First round of NFL draft turns into QB bonanza with record 6 taken in top 12

Quarterbacks have fallen off the draft board at a record pace.

Thursday night was the fourth time in the common draft era, starting in 1967, that QBs went with the first three picks, with three more in the top 12.

This marked the first time five quarterbacks were drafted in the top 10 and matched the famous 1983 class with six first-rounders in all, as teams across the league looked for a great passer who could turn around a franchise’s fortunes.

“I wasn’t shocked,” said Bo Nix, who was the last QB off the board at No. 12 behind Denver. “I think the six of us are all capable of playing at the next level. It will be fun to watch everyone and see how they develop. I wasn’t shocked at all because I think this class of quarterbacks was very strong.”

The draft started predictably with Caleb Williams going first to Chicago, Jayden Daniels second to Washington and Drake Maye third to New England, marking the second time in the last four drafts that QBs went 1-2-3.

But out of caution, two of these highly drafted 2021 quarterbacks have already been cut by their teams, with the New York Jets trading No. 2 pick Zach Wilson earlier this week to Denver as part of a late-pick swap of the draft round. and San Francisco trading third-round pick Trey Lance last August to Dallas for a fourth-rounder.

Two other first-round quarterbacks from that draft also went out, with Chicago trading the No. 11 pick, Justin Fields, to Pittsburgh and New England trading the No. 15 pick, Mac Jones, earlier this offseason.

These flaws haven’t stopped teams from using premium picks on quarterbacks. Atlanta pulled off the biggest shock by taking Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth pick less than two months after signing Kirk Cousins ​​to a four-year, $180 million contract in free agency.

“If we see a player that we believe can be a franchise quarterback at any time, whether it’s this draft, the next draft, whether it’s a player we can trade for, whatever it is, you have to bring that player in because we’re talking about the next four to five years or so when we talk about the guys we’re drafting,” Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot said.

Minnesota then traded up to take Michigan’s JJ McCarthy with the 10th pick, not wanting to risk missing their target.

“We knew we weren’t the only ones who identified him as a quarterback we wanted to draft,” coach Kevin O’Connell said. “You start thinking about what if.”

Denver completed the achievement by selecting Nix with the 12th pick.

The only other time six quarterbacks were selected in the entire first round was in 1983, in a draft that produced Hall of Famers John Elway, Jim Kelly and Dan Marino, along with less productive quarterbacks like Ken O’Brien, Tony Eason and Todd Blackledge. .

But the QBs got off the board much quicker this time. Marino had to wait until the 27th pick to be made by Miami 41 years ago.

This draft is the eighth in the last nine years with at least three QBs chosen in the first round, which matches the number of times it happened in the first 38 years of the common draft era.

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