2025 NFL Draft Quarterback Scouting Report - Carson Beck, Georgia
Hey all, So I know Carson Beck won't be in this year's draft, but I ended up finishing this video literally an hour before he declared he was returning to school. I originally planned to scrap the video but got some requests to still upload for reference. I'm still planning to cover Jalen Milroe on Monday but I just wanted to get this out since it was already done and I got some requests for it. As usual, if you want to check out the YouTube video, for Beck, you can check it out with the link below:
Carson Beck, Georgia
Height: 6’4”; Weight: 220 pounds
Age on Draft Day: 22 years and 5 months
Class: RS Senior
Overall Grade: 2.85/4 (Good Role Player)
2024 Stats:
Passing: 290/448 (64.7%); 3485 yards; 28 TDs; 12 INTs
Rushing: 55 carries; 71 yards; 1 TD; 7 Fumbles
2024 Games Charted: Alabama, Texas (10/19/24), Ole Miss, Tennessee
Totals from Games Charted:
Short Throw Accuracy on Platform: 83/100 (83%)
Short Throw Accuracy off Platform: 30/40 (75%)
Medium Throw Accuracy on Platform: 44/64 (68.75%)
Medium Throw Accuracy off Platform: 11/16 (68.75%)
Intermediate Throw Accuracy on Platform: 49/78 (62.82%)
Intermediate Accuracy off Platform: 6/12 (50%)
Deep Throw Accuracy on Platform: 10/20 (50%)
Deep Throw Accuracy off Platform: N/A
Left Side of Field Accuracy: 108/152 (71.05%)
Middle of Field Accuracy: 37/54 (68.52%)
Right Side of Field Accuracy: 88/124 (70.97%)
Total Accuracy: 233/330 (70.61%)
On Platform, Way Off Target Throws (Vertical/Horizontal): 7/5 (1.75/1.25 per game)
Off Platform, Way Off Target Throws (Vertical/Horizontal): 1/2 (0.25/0.5 per game)
Sacks/Fumbles: 10/3 (2.5/0.75 per game)
Deflections/Pass Interference: 6/5 (1.5/1.25 per game)
Throwaways/INTs/Dropped INTs: 5/7/4 (1.25/1.75/1 per game)
Drops: 20 (5 per game)
Designed Runs/Scrambles: 4/10 (1/2.5 per game)
Success vs Blitz: 25/42 (59.52%)
Success vs Pressure: 44/88 (50%)
Footwork: B
Pocket Presence: B+
“Playmaking”: C
Short Throw Accuracy: A-
Medium Throw Accuracy: B
Intermediate Throw Accuracy: B
Deep Throw Accuracy: B-
Throw on the Run: A
Success Against Pressure/Blitz: B-
Arm Strength: B-
Release: B+
Ball Security: C-
Top Starter Potential: C
Strengths:
Mechanics
Pocket presence
Can work through progressions
Good touch and arc on throws
Good awareness against blitzes
Areas of Improvement:
Decision making
Tendency to fade away on throws
Footwork when on the move
Limited upside
Disappointing accuracy in the middle of the field
Comp: Nick Foles
After looking like a possible second-round pick if he would have declared for the 2024 NFL draft, Carson Beck showed the cautionary tale of prospects who decide to return for another year of school. Now before getting into anything about Beck, I do want to acknowledge that not only did he lose tight end Brock Bowers and receiver Ladd McConkey to the NFL (who are both looking like great players as rookies), but he also dealt with one of the weakest supporting cast of the quarterback class. At the time of writing this eval, I’m still early in my grading and charting for this quarterback class. However, Beck seems on pace to have the most dropped passes per my charting and had the most dropped passes on the season per PFF. On top of that, his receivers struggled with ball tracking and attacking the ball leading to some deflation in his completion percentage and missed opportunities. So, there is a fair argument that some of his errors and misses were due to him trying to do too much. If we’re focusing on what Beck could control, he still showed quality footwork that made him an evaluator’s favorite over the summer. He has mostly polished footwork and is very quick and efficient at getting his feet turned and set towards his target and quick short passes. He has a lot of experience doing true NFL-style dropbacks and has good, consistent rhythm that should carry over to the NFL. In the pocket, his upper and lower body are synched up well and he does a good job keeping his feet flat when reading the defense. There are definitely some lapses Beck can have when reading a defense, but has proven to be able to work through progressions if given a clean pocket. Also, while pressure can fluster him, he has a good sense of pressure and knows how and where to beat blitzes. His pocket presence is also one of his greatest strengths with a good understanding of when to step up in the pocket, how to maneuver to extend his protection, and how to minimize sacks. His release is also polished with a minimal dip and overextension in his throws. He also has a strong understanding of release points and how to throw balls with good touch to drop them into buckets. He’s also shown that he can throw his guys open and was something he needed to do at times with the limited separation they could manufacture.
