With Saturdays and Sundays vacant until fall, the mind has to find its football fix somehow. Even though the paint isn’t even dry on the 2025 draft, hypothesizing over the ‘26 iteration is in full flow. Pipe dreams and projections that will inadvertently get busted in a year’s time. But alas, it does make for some fascinating discourse. As such, South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers finds himself at the center of scrutiny from an NFL lens.

A certain archetype of quarterback currently reigns supreme in the NFL: The legitimate dual-threat. 2x MVP Lamar Jackson and now Jayden Daniels are the poster children of an evolution of the game away from the traditional pocket passer. This is the hot, in-demand type of signal caller that franchises want to bet on. Fortunately for him, LaNorris Sellers fits that mould. In fact, he doesn’t just fit it- he excels in it. 

As a redshirt freshman last season, Sellers put up 17 TDs through the air and an additional 7 on the ground for Shane Beamer’s SCal. He possesses a cannon arm and at the same time can move the sticks with his legs rushing out of the backfield. Sure, the game isn’t fully refined yet. He has a bit of a turnover issue, but nothing you can’t iron out with reps and time. LaNorris Sellers is someone who has the requisite repertoire of tools to thrive in the pros. That’s reflected in his projected draft fate, too. ESPN’s NFL Draft analyst Jordan Reid leveraged his opinion on Sellers over “This is Football.” He’s got him down as the No.1 overall pick. That’s a microcosm of what Sellers is and, more importantly, can yet be with another year at the collegiate level. Reid also compared him to a retired 6x Pro Bowler.

“He [LaNorris Sellers] is a Ferrari man…He has so much horsepower to his game. I mean, he was only 18 years old Last year, and you saw so many glimpses with him,” remarked Reid. The floor is high enough, but the ceiling is what elevates Sellers to this caliber of prospect. “I’ve made the comparison of Donovan McNabb to him, but even stronger than what McNabb was coming out of Syracuse. I know that’s way back for a lot of people, but he just has that thick frame,” he added. That’s some very high praise and, by extension, pressure on a teenager. McNabb is a bona fide Eagles legend and has north of 40k career NFL yards. But yet, this comp doesn’t feel hyperbolic.

Jordan Reid proceeded to elaborate on how he was almost omnipresent at South Carolina games last season and got treated to the full LaNorris Sellers experience each time. He even mentioned seeing that 75-yard housecall against LSU in the flesh. No wonder Reid’s high on him. Rather interestingly, he brought up another NFL pro who has often been compared to Sellers. But Reid believes that parallel doesn’t translate as well as McNabb.

LaNorris Sellers is deemed better than a former top 5 overall NFL Draft pick

Not every athletically gifted QB pans out like the aforementioned Lamar Jackson or Jayden Daniels. Drafting a signal caller is a crapshoot anyway, with GMs and coaches shooting proverbial darts. Hoping for them to land on the right guy. But while it’s more an art than a science, there are some ways to segregate the ones that are most likely to become future stars. So maybe picking one 4th overall after they’ve made just 13 collegiate starts isn’t the greatest decision.

When Anthony Richardson surprisingly got picked that high by the Colts, it wasn’t exactly unmerited. His raw tangibles and tools, which were on full display at the Combine, did make it more of a punt than an outright mistake. That said, it hasn’t transpired all that well in hindsight. Perhaps Richardson’s rocky transition to the NFL is baked into why Jordan Reid isn’t buying the rather prevalent comparisons to LaNorris Sellers. “You’re going to hear the comparison to Anthony Richardson a lot with [LaNorris Sellers]. But I think he’s a way more polished passer than what Anthony was. He’s going to have way more experience than what Anthony had coming out [of college],” said Reid.

Sellers will still have 2 more years of eligibility after this upcoming season. But the way he’s tracking, it does seem likely he’ll forego them and turn pro. But a lot of rides on how he navigates the ‘25 season. Shane Beamer and South Carolina sure will hope he takes that (redshirt) sophomore leap. And doesn’t just improve individually, but even nudge SCal into the playoffs. Which they missed only marginally last season. LaNorris Sellers is one underlying plotline very worthy of keeping an eye out for come fall.