College football is back! Several games kick off over the weekend in what’s known as Week 0, a week that’s ahead of the more widespread start to the CFB season.
In three of the games, the scouts will get their first look at prominent quarterback prospects for the upcoming 2024 NFL draft. All three have something to prove in both the new season and the opening games on Saturday.
2024 NFL draft: Preseason QB watch list and early rankings
Sam Hartman - Notre Dame
The first game to kick off the 2023 college season takes place across the pond. Notre Dame and Navy will play in Dublin, Ireland in Aviva Stadium (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC). It will be the first chance to see Sam Hartman in a Fighting Irish uniform.
Hartman transferred to Notre Dame from Wake Forest, where he was the starting quarterback — when healthy — for five seasons, including one where he earned a medical redshirt. For the Demon Deacons, Hartman was known for his timing, touch and ball placement, as well as his passionate leadership.
Because he transferred into a different system, it’s tough to anticipate where Hartman’s draft stock will go. He’s at his best when he gets time to survey the field pre-snap and feather passes into receivers who are just breaking open–West Coast offense style. Hartman could be a Day 3 pick, where he is generally projected to start the season. His path to possibly moving up into the higher rounds begins against a Navy defense that ranked 98th versus the pass in 2022.
Kurtis Rourke - Ohio
Rourke won the MAC Offensive Player of the Year in 2022 despite having his season end early with a knee injury. That’s how dominant the Bobcats’ dual-threat quarterback was for Ohio.
He’s scheduled to start in a rare West Coast road trip for Ohio, with the Bobcats heading out to face San Diego State (7 p.m. ET on FS1). Rourke, the younger brother of Nathan Rourke of the Jaguars, is Canadian and has the trappings of a CFL quarterback — quick feet, mobile, very accurate on short throws but also capable of airing it out over the top.
Rourke avoids mistakes very well, even when extending the play with his elusiveness and speed as a runner. He enters his third season as Ohio’s starter projected in the late rounds of the 2024 NFL draft. If he’s healthy and efficient like he was in 2022 (25 TDs, 4 INTs, 69% completions), Rourke could rise into the Day 2 conversation. The host Aztecs were a top-20 defense a year ago, so this will test Rourke right out of the gate.
Caleb Williams - USC
The schedule makers saved the best for last. USC QB Caleb Williams faces off against San Jose State (9 p.m. ET, PAC-12 Network).
Williams is the early front-runner to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft. He had a phenomenal first season for the Trojans after transferring from Oklahoma. Williams brings tremendous physical ability, a great arm, impressive poise and toughness to the table. While he has some things to work on, Williams stands out as a better prospect at this point of the process than any QB in the 2023 draft.
