When a quarterback signs with a college to play football, they usually expect to show off for a few years, and then fulfill their dreams of playing in the NFL. However, some players don’t make a name for themselves in college, but then proceed to do so in the NFL. Here are ten NFL quarterbacks who barely played in college.
10. Tom Brady
Okay, we can’t make a list of quarterbacks who barely played in college and leave out Tommy Terrific. Brady played four years at the University of Michigan, but never actually played a full season with the team. In his freshman and sophomore seasons, Brady was the backup to both Scott Dreisbach and Brian Griese. Brady only attempted twenty passes in his first two years in college but was the starter for his junior season in 1998. Brady appeared in 12 of 13 games for the Wolverines, in 1998, and eleven of twelve games in 1999. He was known as an inconsistent starter, and at times split snaps with his backup Drew Henson.
9. Brad Johnson
Johnson was a member of the Florida State Seminoles from 1988 to 1991. He was drafted in the ninth round of the NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings, who rolled the dice with this pick because Johnson didn’t play much in college. Granted, this was the ninth round of the draft so drafting Johnson wasn’t a huge risk but drafting a guy who threw only fourteen passes through four years must have been hard to explain to the rest of the staff.
Johnson was a backup quarterback for most of his career but split playing time almost evenly with Casey Weldon in 1990. The most Johnson ever threw the ball was in 1990, when he tossed the ball 163 times with a completion percentage of 66.9% and eight touchdowns. Johnson’s role as a backup resumed in 1991 when he only threw the ball 61 times. Still, he had a successful career that spanned fifteen seasons and was highlighted by a Super Bowl victory with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2002.
8. Matt Cassel
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Matt Cassel played 15 seasons in the NFL as a member of seven different teams. But before his journeyman career, he was a quarterback at the University of Southern California. Cassel spent his college career backing up Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart, both of whom were Heisman-winning quarterbacks for the Trojans. Despite never throwing a touchdown in college, Cassel was drafted by the Patriots in the seventh round of the 2005 NFL Draft. Guess Bill Belichick has a thing for drafting tall lengthy quarterbacks in the late rounds.
7. Kurt Warner
Kurt Warner has one of the more interesting paths to the NFL. He played quarterback for the Northern Iowa Panthers in Division 1-AA (now referred to as FCS). Warner didn’t start a game for the Northern Iowa Panthers until his senior year, where he led the team to an 8-4 record. He only threw 19 touchdowns in his entire college career. Warner went undrafted but made his way through the Arena Football League and eventually found his way into the NFL, and the quarterback of the greatest show on turf.
6. Joe Flacco
Joe Flacco redshirted his first year at the University of Pittsburgh in 2003 and saw limited action the following year, only completing one pass on the season. He transferred to the University of Delaware, which was a division 1-AA (FCS) school at the time. He did not get a chance to play in 2005 due to NCAA transfer rules. When he finally got a chance to play in 2006, Flacco threw for 2,783 yards in his Junior year, and over 4,000 in his Senior season.
He went on to lead his team to the FCS National Championship against Appalachian State, but couldn’t bring home the victory. Flacco was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft after earning ECAC Player of the Year.
5. Tony Romo
Before he was a fortune-telling color commentator, Tony Romo played quarterback in the NFL for the Dallas Cowboys. Romo played college football at Eastern Illinois which is surprise surprise another FCS program. Romo did play three seasons with Eastern Illinois but completed less than 200 times a year in his first two seasons. In his senior season, Romo attempted 285 pass attempts but still wasn’t a focal point of the offense compared to what we see from current quarterbacks. After only three seasons, Romo went undrafted in 2003 and later signed with the Dallas Cowboys.
4. Trey Lance
Trey Lance received a lot of hype coming out of college, despite playing only one full season as the Starter for the North Dakota State Bison. The COVID-19 pandemic had an effect on Lance’s college career, and limited him to only one start in his Junior season, despite starting every game for the Bison the year before. Lance Started only 17 games in his college career but was drafted by the 49ers in the first round in 2021.
3. Carson Wentz
Another quarterback for the North Dakota State Bison was Carson Wentz. Wentz barely saw any playing time in his freshman and sophomore years, attempting less than 50 passes in his first two years combined. In his Junior year, Wentz appeared in all 16 games and attempted a career-high 358 passes with 25 touchdowns to ten interceptions. However, in his senior season, Wentz only played in seven games, and his completions and yards were essentially cut in half. It was still enough to get him drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2016.
2. Josh Allen
Josh Allen is one of the top gunslingers in today’s NFL. After spending time at a Junior College, Allen made his way onto the Wyoming Cowboys roster as the team’s backup. Allen only played in two games, attempting six total passes in his redshirt sophomore year. In his Junior Season Allen got the reigns to the offense, starting every game in 2016, and throwing the ball 373 times for 28 touchdowns. In his junior season in 2017, Allen appeared in eleven of thirteen games and his passing stats regressed from the previous season. Still, Allen was drafted by the Bills in the first round of the 2018 draft.
1. Anthony Richardson
Anthony Richardson redshirted his first year as a Florida Gator and only completed one pass that season. In his Redshirt freshman campaign, Richardson got more playing time as the backup to Emory Jones in 2021 and appeared in eight games. Richardson finally took over as the starter in his redshirt sophomore season, as he threw 17 touchdowns to nine interceptions in 2022.
Richardson also went for over 600 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground that same season. Despite starting only one full season, Richardson was drafted in the first round by the Indianapolis Colts. What is it with quarterbacks who don’t play much in college still getting drafted in the first round?
