NFL Draft 2024: Could Record Number Of Quarterbacks Be Taken In First Round?

The 2022 and 2023 National Football League seasons saw the Kansas City Chiefs win the Super Bowl as the top team in the league.

One common factor about the two Chiefs’ teams was the strong play of quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who is considered one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL today. Later this month, several NFL teams could be looking to draft their next franchise quarterback.

2024 NFL Draft: The quarterback position remains a key for many National Football League franchises having success and making it to the NFL Playoffs every year.

Mahomes was the second quarterback taken in the 2017 NFL Draft, going 10^th overall. Mitch Trubisky was drafted second overall by the Chicago Bears. Quarterback Deshaun Watson was also drafted 12^th by the Houston Texans.

Three quarterbacks taken in the first round didn’t set any records, but the 2024 NFL Draft could see several set with many mock drafts showing quarterbacks favored in the top five picks and top 15 picks based on team need.

Quarterbacks Caleb Williams (USC), Jayden Daniels (LSU), Drake Maye (North Carolina) and J.J. McCarthy (Michigan) are all listed to go in the top 15 of the majority of mock drafts from NFL experts.

Bo Nix (Oregon) and Michael Penix Jr. (Washington) are also considered potential first-round draft picks.

Current betting odds from sportsbook DraftKings Inc DKNG show the likelihood of five quarterbacks taken in the first round as high, with the over 4.5 paying out at -250, meaning a $250 bet would pay out $100 profit if correct.

Here are the current odds for the top five draft picks.

1. Caleb Williams -10,000
2. Jayden Daniels -160, Drake Maye +140, J.J. McCarthy +300
3. Drake Maye -135, Jayden Daniels +155, J.J. McCarthy +330
4. Marvin Harrison Jr. (Wide Receiver, Ohio State) -175, J.J. McCarthy +175
5. Several wide receivers favored, J.J. McCarthy +275

The top three picks all have quarterbacks favored with McCarthy also seen as likely going fourth or fifth depending on if the Minnesota Vikings trade up to take a quarterback.

A mock draft from The Athletic shows quarterbacks going with the top four picks with Williams, Maye, Daniels and McCarthy drafted in that order.

Pro Football Focus has a mock draft that shows a record six quarterbacks taken in the top 15 picks with Willliams, Maye, Daniels gone with the first three picks, McCarthy taken fifth, Nix taken 12^th and Penix taken 13^th.

NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper had quarterbacks as five of the top 12 picks in a mock draft out last month.

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Why It’s Important: A quarterback going first overall is not record-breaking though the position was most represented with 35 top overall picks in the past 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 taken with top 10 picks, which is the current record.

The 2018 NFL Draft saw five quarterbacks taken in the first round, which tied with the 1999 and 2021 NFL Drafts for second most. The 1983 NFL Draft saw six quarterbacks taken in the first round, including Hall of Famers Dan Marino, Troy Aikman and Jim Kelly.

The 2012, 2018 and 2020 NFL Drafts all saw three quarterbacks taken in the top eight picks.

These draft classes mentioned above have produced some of today’s top quarterbacks in the league including Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa, Lamar Jackson, Trevor Lawrence and Josh Allen.

The 2024 NFL Draft could go down as one of the top draft classes for quarterbacks in the first round. It could take years to determine how successful the quarterbacks are and if the draft class will get the same recognition as the record-breaking 1983 NFL Draft.

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