For many 25-year-olds, job interviews include looking for new opportunities or perhaps taking a step forward on the corporate ladder.
For Louisville quarterback Tyler Schaff, his running through the long, weird process that is listed as much as his world’s strangest employment interviews, is a problem that he’s looking for the first time.
Shough spent seven years in college and began his college journey as a backup in Oregon, spending his first three seasons. He then moved to Texas Tech and eventually to Louisville. There, his final season of college football placed him firmly in the debate as a potential first round choice.
He backed up quarterback Justin Herbert is less than two years older than him despite having extensive NFL experience under his belt.
“I feel like I’m going to check out a lot of those boxes for my team,” Shaff said. He said about his age and the history of his injuries. When meeting with the media at NFL Scouting Combine. “The media knocks me for age and history of injury, but one team thinks age and experience is positive. Two, I think the history of injury is not really the history of injury.
Let’s dive into the long road to the NFL draft of Louisville products and outline why we hear his name still being called on Thursday night.
Tyler Schaff’s long road to the NFL draft
During his recruitment cycle, Shaff was Considered a 4-star recruit He was ranked as the No. 2 quarterback in Arizona. He took over as a starting quarterback as a junior at Chandler’s Hamilton High School, and the team finished with a 7-5 record.
The year was 2016.
The team’s performance ended the season in the 6A quarter-finals, but Shough’s personal production has made him the radar for programs across the country. Considered to be one of the top pro-style quarterbacks in the 2018 recruitment class, Shough entertained offers from several top programs, including Georgia and Alabama. He even gave the first one Oral commitment to North Carolina in the summer Before his fourth year.
He eventually reversed the course and committed to Oregon the following winter.
Shough saw spot action in his first year at Eugene and played in three games before Redshirting the rest of the 2018 season. However, he participated in the 2019 campaign, as a backup to Herbert, who was a senior, andThe heir is clear” at duck quarterback. He played eight games in backup duty and completed 12 of 15 passes for 144 yards and three touchdowns.
Athletic I dived deep into his expanded actions that Saturday.
Eventually, Herbert found his way to Los Angeles Chargersand Shaff entered the 2020 season as an anointed starting quarterback.
After that, the world changed.
During the global Covid-19 pandemic, Pac-12 used a shortened schedule, waiting until November to start playing. Shough won the Ducks in the season opener over Stanford, with Oregon winning three times in a row. However, continuous losses Oregon And California dropped the duck 3-2, wondering if Shaff was the promised heir.
The sixth scheduled game against Washington, Oregon, was cancelled as the Husky dealt with the Covid-19 outbreak, and instead of determining who will represent Pac-12 North in the conference title game, Oregon was awarded the spot.
Shough began his match against USC, but transfer back Anthony Brown saw a big move in his victory over Oregon’s Trojans. While Shough opposed Iowa At the Fiesta Bowl, Brown saw quite a bit of play time. The 98-yard touchdown drive orchestrated in the second quarter changed the debate at Eugene about the QB position, as it ended the day as Oregon’s leading passerby.
A few weeks later, Shoug entered the transfer portal.
Shough announced on February 22, 2021 that he was transferring to Texas Tech and took part in a three-way battle for that spring’s starting quarterback spot.
In August, head coach Matt Wells announced that Shough will become the team’s starting quarterback, with the Red Raiders starting the year for the third time in a row.
In his fourth game against Texas, he saw the latest hurdles of Shough’s career. The quarterback threw a pick six in the second quarter and was injured in play. The diagnosis was a broken collarbone.
Shough returned to action for the 2022 season and once again was the starting quarterback for the Red Raiders to open the season. However, he reissued his collarbone in the first week.
He didn’t return until late October, but stretched the team’s starting quarterback and completed a 24-39 pass in a 242 yards, a touchdown and a Mississippi State’s 42-25 victory in the Texas Bowl at Texas Tech.
“I broke my collarbone (left) in 2021, which I had no surgery, and when I first hit it, it broke. Shaff said at the combine.
2023 was thought to be different in Shough, but unfortunately it was the same thing. Texas Tech started him with him as a starting quarterback, but also suffered losses to Wyoming and Oregon. He won the right of the ship by beating Talton State 41-3, but Shaye was not impressive at all in the victory, completing 10 passes of 20 for 123 yards and a touchdown.
