PFF argues the top 2023 NFL Draft prospect from the Pac-12 plays for Stanford
The top NFL Draft prospect in the Pac-12, by Pro Football Focus’s estimation, isn’t USC star receiver Jordan Addison, widely viewed as a first-round talent after winning the Biletnikoff Award a season ago.
Instead, it’s Stanford quarterback Tanner McKee. Draft scouts are said to be in love with the Cardinal signal-caller, and PFF’s Michael Renner says he might be the most polished quarterback in the class:
Even though he has just one year of starting experience under his belt, McKee is arguably the most polished quarterback in the 2023 class. His ball-handling, footwork and timing all scream NFL-ready. Now, he just needs to play more consistent football in Year 2.
If I were a betting man, I’d say we’ll see just that from McKee. A member of the 2018 recruiting class, he took a two-year LDS mission in Brazil prior to arriving at Stanford and was admittedly behind the eight-ball from a developmental standpoint. At 6-foot-6 and 226 pounds with easy arm talent and some athleticism added in for a man that size, McKee ticks a lot of NFL boxes. He just wasn’t helped out by a slightly archaic Stanford passing attack last season.
The 6-foot-6 third-year man was an All-Pac-12 honorable mention selection by league coaches last season. He started nine games and made 10 appearances, but as the season wore on and the hits piled up, injuries became a concern. McKee with 2,327 yards and 15 touchdowns while completing 65.4% of his throws (best among the qualified Pac-12 QBs) and tossing seven interceptions.
He missed games against Utah and Oregon State late in the year, and had two-interception performances against Washington and Cal sandwiched around those two DNPs. Over his first five games, though, McKee threw for 1,093 yards and 11 touchdowns with a 64.5% completion rate and no interceptions. That stretch saw the Cardinal start 3-2 with wins over USC and Oregon.
Stanford is hoping that’s the McKee it can see more often in 2022.
PFF ranked the top 25 Pac-12 draft prospects. The rest of the top 10 can be found below:
- QB Tanner McKee, Stanford
- WR Jordan Addison, USC
- LB Noah Sewell, Oregon
- OL Andrew Vorhees, USC
- TE Dalton Kincaid, Utah
- CB Clark Phillips III, Utah
- DL Tuli Tuipulotu, USC
- LB Justin Flowe, Oregon
- Edge Zion Tupuola-Fetui, Washington
- CB Kyu Blu Kelly, Stanford