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Who is Pochettino? Is this a coup for the USMNT? Will it help them at World Cup?

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Who is Pochettino? Is this a coup for the USMNT? Will it help them at World Cup?

The U.S. men’s national soccer team received a huge boost on Thursday morning when Mauricio Pochettino agreed to become their next head coach.

The Athletic revealed that Pochettino, who had been a top target for the opening, had come to a deal with U.S. Soccer, the sport’s governing body. Pochettino has never managed at international level, but he is a very well-respected name in the club game.

This is a big-name arrival ahead of a men’s World Cup that the U.S. will co-host with neighbours Canada and Mexico in 2026, staging the bulk of the games including all matches from the quarter-finals onwards. But just who is Pochettino? How much of a coup is this? What is his style of play?

Here, The Athletic’s Jack Pitt-Brooke answers everything you need to know about the 52-year-old Argentinian.


So, who exactly is Mauricio Pochettino?

Mauricio Pochettino is considered one of the best managers in European football.

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As a player, he was a very competitive centre-back, leaving his native Argentina at age 22 to play for Barcelona-based Espanyol in Spain, before brief spells in France with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Bordeaux, then returning to Espanyol to finish his playing career. He played for Argentina at the 2002 World Cup, and won 20 caps overall.


Pochettino, left, playing for Espanyol (Luis Bagu/Getty Images)

Pochettino also started his coaching career at Espanyol, in 2009, earning a reputation for playing brave high-pressing football with young players, turning the fortunes of the team around and saving them from relegation to Spain’s second division. His next job was at Southampton in England’s Premier League in 2013, where he took the team to new heights with his energetic style of play. Then he stepped up to Tottenham Hotspur the following year, where he oversaw their greatest sustained run of the modern era, finishing third, second and third in the Premier League in successive seasons, as well as getting to the final of the 2018-19 Champions League.

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Since then, Pochettino has managed PSG, winning a French Cup and a Ligue 1 title, and then spent last season as Chelsea head coach, where he guided them to sixth place in the Premier League, enough to qualify for European football in the coming campaign, and into the Carabao Cup final.


How much of a coup is this for the USMNT?

It is huge to land one of the best coaches from the club game to manage the men’s national team.

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The closest comparison might be Jurgen Klinsmann, the former Germany striker who coached the USMNT from 2011 to 2016, but Pochettino comes to the job with far more of a track record in European club football management than he did. Klinsmann had only had one disappointing season at Bayern Munich (2008-09) before he got the United States job, as well as taking hosts Germany to the semi-finals of the 2006 World Cup.

Pochettino, by contrast, has been one of the most impressive coaches in the European club game for the past 15 years.

What he did at Tottenham remains one of the best-sustained spells of management in recent years, even if it did not end up with them winning any trophies.


Why would Pochettino take an international job?

Pochettino has always been a romantic with a love for the game’s history.

He knows the World Cup is the pinnacle of the game. He remembers as a boy watching Argentina win the 1978 (as hosts) and 1986 World Cups, the latter of which made Diego Maradona his hero for life. He is hugely proud of playing in the 2002 World Cup, even if he is remembered by some for giving away the deciding penalty in a 1-0 group-stage loss against England — he still has a photo of that dubious ‘foul’ he committed on Michael Owen, signed by the England striker, up on a wall at home.

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Pochettino ‘fouling’ Owen at the 2002 World Cup (Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

He told me in an interview in 2022 how much the World Cup means to him. “You don’t think about anything, you don’t think about money, you think only to deliver your best, and to make the people happy,” Pochettino said. “Because you know very well your country is behind you. The feeling is completely different from other competitions. That is why the players feel so different.”

Pochettino told me he would “of course” want to manage in a World Cup one day, and not necessarily with Argentina, saying: “You never know what happens. I am open to everything.”


What about club football?

Since being sacked by Tottenham in November 2019 after they began that season poorly, Pochettino has worked for two of the highest profile and wealthiest clubs in Europe, PSG and Chelsea.

