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ESPN Analyst Identifies Fastest-Rising Darkhorse QBs in NFL Draft

Which prospect has caught Louis Riddick's eye?

Kyle Koster

Louis Riddick on potential first-round quarterbacks.
Louis Riddick on potential first-round quarterbacks. / Get Up on ESPN
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There is still more than a month until the NFL draft and that means there is plenty of time for narratives to emerge and stocks to rise and fall based on chatter. Get Up dove into the quarterback options available and which ones could hear their names called in the first round.

Louis Riddick shouted out two signal-callers who may be on the rise: Jaxson Dart from Ole Miss and Tyler Shough from NC State.

"I got to see them both play live," Riddick said. "I got to talk to both of these guys. They are legitimate prospects and they have a lot backing behind them and a lot of sponsorship behind them in terms of their programs saying these guys are program-builder type of players."

"Tyler Shough is the one," Riddick added. "This is the one to pay attention to. His injury history going back to Oregon and Texas Tech really are freak types of injuries. ... This cat can through the rock, though. And he's 6' 4" 230 pounds and he ran 4.6 at the combine."

Yesterday Mel Kiper released his latest mock draft, which featured Dart going with the No. 9 pick to the New Orleans Saints. Shough was not projected to go in the first round. But again, there's another month for that to change—and there's no stopping a run on quarterbacks once it starts happening on draft night.

Watch this space.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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