Brock Purdy's rise from Mr. Irrelevant to 49ers quarterback will be a talking point in the 2023 NFL Draft.
It also will have teams hunting for the perfect Day 3 quarterback. While Georgia's Stetson Bennett and TCU's Max Duggan will get the most attention after leading their teams to last year's College Football Playoff championship game, another Big Ten quarterback might fit that description better.
Purdue's Aidan O'Connell won't fall to the seventh round, but he's one of the more intriguing Day 2 or Day 3 quarterback prospects in this year's draft.
Don't recognize O'Connell? He's a dead ringer for Officer Farva.
Purdue QB Aidan O'Connell & Super Trooper Rod Farva: Separated at birth. pic.twitter.com/CBzliYT6eC
— Jim Weber (@JimMWeber) April 12, 2023
O'Connell – a two-year starter at Purdue – is more than just a doppelganger form an underrated cult classic. He's an underrated quarterback and potential Day 3 starter who could get a chance at the next level.
MORE: 11 potential steals to know in 2023 NFL Draft
Aidan O'Connell college career
O'Connell (6-3, 213 pounds made three starts as a sophomore at Purdue, and he took over the job full time as a junior. That was part of an impressive season in which he totaled 3,712 yards, 28 TDs and 11 interceptions.
O'Connell had huge games against Ohio State (390 yards, 4 TDs) and Tennessee (534 yards, 5 TDs, 3 INTs) that season. According to Pro Football Focus, O'Connell had 36 big-time throws and 17 turnover-worthy plays as a junior.
As a senior, those numbers changed. He had 21 big-time throws and 25 turnover worthy plays as a senior, and he had six games with a NFL passer rating of less than 100. O'Connell dealt with injuries during the season, and his brother Sean passed away the week of the regular-season finale against Indiana.
O'Connell finished with 3,490 yards, 22 TDs and 13 interceptions, and he led the Boilermakers to a Big Ten championship appearance against Michigan. O'Connell hit 32 of 47 passes for 366 yards and two interceptions in a 43-22 loss.
O'Connell NFL Draft profile
It was an up-and-down career for O'Connell, but he has good size.
O'Connell needs to be better in the intermediate passing range. He had a 57.6% completion percentage between 10-20 yards the last two seasons with 11 interceptions. He did regress on his passes of 20 yards or more in his final season, but he still had a 41.2% completion percentage on those passes with 12 TDs and three interceptions. That's a decent two-year track record.
Aidan O'Connell passing totals 2021-22
| RANGE | TOTALS |
| 10-20 yards | 125 of 217, 2,094 yards, 22 TDs, 11 INTs |
| 20+ yards | 45 of 109, 1,522 yards, 12 TDS, 3 INT |
Source: Pro Football Focus
O'Connell offers little mobility outside of having the frame to run quarterback sneaks, and Purdue's offensive system is quarterback friendly. He still has enough arm strength and accuracy to be a Day 2 or Day 3 pick.
MORE: The best FCS, HBCU & small-school sleepers to know in 2023 NFL Draft
Purdue quarterbacks in the NFL Draft
Drew Brees (2001) set the modern standard. He ranks second all time in NFL history with 80,358 passing yards and 571 TDs. Brees was a second-round pick.
Purdue has a proud quarterback tradition that includes Hall of Fame quarterbacks such as Len Dawson (1957) and Bob Griese (1967) and first-round picks such as Mike Phipps (1970) and Jim Everett (1986).
The Boilermakers have had two quarterbacks drafted since Brees. Kyle Orton (2005) was a fourth-round pick who had a 42-40 record as a starter in nine seasons. Curtis Painter (2009) played three seasons and made eight career starts.
NFL QBs outside the first round
Will O'Connell ever have a chance to start? A total of 12 franchises had quarterbacks who were drafted outside the first round make the most starts for their team in 2022.
A look at this list of quarterbacks
| ROUND | QBS |
| Round 2 | Jalen Hurts, Geno Smith, Derek Carr, Andy Dalton |
| Round 3 | Russell Wilson, Davis Mills, Jacoby Brissett |
| Round 4 | Kirk Cousins, Dak Prescott |
| Round 6 | Tom Brady |
| Round 7 | Brock Purdy |
| Undrafted | Taylor Heinicke |
O'Connell will not be a starter in 2023, but the fact there were five Day 3 picks who started the majority of their games last season offers hope for the future.
Aidan O'Connell NFL Draft projection
SN's Vinnie Iyer has O'Connell landing in the fifth round with the Las Vegas Raiders at the No. 144 overall pick in his latest seven-round mock draft.
According to Iyer, O'Connell would be the seventh quarterback off the board behind first-round picks Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, Anthony Richardson and Will Levis, third-round pick Hendon Hooker and fourth-round pick Jaren Hall.
That is a good projection for O'Connell's draft-day value.