In Paris, he got to manage Neymar, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe, one of the highest-quality front lines ever assembled at club level. Ultimately, he performed in line with most PSG coaches, both before and after him, and was released at the end of the 2021-22 season.

He was brought in at Chelsea last summer to impose a new style of football onto their oversized squad and after a tough start, he got there in the end, setting them up for a great finish to the season (they won their final five matches, scoring 14 goals) and winning over fans who had doubted him at the beginning because of his connections to London rivals Tottenham. In the end, he left Chelsea in June with his reputation improved.

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But both of these were difficult experiences at points, with plenty of internal politics to manage. European club football is in a strange place right now, with not many clubs offering their managers/head coaches the chance to build something.

That would be part of the attraction of taking a very different challenge with the USMNT.


What kind of football does he play?

Throughout his managerial career, Pochettino has tried to get his teams playing a brave, aggressive, high-pressing style.

It is a positional game, focused on maintaining a good structure in and out of possession, so the players are in the right places to win the ball back quickly — ideally within three seconds — whenever his team lose it. He wants his sides to dominate the ball and defend high up the pitch.

Pochettino’s Tottenham mastered this style of football, taking the north London club to new heights.

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At their best, a Pochettino team are physically relentless, powerful and dominant, not giving the opposition any room to breathe. With PSG, it was not always possible to play exactly like this because of the big-name personnel up front who did not always want to press from the front. But in the second half of last season, Chelsea started to look like a Pochettino team, and the wins followed.


Are those methods suited to international football?

Fitness work is hugely important to Pochettino and his coaching staff but the nature of the international game is that coaches do not get to work with their players for that long. It is harder for them to improve their players as individuals, something that Pochettino has always been big on, during those short periods together before they return to their clubs.


Pochettino with his players at PSG (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)

One thing that has always been important to him has been bringing through young players, right from the time he was starting at Espanyol and then Southampton.

When he was discussed not so long ago as a potential England manager, the point was made how many of their current squad owe their career to their development under Pochettino: Luke Shaw (Southampton), Harry Kane, Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier (Tottenham), Conor Gallagher and Cole Palmer (Chelsea). He will hope to develop a similar generation of youngsters now he has the USMNT job.


How will he deal with the scrutiny that comes with this role?

Pochettino is used to the media spotlight, especially after those spells at PSG and Chelsea. But international football is different. There will be less day-to-day attention than his days at those clubs, certainly, but there will be times when Pochettino has the eyes of hundreds of millions of Americans on him. The U.S. public are unlikely to be forgiving if they feel the team are not heading in the right direction as that 2026 World Cup looms larger.

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But that is also part of the attraction, given what a huge event it will be in two years’ time. Coaching that team in their home World Cup, in front of 70,000 people for their opening group-stage match at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on June 12, 2026 will be the equivalent of standing in front of the eyes of the whole world.


Does it matter he’s not an American?

The team had non-American coaches before, and not just Klinsmann. There was Bora Milutinovic, from Serbia, in the early 1990s, the last time the U.S. staged the World Cup. Men from Poland, Greece, the UK and more have also had the job. There is no reason that nationality should be a barrier to Pochettino in the role. He has worked for three different Premier League clubs and while he initially had an interpreter at Southampton, his English is now certainly good enough to work in the States.

The most important thing will be to demonstrate a commitment to U.S. soccer, and a deep knowledge of all the players at his disposal, whether they play in MLS, Europe or elsewhere. This will mean lots of hard work, and air miles, getting to know them all.


How much does this improve USMNT’s chances at the 2026 World Cup?

It is hard to know how proven club managers will fare in the international game. They are effectively two different formats of the same sport.

Antonio Conte, a serial title winner at club level, improved Italy but could only get them to the quarter-finals of Euro 2016. Luis Enrique had a great European Championship with Spain in 2021, reaching the semis, but they were knocked out of the following year’s World Cup in the round of 16 by Morocco. Hansi Flick won the treble with Bayern in 2020 but could not even get Germany out of the group in Qatar.

