Jarrett Guarantano, QB
NFL teams love to take chances on quarterbacks later in the draft. After four QBs were taken in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, eight more were selected on the third day in rounds 4-7, including six in rounds 5-7.
If Jarrett Guarantano is Tennessee’s starting quarterback and plays more like he did in contests against South Carolina and Missouri rather than his games against BYU, Florida, and Alabama, then he absolutely has the potential to sneak into one of the later rounds in the 2021 draft.
It’s worth noting that Guarantano certainly isn’t assured the starting quarterback job at UT in the 2020 season, and his inconsistent play in 2019 has rightfully cast doubts on his true ability. But when he’s at his best, Guarantano is a capable SEC quarterback and can make some good throws.
Can Guarantano keep that up for a full season, though? Will he be able to develop enough between now and next April to make an NFL team intrigued by him? He has the arm strength and toughness to warrant a look by the league, but he’ll need to show better decision-making and more consistency for any team to draft him.
If Nathan Peterman can go from disastrous starts at Tennessee to looking competent at Pittsburgh and getting drafted in the fifth round of the 2017 draft, Guarantano is more than capable of elevating his play enough to get selected on Day 3 of the draft. In fact, the New Orleans Saints drafting Mississippi State QB Tommy Stevens in the seventh round of this year’s draft should be even more evidence that Guarantano getting drafted isn’t far-fetched.