So while I started this eval talking about Carson Beck dealing with a poor supporting cast, he was a bit of a mess himself this season. After being the model of consistency and accuracy last year, he took a major step back in both areas. Starting with the big elephant in the room and what dropped him in a lot of people’s rankings, his ball security. After doing a good job protecting the ball last year, Beck had major struggles protecting the ball in the air throwing 12 interceptions on 448 passes and having 7 fumbles on the year. The scariest part is that his interceptions could have been a whole lot worse. In the 4 games I charted, he threw 7 interceptions (1.75 per game) which is already not great. But, he also had 4 dropped interceptions between the games. So Beck essentially could have finished with nearly 3 interceptions per game which is simply inexcusable. As I mentioned, some of the errors were either due to forcing things with his pass catchers or them making mistakes, but a lot of blame should be going Beck’s way as well. He had a much tougher time reading leverage of coverage and his accuracy took a step backward leading to way too many mistakes and interceptions. With Beck being a pocket passer, he can’t be turning the ball over this often and expect to earn and keep a starting quarterback job in the NFL. Also, it’s just hard to see him earning and keeping a job with his limited arm strength. Pocket passers often need elite arm strength to be able to throw the ball all over the field with great velocity and I just don’t see Beck being capable of this. Something that I noticed more this year that contributed to Beck’s errors and exposed his limited arm strength was a tendency to fade away when making throws. Quarterbacks will often do this if they are trying to protect themselves but I caught Beck doing this when pressure wasn’t close leading to inaccurate throws too frequently. In general, I saw Beck be able to typically get his throw on the body of his pass catcher but they often weren’t perfectly placed balls in part due to his fading. This also impacted his base sometimes as it would fluctuate and be too shaky at times. He can also have some moments where he crosses his legs too much during his longer dropbacks and will need to work to erase those moments. His footwork out of the pocket can also be a bit hit or miss. Sometimes his timing with his upper and lower body can get disjointed and he doesn’t always get his feet turned to his target leading to some poor throws. It doesn’t happen every time and he usually can get away from it since he generally isn’t pushing the ball downfield when he’s on the move but it’s an opportunity to improve and expand his game. While his release is mostly technically clean, it isn’t as fast due to his lack of arm strength and the ball doesn’t fly out of his hand like it does for some top quarterbacks. Also, I mentioned this in my summer scouting, but he tends to pat the ball before releasing it and it seemed defenses keyed into that as well as I caught a lot of defenders breaking on the ball the moment they saw that pat leading to some interceptions and breakups.
Overall, Carson Beck is a frustrating prospect. He was very good in 2023 and has the footwork, pocket presence, and accuracy that usually leads to at least decent success in the NFL. However, the limited arm strength, really poor ball security, and tendency to fade away unnecessarily scream that his ceiling and most likely outlook is a backup quarterback in the NFL. It will be so important for Beck to go to a team who can have him sit for a year or two and clean up his tendency to fade away and get him paired with a good offensive line to get back to the confident pocket passer we saw in 2023. I think if a team has a Jordan Love type of approach to him to clean up his decision making and fine-tune his new poor habits, a team could have a possible starter for a few seasons. With a lot of that depending on his surroundings and landing spot, that’s not an overly exciting endorsement but at least there’s a path to relevance for him which could be rare in this quarterback class. For his comp, I think a lot of people will throw out a Jared Goff comp since he’s the trendy comp for quarterbacks who can struggle with decision making and are pocket passers. However, I think Goff would be a very high-end projection for Beck and essentially a best-case scenario. So, I instead have Nick Foles as Carson Beck’s comp. Both are pocket passers who mostly win in the short and medium areas of the field but can win down the field with some touch passes. Both have limited arm strength and mobility that limit their ceilings but can be useful if they have a good supporting cast. Also, both have some clean mechanics but some slipups when facing pressure that cause some mistakes. Speaking of mistakes, both can have some really bad reads despite being able to work through progressions which could challenge their status as a starter if given the opportunity. I think a lot of people will have a very low amount of hope for Beck but I wouldn’t be shocked if a team trusts his 2023 film and also sees that the mistakes he made are fixable with time and NFL coaching. So while he will most likely be sliding down most of the draft boards out there, don’t be shocked if he gets taken on day 2.