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Making predictions about international tournaments is almost impossible, given how fine the margins are between success and failure at that level. But we can say Pochettino will bring fresh ideas, energy and proven methods to the U.S. job, as well as a sense of confidence and optimism the whole country can feed on.

(Top photo: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)

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As likely No. 1 WNBA Draft pick, Paige Bueckers is among new generation of young talent

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As likely No. 1 WNBA Draft pick, Paige Bueckers is among new generation of young talent

Two Sundays ago, Paige Bueckers and Sue Bird gathered inside Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla., as different points in their lives were celebrated.

Bueckers led a courtside coronation. The Huskies blew out South Carolina to win UConn’s first national championship in nine years. With the souvenir net draped around her neck after her final college game, Bueckers said she felt an overwhelming sense of joy and gratitude.

Bird also appeared grateful for her moment in the spotlight. She was present, in part, to co-host an alternate ESPN telecast with her best friend and former UConn teammate Diana Taurasi. But in the first half of the Huskies’ eventual 23-point victory, Bird received a warm ovation from fans as she was honored as a new inductee in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

That both Bird and Bueckers were in the same place at the same time was a fitting reminder of the current moment in women’s basketball. A new guard is entering the professional ranks while an older generation looks on — and receives acknowledgement — from the arena rafters.

Over the last three years, WNBA trailblazers like Bird, Taurasi, Sylvia Fowles and Candace Parker have retired from the league. Bueckers, who is expected to be selected with the No. 1 pick in Monday night’s WNBA Draft by the Dallas Wings, represents a potential pillar for its future.

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She joins last year’s top rookies, Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, as cornerstones of the WNBA’s latest chapter. Who better to be a new baton carrier than someone who faced constant questions about pressure and legacy throughout her college career? As the WNBA attempts to build on its historic 2024 season, Bueckers’ arrival is as close as the league can come to adding another ambassador prepared to help compound its growth.

“It’s so popular right now, so it’s at a really good place,” Wings general manager Curt Miller said. “I’m excited about this draft class keeping the momentum going.”

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Bueckers is used to high expectations. At UConn, she faced endless reminders of them. Chairs from each of the program’s Final Four appearances were in the Huskies’ practice gym. Banners for All-Americans and national titles hang on walls. Some Storrs, Conn., highway welcome signs denote how many championships the Huskies have won. After last week, that’s now an NCAA-record 12.

Bueckers is aware of each marker. She learned to refine her mindset and become more process-focused to manage. Over five years, she became the face of a college program that has an arguably higher profile than almost every WNBA franchise, navigating not only her own growing stardom but also a changing climate in college sports. She is part of a generation of college players who have conducted themselves like pros while still in school. Photo and commercial shoots become part of off days. She already has partnerships with Nike, Intuit, Google and Bose. And Friday, Bueckers — having never stepped foot on a WNBA court — was part of Ally’s promotional materials for becoming the official banking partner of the WNBA.

Eight days after finishing her collegiate career, Bueckers will officially turn the page in her story when she walks across the draft stage. She’ll almost certainly be headed to Dallas to join a franchise that lacks the same historic relevance as her alma mater. Though the Wings technically have three championships to their name, those titles belong to the Detroit Shock, which later relocated to Tulsa and eventually moved to Texas.

“I can’t begin to tell you how much this just injects energy, enthusiasm, as we head into the ’25 season,” Miller said in December after the Wings were awarded the No. 1 pick.

As a three-time All-American, three-time Big East Player of the Year and one-time Naismith Player of the Year, Bueckers can look to Clark as a road map through her rookie season.

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The former Iowa star’s adjustment to the pros took only a few weeks. Clark exploded, adjusting to the WNBA’s physicality, finding her stroke and meshing with her teammates en route to an All-WNBA first-team season. The Indiana Fever returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

“Much like last year when we thought Caitlin Clark’s game was going to translate right away, and for the most part it did, I think Paige’s game is going to translate right away,” UConn alum and Hall of Fame forward Rebecca Lobo said. “Caitlin and Paige are very different players. … But their impact can be just as significant.”

