“Hard for me to even watch”: Hall Of Famer Kurt Warner goes ballistic on ‘messy’ college QBs

Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner, who played college football with the Northern Iowa Panthers, took to X on Friday to give his opinion on the current crop of quarterbacks in college football.

"I know many of you LOVE college football," Warner wrote, "but as I start to dive into these college QBs, it’s hard for me to even watch: very few play on schedule, the pass concepts are a mess most of the time, they run the same play over & over, a million bubble screens, can’t find many concepts that translate to next level… and then ppl are asked to figure out how good they will be at next level!? (Nearly impossible in my mind)."

Kurt Warner's view of the current batch of quarterbacks who may play in the NFL one day is somewhat negative.

The two-time NFL MVP thinks many of these signal-callers use the same set of plays repeatedly and that it is not of a standard that would suit the NFL.

While the NFL and college football cannot be compared directly due to the different nature of the game, college players’ performances can be analyzed to see how much they will suit and adapt to the pro league.

Kurt Warner believes that most of today's quarterbacks will struggle to do this.

However, he did praise one recent entry into the NFL: Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, who had a standout rookie season in 2023.

"For me CJ Stroud is a great example - obviously really good in college & OSU runs more pro-style concepts than most…," Kurt Warner wrote. "He’s better in NFL than what we got to see in college, but many times you just don’t know until you know!"

Stroud was extremely strong at Ohio State, winning 21 of his 25 games and throwing over 8,000 yards during his time with the Buckeyes.

He has been able to continue this form with the Texans, winning the Rookie of the Year award.

Kurt Warner's comments may explain why recent college football quarterbacks struggle more than they succeed in the NFL

The quarterback is one of, if not the most important positions in football. A good signal-caller should be able to play well, no matter which offense he is on.

College football is a perfect way to allow quarterbacks to develop as NFL-standard athletes. But, success in college, where, as Kurt Warner put it, they use the same play many times, does not equal success in the NFL.

For every C.J. Stroud or Brock Purdy, there is a Bryce Young, a Mac Jones and a Zach Wilson.

Young, Jones and, to a lesser extent, Wilson were strong prospects in college and were all picked in the first round of their respective drafts. But they have all struggled in the NFL.

While the jury is still out with Young, as he has only had one season, both Jones and Wilson have failed to live up to the standards they set in college.

These are just three examples of how being good at the college football level does not translate into success in the NFL. This is something that teams need to consider as the 2024 NFL draft approaches, whose first round is set to have potentially at least three QBs drafted.