play. It could also be because he’s been beaten and fired, so he’s started to look at the rush a little more. When we played him, you could tell he was worried about that rush. We saw that on film.”
Another SEC coach, a defensive coordinator who also played Georgia this past month, echoed those comments, as did a second SEC DC who played Georgia this season.
“I think he still did a lot of good things,” the first DC said. “He has a very good arm and he is accurate. I think he sees the photo well. I just think he’s pushing. He tries to make a few casts and stick them into very tight windows. He shouldn’t do that, but he does. I think he feels the pressure. Their receivers don’t get as much separation. He’s still very good, but he just makes some bad decisions.”
It’s also worth noting that the Bulldogs have played one of the toughest schedules in the country to date, according to both The Athletics Austin Mock and per ESPN FPI, which the College Football Playoff committee cites. She have faced four of the nation’s top 13 defenses this season (No. 1 Texas, No. 6 Ole Miss, No. 12 Alabama and No. 13 Auburn) and will play the No. 3 defense this Saturday as Tennessee comes to visit.
Brugler notes that Beck will have plenty of opportunities to change his narrative and prove in scouting circles that he is the first-rounder many thought he was last season.
(Top photo: Justin Ford/Getty)