Teammates will feel Bueckers’ impact in games — she is a willing passer and will create even better looks for Dallas’ existing star guard Arike Ogunbowale. And it will be felt league-wide — the WNBA knows she’s a TV draw, with two Wings games on ABC this season after none last year.

In Dallas, team executives have also long recognized the impact the No. 1 pick would have. When the Wings won the lottery in mid-November, nine days after Miller was announced as their new GM, they also had yet to hire a coach. But that Sunday, when the ping-pong balls bounced in their favor, Miller knew it was transformative.

The Wings, who hired Chris Koclanes as their coach in December, were already in a growth moment when they learned of their good fortune. They had been planning a 2026 move from Arlington to Dallas, boosting their arena seating from around 6,000 to 9,000. A new practice facility was already in the works, too, and they added more national partners than ever last season. Dallas rebudgeted its ticket revenue three times in 2024 and sold two half-percent ownership stakes at a league-record $208 million valuation.

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But in the same way that Clark supercharged interest in the Fever and Reese did for the Chicago Sky, Bueckers will likely provide a boost. Though Dallas’ total ticket revenue grew 44 percent year over year from 2023 to 2024, the franchise is projecting a 50 percent increase in total ticket revenue this season. The Wings have sold out their season ticket inventory each of the past two seasons, but they announced they did so in late November, just days after securing the No. 1 pick.

Bueckers, 23, is a known star. Off the court, she garnered headlines from appearances at the U.S. Open and New York Fashion Week. This season, the Huskies sold out their season tickets for Gampel Pavilion for the first time since 2004-05.

UConn’s blowout win over South Carolina was the third-most watched women’s basketball championship game, peaking at 9.8 million viewers, according to ESPN. The Sweet 16 round averaged 1.7 million viewers across ESPN’s networks, the second-most watched Sweet 16 on record behind last year.

Monday’s draft might also fall short of 2024’s record event, but it’s poised to remain noteworthy and could be the second-most watched W draft ever. Bueckers will hear her name called, share a moment with commissioner Cathy Engelbert and begin a post-draft circuit consisting of interviews and photo shoots.

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As Taurasi said last season as Clark prepared for the WNBA, reality is coming. For Bueckers, this is true, too. But as a part of a wave of name, image and likeness stars who have already been the faces of a program and the sport, Bueckers is poised to be another success story in this era of historic WNBA growth. It’s impossible to be fully prepared for what’s next, but she is well-positioned to thrive.


Here’s a look at the order of Monday’s draft:

(Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic; photo of Paige Bueckers: David Butler II / Imagn Images)

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Would Paige Bueckers still be No. 1 if all college players were WNBA Draft-eligible?

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Would Paige Bueckers still be No. 1 if all college players were WNBA Draft-eligible?

As Sarah Strong dominated the South Carolina frontcourt during UConn’s national championship victory, gobbling up rebounds, protecting the rim and scoring from everywhere on the court, it was easy to imagine her also doing so at the next level. WNBA executives had to be drooling over the idea of drafting the next Huskies star.

But they’ll have to wait another three years. Under the collective bargaining agreement, which expires at the end of the 2025 season, American-born players are eligible to be drafted after completing four years of college. The one exception is that players can declare after their junior seasons if they turn 22 during the calendar year of the WNBA Draft. Since Strong has a February birthday, that won’t be an option.

As women’s basketball booms, players have more choices in shaping their careers, whether that’s in college via the transfer portal or professionally with new leagues. However, this is one decision that remains out of their control.

“I definitely think we should have the option,” USC star JuJu Watkins said on the “Good Game with Sarah Spain” podcast. “There’s just been such a growth in college basketball, where it’s like, why would you want to leave? Because you’re able to have that experience and build your brand here in college as well. I would say we should definitely have the option, but I think college is a way to prepare us for the pros as well. … It’s a touchy subject, but I’m for it.”

Although a change to allow players to declare early is unlikely, enough underclassmen are tempting pro prospects right now, headlined by Strong. Watkins, who has two remaining years of eligibility, would be a no-brainer lottery pick, even with a torn ACL that would keep her sidelined for this upcoming WNBA season. Madison Booker of Texas has a WNBA body and pull-up game, and her fellow SEC players Ashlyn Watkins (South Carolina) and Talaysia Cooper (Tennessee) also could be pro-ready.