Then came their first meeting game and the latest injuries.
In a second down play early in the match with the climber, he appeared to scramble and roll his ankle for a short profit. On the next snap, Shough throws, throws a pass, then appears to roll its ankle again, falling onto the grass.
He was down and was eventually carried out by air cast around his lower left foot. He had broken the fibre.
“Then I fell over (in 2023). There was nothing I could do to prevent that, but as I said before, it helped me mentally and how I became a coach, add value from the field, and still become a leader,” he explained in Combine.
Shaff’s season is over. He had six years of college football under his belt, but once again he was looking for a new home.
Shough eventually discovered that he moved to Louisville and played under Jeff Brom. However, when Shough was signing with Cardinals, he had already had questions about the history of that injury and signing a quarterback in six years of college football.
Brohm dismissed them as “unfortunate times” before celebrating Shough’s talents.
“We learned exactly what they were,” Brohm I said it in February 2024. “We took him to the flesh. We analyzed everything he had. We went through that in detail. He went through the unfortunate times that took place during the season.
He has a lot of talent,” Bromam said of Shaff. “He’s very skilled. He can throw football. He can see the field. He’s 6 feet 4½, 6-5 and plays a lot of football. And when he plays, he’s played well, so that’s all a great element to add to your soccer team.”
Brohm’s words seem prophetic now.
Schaff’s final year in college, and his only year in Louisville, was a season in which he put all his promises and possibilities together. He completed 62.7% of passes for 3,195 yards and 23 touchdowns against just six interceptions. He led Louisville to an 8-4 record and while opting out of the team’s bowl game he played in every other contest this season.
It was a long, winding path to Schaff’s draft, and he is expected to turn 26 early in his rookie season. His status as an old outlook – he will be 30 during his fifth NFL season – coupled with the history of that injury has sparked some questions.
But Shaff thinks about how he handled his long path.
“I think it’s just a combination of my mental and empirical experiences and my physical tools.” He said at the combine. “Even though I’m older, I played less ball than the guys here because of the situation I went to, so I feel there are a lot of undeveloped possibilities. I feel the sky is at its limit.
“I think what happened in my past just gave me the passion to continue further. It illuminates this little fire beneath me and wants to prove myself right. I think I am one of the best people.
Why Tyler Schaff is still a first round pick?
Even at this history of massive injuries and his “advanced” age as a prospect, Shough is being debated as a potential first round choice.
why?
Part of this is the need and importance of quarterback positions around the league. Some teams will enter the 2025 NFL Draft, which is at the top of two drafts, hoping to strengthen the quarterback room – Cleveland Browns and New York Giants – Maybe they’ll pass on a quarterback in the top five. They’re a team that can go back to the first round and draft QBs and secure that desirable fifth year option.
But the majority of Shaff’s story is what he can do with his arms. He flashed his athleticism and mobility throughout his career, but what he can do from his pocket stands out.
Take this play with NC state and see if Shough will use his eyes to rip a Bang-8 Post Route before he will use his eyes to freeze a single safety in the middle of the field.
Or this touchdown against Miami, he falls into a throw away from safety leverage.
The touchdown will then be delivered to Jacksonville State. He faces pocket pressure before hanging before delivering a properly placed throw at the intersection of scores.
Still, his ability to respond to pressure remains a prerequisite for today’s NFL quarterbacks. Louisville didn’t use the shaft much as a runner, but he still can beat the pressure in his pocket in a few different ways. In this play with SMU, Shough avoids the pressure by first climbing his pocket and rolling to the right. He brings his eyes down and offers a deep throw on the corner route that turns into an 86-yard touchdown:
After that, there will be this play. This will definitely be featured when Shough is drafted. Faced with pressure on the SMU in the low red zone, he escapes the pocket to the left, but finds a way to drop the angle of his arm while rolling to the left to make this throw.
Quarterbacks have a variety of ways to avoid pressure by adjusting their athleticism and arm angles, and Shough shows his ability to do both.
“I think I can accomplish that in multiple ways,” Shaff said. I said in Indianapolis. “Obviously, I was running more design quarterback runs at Texas Tech, but that wasn’t part of the offense in Louisville. Whether it was going to extend play with my feet or create plays to get those first downs or go down, I think I was better in both ways.”
Are these traits sufficient to overlook their age and history of injury?
In this draft cycle they may just be there.
