2025 NFL Draft: Can Conner Weigman Become QB1?

Earlier this offseason, PFF’s NFL Draft Analyst Trevor Sikkema wrote an interesting article in which he made the case for Texas A&M quarterback Conner Weigman to be the best quarterback in the 2025 NFL Draft. Weigman is the consensus fifth-ranked quarterback in next year’s draft and he has received a lot of hype going into the upcoming college football season.

As I mentioned in my preview of the 2025 quarterback class, the group of gunslingers in the 2025 NFL Draft is a bit underwhelming. It’s not bad but it lags behind a lot of quarterback classes we’ve seen in recent memory. However, it’s common for overlooked quarterback prospects to emerge as first-round picks during their final collegiate season and Weigman appears to be a strong candidate for a final-season breakout.

Let’s dive into Conner Weigman’s profile and see why he has received so much hype this off-season and why he has a chance to become an early first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

The Journey to Texas A&M

Conner Weigman grew up in Cypress, Texas, and attended Bridgeland High School where he was a dual-sport athlete in baseball and football and became the football team’s starting quarterback as a sophomore. During his junior season, he threw for 3,808 yards, 42 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. The following year, he threw for 2,588 yards, 29 touchdowns, and six interceptions while rushing for 754 yards and nine touchdowns.

After a strong high school football career, he was a five-star recruit who had offers from Arkansas, Baylor, Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, and Texas A&M. During high school, he was regarded as one of the top baseball prospects in Texas, so he signed with Texas A&M to play both baseball and football. However, he eventually stopped playing baseball and withdrew from the 2022 MLB Draft so he could participate in spring practices with the football team.

First Year Struggles

Weigman entered the 2022 season as Texas A&M’s third-string quarterback and the true freshman was expected to redshirt to maintain his eligibility for an extra season. However, he ended up playing five games (four starts), meaning he lost his redshirt status.

His performance in those five games was shaky as he completed just 55.3% of his passes and averaged just 161 passing yards per start. He did throw for eight touchdowns and zero interceptions, including a four-touchdown and zero-interception performance vs. Ole Miss in week nine, and rushed for 29.8 yards per game, but his production was generally underwhelming.

To be fair, though, he was decent for a true freshman, sporting a PFF grade of 63.6, but he had 10 turnover-worthy plays compared to just six big-time throws and his adjusted completion percentage was below 70% at 66.7%. His accuracy and decision-making were questionable and he struggled under pressure, but he would only get better moving forward.

After playing five games in 2022, Weigman won the starting job heading into his sophomore season and he looked like a different quarterback in 2023. Unfortunately, he suffered a season-ending injury so he only played four games, but he played at a very high level when he was on the field.

Last season, he completed 67.8% of his passes and threw for eight touchdowns and two interceptions. He also averaged 20.8 rushing yards per game and scored two rushing touchdowns. He was much more effective throwing the football this season as he completed a higher percentage of his passes, averaged more yards per pass attempt, and had a higher passer rating.

2022 Passing Efficiency

Completion Percentage: 55.3

Yards Per Pass Attempt: 6.8

Passer Rating: 96.7

2023 Passing Efficiency

Completion Percentage: 67.8

Yards Per Pass Attempt: 8.1

Passer Rating: 107.4

When evaluating his production during the 2023 season, there is a lot to like. First off, his adjusted completion percentage skyrocketed to 78.4 despite the fact that he had an average depth of target of 10.1. That is extremely impressive and his accuracy is very good at all areas of the field whether he’s throwing short or deep passes.

He really shines as an intermediate passer and in 2023, 29.8% of his passes were 10-19 yards down the field and he had a PFF passing grade of 93.8 on these passes. He needs to improve a little bit as a deep ball thrower, but his intermediate passing is already a strength which is great to see from a young quarterback.

Another aspect of his game that I love is his ability to manage the pocket. During the last draft cycle, I highlighted the importance of managing the pocket so much because quarterback prospects need to know how to balance staying in the pocket and extending plays. They also must be able to avoid sacks when they face pressure.

Weigman excelled in this area last season as he scrambled on just 5.3% of his dropbacks and had a pressure-to-sack rate of just 7.3%. These are extremely good marks and they show that he doesn’t scramble when it isn’t necessary and he isn’t a sack machine. This makes him a very different type of quarterback than guys like Malik Willis and Jayden Daniels, who struggled in both of these areas during their college careers.

On top of this, he had a PFF grade of 80.1 under pressure despite being pressured on 41.4% of his dropbacks, which is an insanely high rate. He also had a PFF grade of 88.3 when blitzed. Simply put, Conner Weigman is very good at managing the pocket and he excels even when the pocket is muddy.

Can Conner Weigman become QB1?

Conner Weigman is a fascinating prospect who displayed a lot of high-level traits last season but has only played 501 snaps across two seasons at Texas A&M. The lack of experience is a major concern and this makes it difficult to be confident in my evaluation of him at this stage in his career.

At this point, he looks like an accurate passer who makes good decisions, is a great intermediate passer, manages the pocket beautifully, and is fantastic vs. pressure, all while being fairly mobile outside the pocket. If he can replicate his 2023 performance across a bigger sample of games, he could definitely challenge for the QB1 spot in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Of course, he isn’t perfect. He had a rough season as a true freshman and he needs to improve as a deep ball thrower. I also noticed that sometimes his front foot is pointed in the wrong direction when he throws, leading to poor ball placement. Even if he doesn’t fix some of his issues, he could still be a great prospect. I would like to see him play an entire season before I crown him as QB1, but I have been very impressed by what I’ve seen so far.