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The idea of the age limit has historically benefited most parties, even if it diminished individual player agency. The WNBA is already the hardest league in the world to make and earn a second contract in, and it doesn’t behoove the current player pool to add more competitors for the limited roster spots.

Until recently, player experience was better in college than in the WNBA. It often didn’t make sense for athletes to sacrifice the ability to earn a college degree to pre-emptively join a league that didn’t pay that well. Certain players nevertheless took advantage of the opportunity to go pro after three seasons, including No. 1 picks Jewell Loyd and Jackie Young. Satou Sabally, the No. 2 pick in 2020, cited finances as the reason she left Oregon early, as she was in college before athletes could make money.

Foreign-born athletes don’t have to deal with the same age-related constraints as their American counterparts. Players born outside the U.S. can declare for the draft the year they turn 20, provided they don’t attend college in the NCAA system, presumably as a way to incentivize talent around the world to play in the WNBA. Those concessions have never been made for American players, who already grow up dreaming of playing in the league.

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Now the WNBA has better accommodations, more lucrative salaries and a higher profile, but college sports also offer money from collectives and the ability to profit from NIL deals. Athletes are no longer missing out on their earning potential by being denied early entry into the professional ranks.

The league benefits from the age limit as well. In addition to rookies being more physically suited for the pro game, the NCAA is a fantastic marketing tool for the WNBA. Players come into the league with four years of national exposure and oodles of name recognition. Though casual NBA fans struggle to identify one-and-dones, most WNBA fans are intimately familiar with the likes of Paige Bueckers, Aneesah Morrow and Hailey Van Lith before they even play their first professional game.

As a result, even though a new CBA is being negotiated, don’t expect the age limit to be a point of contention.

“It has been mentioned; I don’t think it’s a high priority,” Seattle Storm guard Lexie Brown said on “The Ringer WNBA Show” last month. “Going out into the world at 18, 19 years old as a young woman with no degree to go play a sport with nonguaranteed contracts, it’s kind of a recipe for disaster.”

There is a reasonable discussion to be had about whether Bueckers would be the No. 1 pick if every player in college this season were draft-eligible. Strong’s overall game, combined with her youth, in a league that still runs through the post, makes her a tantalizing selection. Watkins’ prodigious skill and star power put her in that hypothetical conversation as well.

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For now, this exercise remains theoretical. College basketball is still a more popular product, and the WNBA can afford to remain exclusive and close its doors to younger players with all of the talent that already exists within its ranks. The subset of players who could realistically make the jump early is limited — too small to rewrite an entire set of rules for.

(Photos of Madison Booker and Sarah Strong:  Alex Slitz / Getty Images, Joe Buglewicz / Getty Images)

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2025 NFL Draft matchmaker: Best fits for Cam Ward, Jaxson Dart, other top QBs

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2025 NFL Draft matchmaker: Best fits for Cam Ward, Jaxson Dart, other top QBs

Read Dane Brugler’s 2025 ‘The Beast’ NFL Draft guide.

At least beyond Cam Ward, there is no consensus on where each of this year’s crop of quarterbacks may get drafted. After Ward presumably becomes a Tennessee Titan, the rest of the group is a complete mystery. It’s just as likely Ward is the only quarterback we see on Thursday night as it is that four quarterbacks go in the first round.

Lucky for us, we’re going to cut through all that uncertainty and play quarterback matchmaker, placing all of this year’s top quarterback prospects on the teams that make the most sense. In some cases, that has more to do with what type of quarterback the team needs; in others, it’s about finding the right environment for getting the most out of a particular skill set.

Let’s get to the lovely new couples.

Cam Ward: Tennessee Titans

All signs point to Ward being the Titans’ starting quarterback next year. It’s not even worth entertaining different possibilities for either QB or team at this point. Ward is both a good fit for the core of Brian Callahan’s offense and would bring elements that Titans’ quarterbacks last season did not.

