NFL Draft
1/2/25
6 min read
Kyle McCord 2025 NFL Draft: Scouting Report For Syracuse Orange QB
Height: 6030 (unofficial)
Weight: 220lbs (unofficial)
Year: Senior
Pro Comparison: Colt McCoy
Scouting Overview
Syracuse Orange quarterback Kyle McCord is a pocket passer who illustrates enough ability as a passer to warrant a role in an NFL quarterback room. His ceiling is limited due to modest athleticism and arm strength, but McCord has a keen eye for finding favorable matchups, showcases toughness within the pocket, a quick release, and has well-regarded leadership skills.
McCord’s journey has been a long one after several uneventful seasons at Ohio State, but his persistent confidence is apparent and suggests he’s wired the way you’d want. That confidence extends to his play, although admittedly, he does bite off more than he can chew with some ambition throws. McCord offers mid-round value to a timing-oriented offense as a potential low-end starter or a high-value backup.
2025 NFL Combine Results
TBD
Positives
- Showcases the ability to move his eyes and work through full-field progressions
- Concise delivery allows him to shoot the ball out quickly and avoid free runners or beat squatting zone defenders with timing routes
- Light on his feet and illustrates a feel for the pocket to slide and buy time in the pocket
Negatives
- Does not possess the arm strength to drive throws to deeper areas of the field with velocity and attack tight windows
- Base tends to drift or break down under duress in the pocket
- Lacks the athleticism to run away from defenders outside the pocket or consistently pick up yards with his legs to punish man coverage
Background
McCord hails from Mount Laurel, NJ, and played high school football for Saint Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia, PA. There, he was named the Pennsylvania Gatorade Player Of The Year after his senior season and enjoyed a prosperous and productive career while throwing to his future college teammate Marvin Harrison Jr. McCord, ranked as a 4-star recruit by 247 Sports, committed to Ohio State over offers from programs like Texas A&M, Penn State, Michigan, Pitt, and West Virginia.
McCord would back up C.J. Stroud to start his college career and only assumed a starting role at Ohio State after Stroud’s departure to the NFL. In his single season as the Buckeyes starter in 2023, he was named Third-Team All-Big Ten.
He entered the transfer portal in December of 2023 and was ranked a 4-star transfer (247 Sports). McCord would go on to circle back to one of the programs that originally offered him out of high school — Syracuse. McCord thrived in 2024 with the Orange, posting 4,779 passing yards and 34 touchdowns while leading Syracuse to a 10-3 record. His passing yardage total broke Deshaun Watson’s single-season ACC record.
Tale Of The Tape
McCord won't win any beauty pageants for quarterback prospects — his game isn’t predicated on elite physical abilities or prototypical arm strength. However, what he lacks in physical ability, he makes up for with savvy and instincts. McCord, despite logging just two years worth of starts throughout his college career, has illustrated desirable eyes to read the field and feel for the pocket.
McCord’s emergence saw him establish impressive chemistry with new targets like Oronde Gadsden Jr., Jackson Meeks, and Trebor Pena despite just one year on campus, showcasing the ability to anticipate coverage leverage and throw back shoulders and high point fades to his athletes in an aggressive offense that took vertical shots down the field and liked to spread the field.
There are ample instincts for getting up to the line of scrimmage to identify a favorable pre-snap matchup and aggressively attack it. He’s been unfazed by shots to the field or far sideline throws, but his margin for error on said throws is dependent on crisp timing, as McCord does not showcase the desired arm strength to attack those targets consistently and drive them in late.
He has thrived as more of an underneath passer with selective on-schedule shots down the field than attacking the middle of the field, though. In either offense, he was not afforded a significant presence or efficient operation beyond 10 yards or in the middle of the field.
He’s completed just 51 percent of attempts beyond 10+ air yards downfield during the last two seasons, an illustration of the limited nature of his arm strength. There are effective bucket throws and vertical shots down the field, but his vertical passing is most consistent out of three-step gun footwork with a hitch to help him gather momentum and collect into the throw.
Perhaps the most compelling element of McCord’s play in 2024 was how quickly he assimilated himself in a new locker room as a leader. The transfer portal era of college football has opened the door for a lot of players to make transitions, and few have offered such a jolt to a program. McCord is a confident player in all elements, at times to a fault as it pertains to his arm. But you can tell his teammates gravitate towards him, and he offers the swagger that gets his teammates rowing in the same direction.
McCord’s slippery enough to escape the pocket in crowded spaces and does well to throw with accuracy on the move. Play-action teams will benefit from getting him outside the pocket, although you are fully cutting the field in half when doing so, given his arm talent.
He is light on his feet to fade from pressure, but his feet can betray him in muddy pockets and create a compromised base that will cut down on his accuracy when he’s unable to stand tall and deliver the football.
This is a player who wins before the snap and, in opportunities to anticipate coverage, will quickly disperse the football and get his weapons the ball to make something happen. However, teams that can play tight on his receivers or pressure and confuse him with post-snap confirmations will make life difficult for him.
McCord does not have the tools to thrive outside of structure or the arm strength to throw off-platform with consistency beyond crowded areas of the field.
Ideal Scheme Fit, Role
McCord projects most cleanly as a backup quarterback at the NFL level. He lacks the high-end physical ability to be a consistent catalyst as a passer attacking the full field of play but has a clear understanding of timing and progressions to execute play design and allow his playmakers to make plays on the ball on the perimeter.
McCord’s impact with on-field opportunities will be somewhat dependent on the supporting cast he plays with — but in an ideal situation, he could be a sufficient level starter.
Grade: 73.00/100.00, Fourth Round Value
Big Board Rank: TBD
Position Rank: TBD
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