Max Duggan goes pro: QB made right choice to enter NFL draft

Out of all the stay-or-go decisions across college football, TCU quarterback Max Duggan’s was one of the most interesting.

Thanks to having an extra year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 season in 2020, the senior quarterback had the option of returning in 2023. On Sunday he declined that option when he announced he entered his name into the 2023 NFL draft.

It was a hard decision to make as sources around the program believed he was as close to 50-50 as one could get last week.

In the end Duggan made the right decision to cash in on a magical season that may have done wonders for his draft stock.

Go out on top

Whether it’s athletics or dealing with your typical 9-to-5 job, everybody wants to go out on top and on their own terms. For Duggan, what better way is there to end this storybook season by heading to the NFL draft and hearing his name be called?

Duggan won the Davey O’Brien Award, the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award plus countless All-American honors.

He led TCU to a 12-1 record and the program’s first appearance in the College Football Playoffs. There’s a strong case that this was the best season and best team in program history. Less than 24 hours after announcing he was entering the draft, Duggan received an invite to the Senior Bowl, arguably the biggest postseason all-star game in the country.

When he gets there, he’ll endear himself to a number of teams with his impressive intangibles and physical traits.

On the field, Duggan is likely to pleasantly surprise scouts and personnel with his speed and strength. His toughness speaks for itself. His arm isn’t the strongest, but he’ll have some really good film showing the progression he’s made with his accuracy and touch under coach Sonny Dykes.

Just a few months ago, the thought of being a NFL quarterback was more of a dream to Duggan. Especially after he didn’t win the starting quarterback job over Chandler Morris during training camp. Today, it feels closer to a guarantee that he will be drafted.

If that means he’s a day three pick, a fourth-to-seventh rounder, it’s not the end of the world. Just look at Brock Purdy, who is starting now for the San Francisco 49ers after selected as the last pick in the draft.

Sam Ehlinger was a sixth-round pick out of Texas and had his chance to start for Indianapolis Colts. Dak Prescott was a fourth-round pick and is now a franchise quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys.

The best comparison for Duggan’s situation might be Jalen Hurts. Hurts was a productive, but uneven starter for Alabama. He was benched in the national championship game for Tua Tagovailoa and eventually transferred to Oklahoma.

Under Lincoln Riley, Hurts went from a fine college quarterback to the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy who led the Sooners to the College Football Playoffs. He was drafted in the second round of the 2020 NFL draft.

Now Hurts is playing at a MVP-level for the Philadelphia Eagles.

As the NFL continues to embrace more and more of college football’s schemes, what it means to be a successful quarterback in the NFL is vastly different than what it was 10 years ago.

Maximize his skill set

All Duggan needs is an offensive coordinator or head coach to maximize his skillset.

If he returns to TCU, it would be extremely difficult for Duggan to replicate the same type of individual and team success next year. TCU is not expected to fall off a cliff, but there will be plenty of production that has to be replaced.

Wide receiver Quentin Johnston feels like a lock to enter the NFL draft, running back Kendre Miller is a NFL back as well. Not to mention players like receiver Derius Davis and offensive lineman Steve Avila. I would set the over/under for TCU players to be drafted at 5.5 and would lean to the over now that Duggan is entering the draft.

Dykes and company are killing it on the recruiting trail and just landed commitments from Alabama transfer receiver JoJo Earle and LSU receiver Jack Bech. However, replacing the production of Johnston, Davis and Taye Barber is still a daunting task.

Duggan would have the benefit of being in Dykes’ scheme for another year, but some of that would have been negated by having to build chemistry with newer and younger pieces.

Duggan is literally at the top of the mountain after a historic season for both him and the school he loves dearly. He said one of the reasons he stayed at TCU is because he wanted to leave the program in a better place than when he got here.

When he got here, TCU was coming off a 7-6 season and then proceeded to win just 16 games in his first three seasons. Now, the worst-case scenario the Horned Frogs will be 12-2 and finish ranked inside the Top 10.

Best case scenario? TCU ends the year as the national champions or the runner-ups to a powerhouse Georgia team. The Horned Frogs are on pace for their best recruiting class ever and that doesn’t include the high-profile transfer TCU is in the mix for.

TCU is in a much better place than he arrived thanks to the school’s first playoff berth. Duggan is the ultimate selfless person, putting the needs of TCU and his teammates before himself countless times.

After what he’s done for the program, who could blame him for deciding to put his individual dreams first and pursue the NFL?

Nobody.

Duggan will go out on top as TCU legend and will be mentioned in the same conversation as Andy Dalton, LaDainian Tomlinson and more.

Sounds like a perfect ending.