TCU quarterback Max Duggan capped his college career with the Davey O’Brien Award on Monday night. He led the Horned Frogs to the national championship game and finished second to USC quarterback Caleb Williams in the Heisman Trophy race.
Now, it’s onto the NFL.
Duggan is training with quarterbacks coach Jordan Palmer in Orange County, California. Palmer worked with Joe Burrow and Trevor Lawrence before they were drafted No. 1 overall.
Duggan, unlike Burrow and Lawrence, is not a top prospect. He is projected as a third-day prospect.
“There will be teams that really like me, and there will be teams that don’t like me,” Duggan told Jonah Javad of WFAA on Monday.
Every recipient of the Davey O’Brien Award since 2007 has been drafted in the first round except Texas quarterback Colt McCoy. McCoy, the 2009 winner of the O’Brien, went in the third round to the Browns in 2010.
Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith, who won the O’Brien in 2006, was a fifth-round choice of the Ravens in 2007. Duggan could go later, and he doesn’t care.
“I understand I’m not one of the top guys and where you go in the draft isn’t relatively important to me,” Duggan said. "[It’s about] being able to have an opportunity to compete. Wherever you go, it’s about the right fit.”
Brock Purdy proved Duggan right. The Iowa State quarterback was the final choice in the 2022 NFL draft and ended up winning all five regular-season starts and leading the 49ers to the NFC Championship Game.
