The 2022 and 2023 National Football League seasons saw the Kansas City Chiefs win the Super Bowl as the best team in the league.
A common factor in the two Chiefs’ teams was strong quarterback play Patrick Mahomes, who is considered one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL today. Later this month, several NFL teams could look to draft their next franchise quarterback.
2024 NFL Draft: The quarterback position remains a key to many National Football League franchises being successful and making the NFL playoffs each year.
Mahomes was the second quarterback chosen in the 2017 NFL Draft, going 10thth overall. Mitch Trubisky he was drafted second overall by the Chicago Bears. The quarterback Deshaun Watson 12 was also draftedth by the Houston Texans.
Three quarterbacks taken in the first round didn’t set any records, but the 2024 NFL Draft could see several sets with many mock drafts showing quarterbacks favored in the first five picks and first 15 picks based on team needs.
Quarterbacks Caleb Williams (USC), Jayden Daniels (LSU), Drake May (North Carolina) e JJ McCarthy (Michigan) are all listed to go in the top 15 of most NFL experts’ mock drafts.
BoNix (Oregon) and Michael Penix Jr. (Washington) are also considered potential first-round draft picks.
Current sports betting odds DraftKings Inc DKNG shows the highest probability of five quarterbacks being taken in the first round, with over 4.5 paying out at -250, meaning a $250 bet would pay a profit of $100 if correct.
Here are the current odds for the top five picks in the draft.
- Caleb Williams -10,000
- Jayden Daniels -160, Drake Maye +140, JJ McCarthy +300
- Drake Maye -135, Jayden Daniels +155, JJ McCarthy +330
- Marvin Harrison Jr. (Wide Receiver, Ohio State) -175, JJ McCarthy +175
- Several wide receivers favored, JJ McCarthy +275
The top three picks all have favored quarterbacks, with McCarthy also considered likely fourth or fifth depending on whether the Minnesota Vikings trade up to take a quarterback.
A mock draft from The Athletic shows the quarterbacks taking the top four picks with Williams, Maye, Daniels and McCarthy drafted in that order.
Pro Football Focus has a mock draft showing a record six quarterbacks taken in the first 15 picks with Willliams, Maye and Daniels taken with the first three picks, McCarthy fifth, Nix taken 12th and Penix took 13th.
NFL Draft Analyst Mel Kiper had quarterbacks as five of the first 12 picks in a mock draft released last month.
Related Link: NFL Sticks with Exclusive Streaming, But What About the Super Bowl? “We must fish where the fish are”
Because it is important: A quarterback going first overall is not a record, although the position has been more heavily represented with 35 top overall picks in the last 89 years. Five of the last six drafts have seen a quarterback taken first overall, and seven of the last 10 top picks have been quarterbacks.
In the 1949 and 2018 NFL Drafts, four quarterbacks were selected with the first 10 picks, which is the current record.
The 2018 NFL Draft featured five quarterbacks selected in the first round, which tied for second place with the 1999 and 2021 NFL Drafts. The 1983 NFL Draft featured six quarterbacks selected in the first round, including Hall of Famers Dan Marino, Troy Aikman AND Jim Kelly.
The 2012, 2018 and 2020 NFL Drafts all featured three quarterbacks chosen in the top eight picks.
These aforementioned draft classes have produced some of today’s best quarterbacks in the league, including Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa, Lamar Jackson, Trevor Lawrence AND Josh Allen.
The 2024 NFL Draft could become one of the best draft classes for first-round quarterbacks. It could take years to determine the success of the quarterbacks and whether the draft class will get the same recognition as the record-breaking 1983 NFL Draft.
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