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The Titans’ 2024 offense was all about maximizing play-action opportunities and attacking down the field. Ward has the arm talent and fearlessness as a thrower to excel in that environment. However, Ward also massively improved his quick-game operation in college, and he’s much more comfortable playing from spread and empty formations than Will Levis has ever been. Ward is leaps and bounds ahead of Levis (or Mason Rudolph) as a creator outside of the pocket, too.

There are going to be growing pains with Ward’s overzealous play style early on, but they will be worth it in the long run. Ward has both a floor and ceiling worthy of being the No. 1 pick in this class.

Shedeur Sanders: New Orleans Saints

Finding Sanders’ best fit was trickier than I anticipated. Kevin Stefanski’s downfield play-action offense in Cleveland is not ideal; Brian Daboll’s quicker passing attack in New York might make sense, but that offensive line is a sieve and Sanders is not athletic enough to tap into some of the best parts of Daboll’s playbook.

The idea of Sanders being Kellen Moore’s first crack at a quarterback is intriguing, though. Sanders is at his best operating spread passing concepts, especially in the underneath area. He’s a reliable short-area passer who uses the intermediate and deeper areas of the field to keep defenses honest, rather than making those his preferred areas of attack. That’s perfectly fine for a West Coast-inspired offense.

Of course, falling to ninth overall is no guarantee. The Browns or the Giants may feel the itch of desperation and draft Sanders in the top three. If Sanders does slide a little bit, however, it wouldn’t be a shock to see the Saints stop that fall.

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Jaxson Dart: Seattle Seahawks

It would be stunning if the Seahawks left the first two days of the draft without a quarterback. The deal Sam Darnold signed in March is effectively a one-year contract with team options from then on out — if that doesn’t scream “a developmental quarterback is coming,” I don’t know what does.

Seattle could go in a few directions, but Dart makes sense for their new offense under Klint Kubiak, and vice versa.

Dart reminds me a lot of Jimmy Garoppolo as a passer. The two are quite similar in build, arm talent and ability on throws over the middle of the field. A majority of Dart’s best throws on film are slants, short posts and crossers. The same was true of Garoppolo at his best in San Francisco. Neither Dart nor Garoppolo is a quarterback you want reading out a full progression very often.

In theory, Kubiak’s offense plays into all of that. It’s built off the run game, which is then parlayed into a strong play-action attack. Not only does that simplify reads for the quarterback, it also demands the QB often makes tight throws over the middle of the field, which is where Dart shines.

With a year on the bench to learn the pace of the league, maybe Dart can make it work with the Seahawks.

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Tyler Shough: Cleveland Browns

The Browns’ best path to a quarterback is to take the Day 2 player most ready to start immediately. For my money, that is Shough.

Outside of Ward, Shough is the most talented thrower in the class. He has a flexible yet explosive release that works well from all platforms, in and out of the pocket. Though he’s more of a straight-line thrower than someone with fantastic touch, he still gets the job done from an accuracy perspective.

Shough is a quality processor, as well. Similar to Ryan Tannehill, he can be a hair slow coming off of reads early in the down but generally doesn’t make bizarre mistakes, and he protects the ball well.

In terms of pro readiness and arm talent, Shough just makes the most sense for Kevin Stefanski’s offense right now.

Jalen Milroe: Los Angeles Rams

If Sean McVay wants to keep the offense roughly the same in an eventual post-Matthew Stafford world, Milroe is not the answer — he’s actually the furthest thing from Stafford in this draft class (aside from the two or three bizarre misfires each QB has every game).

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McVay has long flirted with the idea of a mobile quarterback, though. He was eager to give John Wolford a chance at the end of the Jared Goff saga, then held onto him as the team’s backup through the 2022 season. McVay also gave Bryce Perkins a start in 2022, a game in which Perkins carried the ball 19 times for 90 yards.

Milroe will walk into the league as one of the best athletes at the position. As a passer, he’ll need at least a year to fix his footwork and adapt to the speed of coverage at the NFL level, but that’s okay. There would be no pressure on Milroe to compete with Stafford for the job.

