NFL Player News

The Vikings selected Hall in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, 164th overall.

Hall's an undersized signal caller (6-foot, 206 pounds), but he was a capable two-year starter at BYU with a 51:11 TD:INT ratio and nearly 700 rushing yards in 22 starts. In a draft full of older quarterback prospects, Hall turned 25 back in March, so it's tough to assume the passer will have enough runway at the NFL level to contend for a top spot. However, Hall may push Nick Mullens for the Vikings' No. 2 QB slot behind Kirk Cousins.

The Packers selected Clifford in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, 149th overall.

Clifford started 46 games at Penn State and kept Will Levis -- a second-round selection in the 2023 draft -- on the bench before Levis ultimately transferred to Kentucky. He is fearless in the pocket and has decent mobility, but he lacks arm strength, a factor that will likely limit him to a backup role throughout his NFL career. In the short term, he'll battle with Danny Etling for the second quarterback job in Green Bay.

The Browns selected Thompson-Robinson in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, 140th overall.

A five-year starter at UCLA, Thompson-Robinson had plenty of experience running an NFL-style offense with Chip Kelly at the helm. The 23-year-old set career highs in passing touchdowns (27), rushing touchdowns (12) and rushing yards (646) in his final season at UCLA, but the growth as a playmaker was offset by a rise in turnovers. Thompson-Robinson makes for an intriguing backup behind Deshaun Watson, though he'll have to battle Joshua Dobbs and Kellen Mond for slotting on the depth chart.

The Cardinals selected Tune in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, 139th overall.

Tune (6-foot-3, 220 pounds) isn't the most natural passer but he steadily improved each year at Houston and by the end of his career there he was one of the most formidable quarterbacks in the country, throwing for 40 touchdowns and running for five more in 2022. Tune has a prototypical frame for a starter and boasts plus athleticism at the very least after running a 4.64-second 40 and logging explosive jumps (37.5-inch vertical, 122-inch broad jump) at the combine. If Tune can keep building his passing skills then he could have a surprisingly good shot at emerging as a starter in the distant future.

The Raiders selected O'Connell in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, 135th overall.

O'Connell (6-foot-3, 213 pounds) never showed obvious starting upside at Purdue but he's well time-tested after more or less serving as a four-year starter for the Boilermakers. O'Connell did a pretty good job of moving the ball, producing 9,219 yards while completing 66.7 percent of his passes at 7.4 yards per attempt, but the touchdown rate (5.3 percent) and interception rate (2.4 percent) were respectively too low and too high for a soon-to-be 25-year-old quarterback project as more than a backup in the NFL.

The Rams selected Bennett in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, 128th overall.

A former walk-on quarterback turned two-time national champion, Bennett has come a long way to get onto the NFL Draft radar. The 25-year-old was a game manager in his first season as a starter for Georgia before becoming a Heisman finalist in 2022 by throwing for over 4,000 yards and 27 touchdowns. Size is an issue for Bennett (5-11, 192) but he has functional arm strength and sneaky athleticism to boot. He's not likely to be the long-term answer behind Matthew Stafford, but he adds depth to the Rams' quarterback room and that was needed in this draft.

The Saints selected Haener in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, 127th overall.

Haener is a very small quarterback (6-feet, 207 pounds), but in a league where Bryce Young goes first overall it should also make sense for a player like Haener to go in the fourth. The Fresno State product was a high-volume, high-efficiency passer for multiple seasons in college, throwing for 9,013 yards, 67 touchdowns and 17 interceptions in his final 29 games. At the combine Haener showed plus athleticism by logging a 35-inch vertical and 7.01-second three-cone drill, seemingly making him a quality depth project for the Saints.

The Lions selected Hooker (knee) in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft, 68th overall.

Hooker tore his ACL in November and might need a redshirt season in 2023 as a result, but whenever he's healthy he should give Detroit an interesting developmental quarterback behind Jared Goff. That Hooker turned 25 in January and played in an extremely favorable system at Tennessee undermines his otherwise excellent production with the Volunteers, where he threw for 58 touchdowns compared to just five interceptions in his final 24 collegiate games. To Hooker's credit he was a good player at Virginia Tech before that, too, and at both schools he proved an effective volume runner. Hooker is a total wild card, but the Lions had a lot of picks in the 2023 Draft and relatively few needs, leaving Detroit in good position to make this gamble.

The Titans selected Levis in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft, 33rd overall.

Levis' long slide out of the first round came to an end early in Round 2 as the Titans moved up via a trade with the Cardinals to make the pick. Though the notion of Levis going first overall never seemed plausible, there was some sense he would be a top-10 pick at the very least. Levis has plenty of pluses and minuses to his game. On the one hand, Levis has a big frame (6-foot-4, 229 pounds) with solid mobility to go with a powerful throwing arm. On the other, Levis is still very raw for a player his age. He will turn 24 before his rookie season and it took him until his fourth year in college and a transfer out of Penn State in order to win a starting job. Levis had strong statistics in his first year at Kentucky with 24 passing touchdowns and nine rushing scores. He played through bumps and bruises in 2022 and the production suffered, especially in the rushing category. There was concern regarding a lingering toe issue that may have fueled his slide out of the first round. Now in Tennessee, Levis projects to compete with 2022 third-round pick Malik Willis for the right to back up Ryan Tannehill before possibly challenging for the starting role in his second year.

The Chargers picked up the fifth-year option on Herbert's (shoulder) rookie contract Friday, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

With the May 1 deadline to make such a decision with 2020 first-round picks, L.A. did as expected with its franchise signal-caller. Through three seasons, Herbert has racked up at last 4,300 passing yards on each occasion, posted 94 touchdowns versus 35 interceptions and also added eight scores on the ground. Currently, he's in the midst of his recovery from surgery on his left, non-throwing shoulder and remains a couple weeks away from making light throws, but there's little worry about him being healthy by the time training camp kicks off in late July.