Some people claim to have football in their blood. Others — like the Rourke family, formerly of Oakville, Ont. — don’t talk about it. They pack up the family home, uproot their lives, and abandon everything they’ve ever known to move to America’s Deep South in search of glory on the field.

Kurtis Rourke grew up in one of those rare Canadian homes that preferred pork skin to ice cream. By 2014, his older brother, Nathan, had become one of the best prep quarterbacks in the country — and received almost no interest from American schools. So parents Larry and Robyn rolled the dice. They moved the family nearly 1,000 miles south to Alabama in hopes that the football world would discover their children.

Mission accomplished. Nathan, who preceded Kurtis as Ohio’s starting quarterback from 2017-19, is now one of the best young quarterbacks in the CFL. And Kurtis, who followed his brother to Athens, Ohio, before starting as a freshman Indiana The whirlwind Curt Cignetti this offseason is in the middle of a season that could change his life in Bloomington.

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Kurtis Rourke entered the 2024 season with more CFL Draft buzz than NFL. Three months later, that has changed, partly because of what appears to be a below-average 2025 QB draft class, partly because he finally got the kind of exposure — and the team — which makes it shine.

But how much? Is Rourke a serious contender for the 2025 NFL Draft? Let’s take a look.

Rourke has thrown for more than 7,500 yards in five years at Ohio, despite suffering a torn ACL at the end of a stellar 2022 campaign. He played in 11 games for Ohio last season before entering the transfer portal and, finally, finding his biggest chance.

That disruption came in the form of Cignetti, whose true coaching superpower is his ability to completely and utterly transform an offense around his talent. What it means: If he picks you at quarterback, the offense will revolve around concepts you thrive in, so it will make you look really good. It can even make you look better than you are sometimes, but only if you’re smart and talented enough to handle it.

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With Rourke this season, Cignetti’s offense has relied heavily on his quarterback’s ability to correctly identify coverage and make prereads while remaining vertically aggressive enough to attack the middle of the field. Rourke’s brother, Nathan, made a name for himself with his ability to get rid of the football as quickly as possible, which is required for a player his size (6-foot-1, 210 pounds).

Kurtis Rourke, who stands 6-5, 231 with quick feet and good balance, possesses many of the same gifts. He’s been a very good RPO quarterback when Indiana has asked him to be, and he’s done a great job of taking quick safety valves against off-coverage or making advance decisions based on the looks of the blanket.

He wasn’t bothered by the pressure either.

Great example above, as we see a somewhat different pre-snap coverage look than UCLA. There are six defenders standing in the box, with three deep safeties in what could be o-coverage, stealer 1 coverage, or some sort of funky zone drop. Rourke does a great job maintaining his pocket rhythm, sticking to his progression keys, and delivering a great ball for a big gain.

Absolutely no panic, totally in control and confident in attacking teams in areas of the field where they are often the softest – this combination has more or less been the key to Indiana’s explosive success. Rourke’s ability to just take what is given and not be afraid of failure in the middle has made a huge difference.

Starting Saturday’s match against Michigan17.7 percent of Rourke’s pass attempts occurred in the middle of the field at a depth between 10 and 22 yards. This is the fourth highest figure nationally. Ten of his 19 touchdown passes came in that area of ​​the field, which is often one of the telltale signs of whether a QB has enough confidence to handle what he’ll see in NFL defenses.

Rourke also ranks #1 (minimum 200 attempts) in third-and-long conversion rate, at a ridiculous 57.1%. That’s almost 10% more than the next best QB (Miami(It’s Cam Ward).

This one is pretty awesome. UCLA’s defense isn’t quite ready, but the patience and courage Rourke shows to stay in the pocket and wait for the second dig route to open is exactly how this game is drawn on Cignetti’s whiteboard of terror.

No matter how athletic a player is, he must handle pressure right in your face is one of the hardest things a quarterback faces. There is no room for intervention there. The play is designed for Rourke to take that drop, take a big snag, and wait for that first dig to clear before ripping the ball right between the seams.

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Rourke knows he’s leveling and doesn’t care. This ball is perfect. More than that, ask yourself how many times you’ve seen a college QB go this exact route – the pressure builds up the middle, they panic and launch into chaos as a WR gets wide open up the middle. This is a great quarterback play against pressure.

Speaking of pressure, it’s probably no coincidence that Cignetti’s last two starting QBs, Rourke and current State of Texas QB Jordan McCloudranks 1 and 2 respectively in the EPA/under pressure attempt.

The best part of Cignetti’s offense is how it has answers to almost everything a defense can do. But, again, the quarterback has to be smart enough and good enough in the pocket to deal with it. McCloud is a better mover than Rourke, but the Indiana QB is no slouch.

Most importantly, in the room above, his eyes never lower, and at no point does he try to lower it and run away. He moves so he can reset and hit an open receiver. Some of that comes from experience, as Rourke has been in college since 2019. But the rest is just instinct, something Rourke is blessed with.

However, it does not have a cannon. His arm is strong enough to do a lot of damage, but you’ll see throws in the 35 range or so die on him. This will limit his potential in the eyes of some NFL teams. A few of his interceptions this season have been the result of balls that went dead on him or didn’t have enough momentum.

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When Rourke throws in rhythm, using his entire body, he is very accurate and has the ability to layer balls and attack between numbers. If his process becomes shaky, everything falls apart. His arm isn’t dynamic enough to overcome potential pocket errors.

In a wide-open 2025 QB class, players with more arm talent (like Shedeur Sanders or even Drew Allar) have attracted more attention. In some cases, that’s fair enough. But in this particular case, scouts will be better served looking at Rourke’s net positives because there are plenty of them.

There are also injury concerns, as we know, including the thumb surgery Rourke required in October. He’s since returned, obviously, so if his physicals are spotless and Rourke can replicate that pace of play down the stretch (and eventually into the playoffs), don’t be surprised if he moves up the QB list by April. More teams will view him as a No. 2 QB in the NFL than a No. 1, but a lot will probably conclude that Rourke, much like the current Las Vegas Raiders strategist Aidan O’Connellis more than enough to make a living in the NFL for a good while.

Ward, Sanders, Garrett Nussmeier, Carson Beck And Jalen Milroe are the closest we have to a consensus top-five QB right now, and that’s only if Nussmeier and Milroe enter the draft. However, if Rourke came close strong and put together a good run before the draft, he could climb to QB6 (or better) – yes, even ahead of a guy like Texas’ Quinn Ewers – on more than a few draft boards.

(Photo: Michael Hickey/Getty Images)