There seems to be a general understanding that Miami's Cam Ward and Colorado's Shedeur Sanders will be the first two quarterbacks off the board in the 2025 NFL Draft, but beyond that, there's hardly a consensus of where the remaining signal-callers will fall, and in what order. Some scouts love Jaxson Dart, others are drawn to the physical skillset of Jalen Milroe, and some are enamored by the pedigree of Quinn Ewers. And then there's Kyle McCord.

McCord led the nation in passing yards while guiding the Syracuse Orange to just their third 10-win season of the century. His 4,779 yards through the air broke Deshaun Watson's ACC single-season record. He followed up a successful 2024 season with a strong performance in the East-West Shrine Game, boosting his draft stock to the degree where it now seems as if there's some buzz he could be among the biggest sleepers at the position.

But there's one man who isn't sleeping on Kyle McCord. Syracuse head coach Fran Brown, perhaps a little biased, is prepared to go to bat for the quarterback he claims he knew was different all the way back when McCord was in middle school.

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“His desire to win, his dedication to being great, he exemplifies D.A.R.T. He is detailed, accountable, he's relentless and he's tough. And I think that's why he and I got along so well, because we held everyone accountable,” Fran Brown told JD Pickell of On3. “Just me personally, I'm excited about everybody in the draft, but there ain't no one better than him. None of those dudes can play quarterback better than him… He went against one of the best head-to-head, and he won.”

The game that Brown is referencing was Syracuse's regular season finale against a Miami Hurricanes squad that was playing to clinch a bid in the ACC Championship Game. In that matchup, McCord delivered one of his best performances of the season, throwing for 380 yards and 3 touchdowns and out-gunning potential 1st overall pick Cam Ward in a 42-38 Syracuse win.