Indiana Quarterback Kurtis Rourke Is Drafted By San Francisco 49ers

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – If you’re an Indiana football and San Francisco 49ers fan? Saturday was a good day for you.

It was a better day for Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke and defensive tackle CJ West.

Rourke was drafted by the 49ers in the seventh round of the NFL Draft on Saturday. He was taken 227th overall.

Rourke was the second Indiana player drafted on Saturday and the second taken by the 49ers. Defensive tackle West, also a one-year Hoosier transfer from the Mid-American Conference, was drafted in the fourth round by the 49ers.

Rourke only played one season for the Hoosiers, but it was a brilliant season. One in which he played with a torn ACL, something he didn’t publicly reveal until the season was over.

Rourke threw for 3,042 yards in 2024 for Indiana. He had a career-high 29 touchdown passes against just five interceptions. Rourke led the Big Ten in yards per attempt (9.5), yards per completion (13.7) and quarterback rating (176). Rourke finished ninth in the Heisman Trophy race. He was second team All-Big Ten.

Rourke is the first Hoosiers quarterback chosen directly out of Indiana since Nate Sudfeld was picked by Washington in the sixth round of the 2016 Draft.

Michael Penix Jr., who played four seasons for Indiana from 2018-21, was chosen in the first round of the 2024 Draft by Atlanta after Penix transferred to the University of Washington.

Rourke played the first five seasons of his career at Ohio University and was the Mid-American Conference Most Valuable Player in 2022. He finished his college career with 10,693 passing yards, 79 touchdown passes and 21 interceptions.

Rourke was unable to take part in throwing activities after Indiana’s season concluded as he had surgery on his injured knee. Rourke attended the NFL Combine in February, but did not take part in any drills.

Lance Zierlein of NFL.com wrote the following scouting report on Rourke.

“Rourke earns a draftable grade because of his size, experience and production. He’s coming off an ACL tear, but the injury might not have a major impact on his draft slotting since his game isn’t built on mobility,” Zierlein said.

“Rourke’s evaluation requires 2023 tape to get a feel for his delivery and velocity when his knee is stable. While he can make pro throws, the accuracy and placement is average,” Zierlein continued. “He’s a decent field-reader who throws with adequate touch and anticipation. Rourke played winning football in 2024 and he’s plenty tough, but he needs to take better care of the football if he wants to stick with an NFL team.”

Whether that hurt his draft status or not is unknown, but in the end, Rourke heard his name called.

Rourke will be behind established 49ers starter Brock Purdy. Other quarterbacks on the 49ers roster include Mac Jones and Tanner Mordecai.

Eleven quarterbacks were chosen ahead of Rourke. University of Miami quarterback Cam Ward was chosen first overall by the Tennessee Titans and Jaxson Dart of Ole Miss (New York Giants, 1st round) was picked on Thursday.

Tyler Shough of Louisville (New Orleans Saints, 2nd round), Jalen Milroe of Alabama (Seattle Seahawks, 3rd round) and Dillon Gabriel of Oregon (Cleveland Browns, 3rd round) were picked on Friday.

Shedeur Sanders of Colorado (Cleveland Browns, 5th round), Kyle McCord of Syracuse (Philadelphia Eagles, 6th round), Will Howard of Ohio State (Pittsburgh Steelers, 6th round), Riley Leonard (Indianapolis Colts, 6th round), Graham Mertz of Florida (Houston Texans, 6th round), Cam Miller of North Dakota State (Las Vegas Raiders, 6th round) were picked on Saturday.

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