Jared Curtis

Physical Profile

Listed 6-3 by 247Sports and 6-4 by On3, weighing in around 225 at signing and reportedly 230 in Vanderbilt fall camp, Curtis carries a prototype NFL quarterback frame that is already college-ready in the SEC. The size shows up on film as durability in the pocket and as a load to bring down on designed runs and scrambles, where he covered nearly 2,300 yards with 49 rushing touchdowns over four varsity seasons. He is not a burner, but he has enough short-area quickness and lower-body strength to convert on quarterback power and to extend plays outside the pocket. The frame does not need reshaping; the development work is footwork and lower-half timing, not mass.

Play Style

Curtis plays like a big-armed pocket passer with the freedom to improvise. He attacks all three levels, is comfortable throwing over the top on play-action and shots off run looks, and generates velocity without a full base, which makes him dangerous off-platform and on the move. He is a willing runner on designed keepers and goal-line power but uses his legs first to extend plays and reset his eyes downfield. The tape shows a quarterback who trusts his arm to fit balls into windows other high school passers would not attempt, and the senior interception rate suggests that aggressiveness is now paired with judgment.

Strengths

• Elite arm talent: On3 evaluators call him the most talented thrower in the class, with an elastic release that generates velocity from multiple platforms and lets him drive intermediate throws into tight windows and stretch coverage vertically.
• Efficiency and ball security: he completed 65.9 percent as a senior (141 of 214) for 2,073 yards with 36 TD and only 6 INT, extending a sophomore-to-junior leap that Rivals and On3 credited to improved decision-making and distribution rather than raw production.
• Dual-threat production that translates: 614 rushing yards and 11 TD as a senior and 49 career rushing scores make him a legitimate red-zone and short-yardage runner at 230 lb, the same designed-run profile Vanderbilt built around Diego Pavia.
• Winning pedigree and competitive makeup: two straight state championships, an 11-0 senior regular season, Mr. Football and Gatorade Player of the Year honors, and a fall camp where he pushed a senior starter as a true freshman, with observers noting a Favre-style edge in how he competes.

Areas to Improve

• Footwork and platform consistency: multiple evaluations flag minor lower-body mechanics, and fall camp reports credited Berlowitz with more consistency while Curtis flashed higher-end plays, which is the gap Clark Lea cited in starting the senior Week 1.
• Level of competition and volume: Division II Class A Tennessee football and 214 senior attempts are a small sample against modest defenses; reading SEC disguised coverages and processing at full-field speed is the unproven piece.
• Learning to win from structure: his arm lets him bail on the play design and still succeed, and the Vanderbilt staff has been explicit that they want him earning reps in games rather than being handed the job, so operating on schedule inside the offense is the near-term development target.

College Projection

Immediate contributor and eventual multi-year starter at Vanderbilt. He enrolled in January 2026, split first-team reps with Blaze Berlowitz throughout fall camp, and was promised game snaps in the September 5 opener against Austin Peay in a package role with no fixed snap count. The most likely path is a rotation early in 2026 that trends toward Curtis as the primary starter by mid-season or by 2027 at the latest, with a three-year run as the face of the program before an early declaration. The Berlowitz decision is about Week 1 organization and consistency, not a demotion; Lea has said the plan covers only the opener.

NFL Outlook

First-round profile if the development track holds. He checks the size box (6-3 plus, 230), the arm-talent box, and the mobility box, and his production trajectory shows the processing is catching up to the tools. The variables are reps and coaching: Vanderbilt's staff developed Diego Pavia into an All-SEC quarterback and has built an offense that suits Curtis's run-pass profile, so a 2029 declaration as a top-15 pick is the realistic ceiling if he starts two full seasons. The risk case is a slower footwork-and-consistency curve that pushes him into a fourth college year, still with Day 1 or Day 2 draft equity.

Best Fit

Vanderbilt is a genuine fit rather than a hometown convenience pick. The Commodores run a quarterback-centric spread that leans on play-action shots, RPO reads and designed quarterback runs, exactly the package that made Pavia productive and that maps to Curtis's arm plus 230-lb frame. He needs a program that lets him throw vertically and use his legs without asking him to be a pure system distributor, a stable head coach and offensive staff, and a runway to start early. Nashville Christian is roughly 10 miles from campus, which keeps the family and NIL infrastructure close. Any pro-style or spread offense with a strong play-action element and a reputation for developing quarterbacks maximizes him; a pure Air Raid that neuters the run threat would waste part of his profile.