There’s no question that quarterback is the most important position in football, and quite possibly the most important position in sports.
That said, NFL teams have been pretty good with their restraint in overdrafting the position in recent years. In 2022, only one quarterback (Pitt’s Kenny Pickett to the Pittsburgh Steelers at 20) went in the first round, which is exactly how things should have gone based on talent and current potential.
The 2023 draft could be very different. Not only are there established top-5 talents like Alabama’s Bryce Young and Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, but there also outlier-potential guys like Kentucky’s Will Levis and Florida’s Anthony Richardson, and newer arrivals Michael Penix Jr., Hendon Hooker, and Bo Nix.
There are a lot of teams with quarterback needs in the NFL right now, and the talent ceiling is far more interesting in 2023 than it was in 2022. So, in this particular mock draft, we have NFL teams setting a pro football record with seven first-round quarterbacks, exceeding the six (John Elway, Jim Kelly, Dan Marino, Todd Blackledge, Tony Eason, Ken O’Brien) taken in the historic 1983 class.
Not that we know this will happen of course, but when thinking about the 2023 draft, it’s time to consider how much more compelling this year’s group of quarterbacks really is with the possibility of actual first-round value. In that case, it could be much more like the 2021 draft, when five quarterbacks (Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, Justin Fields, Mac Jones) were taken in the first round, with different results to date from player to player.
Is this the year that the NFL goes all-out for quarterbacks like never before? Take a look at our most recent first-round mock and see if it makes sense to you.
(Note: The Miami Dolphins, who would have the 29th pick in the current order, forfeited their first-round pick as part of the NFL’s punishment for tampering).