Cade McNamara NFL Draft: Iowa QB's years of eligibility explored
Cade McNamara is already eligible for the NFL Draft, given he's a redshirt senior. He has been eligible since the end of the 2021 season, his third year in college sports. According to the NFL rules, players become eligible for the NFL after three years at the college level.
However, don't expect to see Cade McNamara in the NFL soon. The reality is he isn't NFL-ready yet. With college offenses ever more pro-like, there are lots and lots of other quarterbacks that would take precedence over the Iowa signal-caller. This will be an incredibly star-studded year at quarterback in the draft, with names like Caleb Williams, Bo Nix, Drake Maye, Sam Hartman, Michael Penix, Jordan Travis, and Jayden Daniels expected to declare.
Other non-senior players, like Shedeur Sanders, could decide to declare and make the situation all the more difficult.
Cade McNamara's 2024 Draft projection
With so much talent and the lackluster performances of McNamara so far, it would be surprising to see him declare. Additionally, the player has two years left of eligibility. After a season-ending injury last week, he is expected to return with the Hawkeyes to raise his stock.
Another important factor that NFL teams would want to consider when selecting him is that the Iowa QB is quite injury-prone. That could prevent him from adapting to the hostility of the pro side of the game.
It would be quite possible that if he were to declare this year, no team would draft him. He would either get drafted in the last two rounds or have to convince a team to hire him as an undrafted free agent.
Could Cade McNamara succeed in the NFL?
It wouldn't be the first time a player gets drafted very late in a draft and manages to achieve success in the NFL. Dak Prescott was selected in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys, and he managed to get a hold of the starting spot after Tony Romo's injury that year. He led the Cowboys that same year to the Wild Card round, where Aaron Rodgers' Green Bay Packers defeated them. Their record was 13-3.
More recently and more significantly, Brock Purdy was the last pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, earning the monicker "Mr. Irrelevant." He wasn't even the 49ers' backup but the third-string quarterback behind Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo. After both players got injured, the 49ers had no alternative but to turn to him as a starter. He led them to a 13-4 record, and they went to the NFC Championship game in which they lost to the Eagles.