Why isn't the state of Florida producing highly ranked quarterback recruits?

New York Times

30-04-2025

When it comes to producing NFL quarterbacks, the state of Florida ranks at the top with Texas and California.
Dating to 2016, 11 quarterbacks from the Sunshine State have been drafted, third most behind Texas (15) and California (13), and five have been selected in the first round, second most behind California (eight).
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Yet, when it comes to high school recruiting rankings, it's been hard to find the state's best quarterbacks high up on any national lists. From 2010 through 2025, Florida produced only three quarterbacks who ranked among the top 100 prospects nationally — Jeff Driskel (No. 17 in 2011), Feleipe Franks (No. 54 in 2016) and Deondre Francois (No. 66 in 2015).
Eight states have produced more top-100 quarterbacks during this stretch.
Driskel, who signed with Florida and finished his career at Louisiana Tech, is the state's only five-star quarterback since 2010.
That, however, is about to change. Dia Bell, the son of former NBA standout Raja Bell, is ranked No. 12 overall and No. 3 among QBs in the Class of 2026. Bell, who plays at Plantation American Heritage, has been committed to Texas since June.
Further down the pipeline, Class of 2028 product Neimann Lawrence out of Miami Northwestern has a chance to be one of the state's best quarterbacks in years. He's already been invited to play in the 2028 Navy All-American Bowl and will be leading the South Florida Express 7-on-7 team at the OT7 national championships at the end of June.
Bell and Lawrence, however, are the exceptions.
So why isn't Florida — historically one of the most talent-rich states in the country — producing more elite quarterback recruits?
It's about development and economics.
'No. 1, coaching is not where it needs to be on the high school teams,' said a Group of 5 assistant coach who has recruited Florida for 20 years. 'No. 2, you don't have enough QB gurus. It's getting better. You see a little more development. We have more gurus, but it's still not nearly as much in places like Texas, Georgia and California.'
Ken Mastrole has coached quarterbacks in Florida at the high school level and in the predraft process for the past two decades. His students include seven eventual NFL Draft picks, most notably Teddy Bridgewater, EJ Manuel and Jacoby Brissett.
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He blames the developmental issues on the lack of financial support in Florida's public school system. High school coaches in Florida have been fighting in the state legislature recently for raises amidst claims they've been notoriously underpaid for years.
'I could sit here and tell you there's four or five high schools where there's a Power 4 quarterback in terms of talent, but they're not getting what they need to develop,' Mastrole said. 'I'm dealing with one now — I'm not going to name him — he's 6-3, 220. I don't want to knock the school, but the development is not good. The four to six hours I spend with him a month isn't enough. In Texas, (there is an athletic period during school for) football training. They're going over offense and situations with coaches.'
There were 14 quarterbacks drafted last weekend. None were Florida-born. That's happened only three times since 2016.
Mastrole said a strong family support system is a common thread for many quarterbacks who find success.
'I see this at the NFL level, the kids who have the greatest opportunities — Gardner Minshew, Teddy Bridgewater, Jeff Driskel, Brandon Allen — a big part of it is the parents who create a strong structural environment for them to flourish,' he said.
'Regardless if it's a single mom household or a complete family setting, the kids who have the proper structure, genetics and inner drive, and parents who know what it takes playing a sport, they know what to do. Their parents put them in the right places with the right people. It was the same with (2025 No. 1 overall pick) Cam Ward. His mom and father were coaches.'
Bridgewater, a 2014 first-round pick out of Louisville, said his mother couldn't afford private coaching when he was in high school. He didn't have a position coach at Miami Northwestern until he was a senior and didn't work with a QB coach until he left Louisville to prep for the NFL Draft.
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'I wasn't really prepared (for college),' said Bridgewater, who coached his alma mater to a state championship in 2024. 'I knew coverages and everything, but I came from a system that was (two options).'
Bridgewater said it took him a year to really grasp the offensive system at Louisville. He lacked the reps and the development, especially since he didn't start playing quarterback until the seventh grade.
'That was the norm back then,' he said. 'I never took quarterback seriously because you knew your chance of making the league at quarterback was scarce. I basically learned to throw on the street with my partners. These kids now, like Niemann (Lawrence), are at least starting at it earlier.'
Coaching and development no doubt play a role, but you can also make the case that many Florida prospects have been misevaluated.
Lamar Jackson, a Heisman Trophy winner at Louisville and a two-time NFL MVP, was a three-star prospect (No. 398) in the Class of 2015. Michael Penix Jr., who finished second in the 2023 Heisman voting and is the starter for the Atlanta Falcons, was ranked No. 548 in the Class of 2018.
Of the state's 11 quarterbacks who have been drafted since 2016, only four were rated four-stars or higher: Brissett (third round, 2016), Driskel (sixth round, 2016), Nathan Peterman (fifth round, 2017) and Anthony Richardson (first round, 2023).
Who are the next Sunshine State quarterbacks who might hear their names called during the draft? Last season, 12 Florida-born quarterbacks started at least seven games at FBS schools. Six were starters at the Power 4 level — Georgia's Carson Beck (now at Miami), Cal's Fernando Mendoza (now at Indiana), Iowa State's Rocco Becht, NC State's CJ Bailey, Virginia's Anthony Colandrea (now at UNLV) and West Virginia's Garrett Greene.
Beck and Bailey were the only blue-chip recruits in the bunch. In fact, Mendoza was ranked 140th out of 142 quarterbacks in the 2022 recruiting class. Yet, he was one of the most sought-after QB transfers in the portal in December.
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Beck, Mendoza, Becht and Bailey are all expected to be starters once again this fall. Austin Simmons, a third-year sophomore at Ole Miss, is another native Floridian in the mix for a starting assignment.
If all four do indeed start, that still gives Florida only four starters among the 68 Power 4 schools. Not a great ratio for a state that has produced roughly 15 percent of the nation's blue-chip prospects (at all positions) over the last four recruiting cycles.
'You can tell a lot of these kids just aren't learning enough football,' Matrole said.
(Photo of Jeff Driskel: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)