This would be a long play. Regardless of it being a good or realistic idea, I just so badly want to see the world in which McVay gets to re-unlock the boot-action game and dabble in a quarterback-centric rushing attack.

Riley Leonard: New York Giants

Brian Daboll’s best work over the years — outside of his time with Josh Allen — was at Alabama in 2017, with Jalen Hurts, and in 2022, with Daniel Jones.

Though different quality players, Hurts and Jones can both generally be described as sturdy, athletic quarterbacks with the arm talent to push the ball down the field a little bit. Both players added something to the offense via their mobility, and Daboll took advantage.

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Aside from maybe Milroe, Leonard is Daboll’s best swing at that kind of athlete. Leonard is 6-foot-4, 218 pounds with serious wheels. He’s fairly explosive in short areas and excels when he really gets to stride out, similar to Jones. He’s clearly a weapon in the designed-run game and the red zone.

Leonard still has a lot to prove as a passer, but his athletic ability and toughness gives him a floor to work with while he figures it out.

Kyle McCord: Dallas Cowboys

It’s hard to find and hold onto good backup quarterbacks — the Cowboys were lucky to draft and retain Cooper Rush for as long as that they did. Boring as he is to watch, Rush was a perfectly competent quarterback when it came to running the offense and not playing outside of his means.

With Rush now in Baltimore, the Cowboys are in search of the next guy to fill that role. McCord is their best bet.

McCord is not an overwhelming talent. His arm is just okay, and he’s not going to scare anyone on the move. Like any good NFL backup, however, McCord can run an offense efficiently and consistently. He really learned to play within himself at Syracuse, displaying good rhythm and decision-making as a thrower.

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It’s unlikely he ever ascends to anything above a very good backup, but that’s quite alright for a Cowboys team shopping for that exact kind of player.

Will Howard: Pittsburgh Steelers

They have to draft somebody, right? Even under the assumption Aaron Rodgers finally drops the charade and signs, the Steelers need to make some sort of effort to secure a young quarterback.

Howard, if nothing else, fits Arthur Smith’s offense. He is not someone who should be a high-volume passer, which already leans into Smith’s run-first approach. Additionally, Howard’s best traits are his size and arm talent, which allows him to comfortably throw down the field, as well as ample athletic ability for a player his size. Smith’s entire play-action and boot menu would be open with Howard at quarterback.

It’s hard to imagine Howard developing the down-to-down accuracy and play speed to really thrive as an NFL starter, but Smith’s offense in Pittsburgh at least would give Howard a chance to hide his weaknesses and lean into his strengths.

Dillon Gabriel: Miami Dolphins

Putting the short lefty quarterback prospect as a backup to the short lefty NFL quarterback feels like a bit, but it’s not. It makes sense when you consider each player’s strengths and the dynamics of being a left-handed vs. right-handed thrower.

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Firstly, pass-catchers often talk about the flight and spin of the ball being different from lefty quarterbacks — the ball rotates in the opposite direction of 99 percent of quarterbacks, so it looks different coming into a receiver’s vision.

Gabriel, like Tua Tagovailoa, also thrives with RPOs and throws over the middle. He has a flexible and explosive release, making him perfectly equipped to manage those RPOs at a high level. And he thrives on in-breaking throws, even offering more velocity than Tagovailoa does.

The Dolphins desperately need to invest in a backup quarterback somehow. Gabriel fits.

Quinn Ewers: Buffalo Bills

Not every player or team gets their ideal match in an exercise like this. Sometimes, teams have to settle for whoever is left on the dance floor.

From the Bills’ perspective, a young backup quarterback should be on the table, because Mitchell Trubisky has just one year left on his deal. It makes some sense for the Bills to get ahead of things early and get a developmental player in the pipeline.

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Ewers would bring functional athleticism and arm talent for Joe Brady. He still struggles with pocket presence and touch accuracy, especially down the field, but there’s enough talent there to mold a functional backup.

(Top photo of Jaxson Dart:  Justin Ford / Getty Images)

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