Which Routes do Draft Quarterbacks Love to Throw? And Which Ones Do They Hate?
Kevin Fielder asked seven quarterbacks in the 2026 NFL Draft and, for some reason, a linebacker, what their favorite routes were to throw and which concepts they had the most trouble with
In 2016, then-Washington State head coach Mike Leach simplified his approach to quarterback development for media members following a practice. As the co-founder of the Air Raid offense believed, accuracy was the most important trait a quarterback could possess.
“All of high school, he’s not accurate, now all of a sudden, you’re special, you’re going to make him accurate. After all of college, he isn’t accurate; you’re going to make him accurate. I haven’t seen that happen,” Leach said. “I’ve seen guys improve, but they just don’t become accurate. … You can go get the shortstop and teach him to play quarterback easier than you can make someone accurate.”
While Leach does have a point, he is partially responsible for some of the biggest reasons why quarterback evaluation in the NFL Draft process is a mixed bag.
In college football, the wild diversity of schemes makes it difficult to pinpoint what quarterbacks can actually do in pro-style offenses. While most NFL offenses will operate under center, college offenses are the byproduct of what a quarterback likes to do. As a result, offenses that run Air Raid concepts, like Leach, will have no issue spamming their core concepts, like Y-Cross, until the game is over.
While evaluating a quarterback based only on those concepts isn’t the best way to find your favorite team’s next franchise quarterback, there is often additional insight available from which routes or concepts quarterbacks pick as their favorite or believe they struggle with.
Take Y-Cross, for example. The concept prides itself on quick progressions, but the combination of a deep over and post on the playside means there are NFL throws against certain coverages. If a quarterback likes throwing the concept and can showcase a mastery of working through it with accuracy, there will be translatable traits throughout the play.
During the pre-draft cycle, Wide Left spoke to multiple top quarterbacks to find out which routes they enjoyed throwing and which concepts they believed they needed to work on heading into the NFL.
Texas Tech QB Behren Morton
Between his time at Eastland (TX) High School and Texas Tech, Behren Morton has spent more time in the Air Raid than any quarterback in this year’s draft.
Even with four offensive coordinators at Texas Tech, Morton hasn’t deviated from Air Raid concepts, with the Red Raiders running their entire offense out of shotgun under head coach Joey McGuire. Unsurprisingly, Morton’s favorite route concept to throw is a staple in any offense that runs concepts from the pass-heavy scheme.
“Y-Cross kind of beats everything. You can beat man; it can beat cover 2, cover 3, and cover 4. You can beat all-out blitz,” Morton said. “When I hear Y-Cross in the playbook, I’m fired up.”
While Pro Football Focus does not have Y-Cross as an available passing concept, it does credit Morton as 14-of-20 for 305 yards and two touchdowns on crossing routes in 2025.
Since Morton had full control of what’s called at the line of scrimmage, he doesn’t believe there was a route concept that gave him trouble. However, at the East-West Shrine Bowl, Morton had to adjust to playing at a slower pace than he was used to in college.
“I’ve never huddled in my career. In high school, I ran the Air Raid. I’ve had four different coordinators at Texas Tech; we were all in Air Raid, taking victory formation [as] shotgun snaps, never under center,” Morton told Wide Left during Shrine Bowl. “This week has been awesome as far as getting to go under center and getting to know we don’t have to play at a two-minute pace, we can slow things down, and we can really operate.”
Texas Tech LB Jacob Rodriguez (former Virginia quarterback)
Before he switched to defense, Rodriguez was a standout quarterback at Rider High School in Wichita Falls, TX, impressing even his future college teammates with his ability to throw the ball.
“He really threw the deep ball well. He was really powerful, obviously, as you know, but he could really spin it. He was a dual-threat kind of guy,” said Morton. “My roommate at Texas Tech was his tight end, so I went to watch him in the fourth round when they were playing in the playoffs. I was like, ‘This dude is legit.’ He can spin it, and he can get the ball out quick, but he can also put his face to your chest and run you over.”
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