National Football League historians will point to the 1983 draft as the richest in quarterback prospects. How could it not be given six were taken in the first round and three are currently in the Hall of Fame.
That year, the draft opened with John Elway the first pick, not, you might know, by the Denver Broncos but rather the Baltimore Colts. Elway announced before the draft he would not play for Jim Irsay, the Colts owner, and after Baltimore selected him, he threatened to play his professional career in baseball with the New York Yankees.
The threat, real enough given the Yankees wanted the multi-talented Elway, coerced the Colts into trading Elway to the Broncos before the 1983 season. Elway played his entire career in Denver, led the Broncos to four Super Bowls and ended his career with back-to-back wins in the final leg for the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
The sixth quarterback taken in the first round in 1983 was Dan Marino, who was the target of drug suspicions that with some level of evidence were planted by the Dolphins to dissuade other teams from taking the Pittsburgh alum. If that was indeed a ploy, it worked while four other teams selected other signal callers with their first pick before Miami grabbed Marino with the 27th overall selection.
Todd Blackledge went to the Kansas City Chiefs with the seventh pick and the Buffalo Bills made future Hall of Fame entrant who led Buffalo to four consecutive Super Bowls the 14th pick, Jim Kelly. Tony Eason, who was on the New England Patriots team that lost to the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XX, was the 15th pick and the New York Jets took Ken O’Brien three choices in front of the Dolphins tabbing Marino.
Okay, six quarterbacks in the first round and three that are enshrined in Canton. Can you top that?
Maybe.
With what year?
Last year, 2024. In that draft the NFL scouting departments chose five quarterbacks in the first round, all in the top dozen selections, and two have already led their teams to the playoffs while one had what many consider the best rookie season ever. That would be Jayden Daniels, who turned the fortunes in Washington with a trip to the National Football Conference Championship Game last January.
Bo Nix, the fifth quarterback and 12th overall selection, guided the Denver Broncos to the postseason in his rookie year. The top pick in the 2024 draft was Caleb Williams, who struggled in his season with the Chicago Bears but still shows promise of developing into a top-notch franchise QB.
Then there are the eighth and tenth picks from last year’s draft, Michael Penix Jr. and J.J. McCarthy respectively. We are going to find out a lot about those two this season as they move into starting roles with the Atlanta Falcons and Minnesota Vikings.
Penix spent most of last season behind the Falcons major off-season acquisition, Kirk Cousins, who did not deliver what the Falcons had bargained for. His disappointing season opens the door for Penix to lead Atlanta this year.
In Minnesota, the roles of veteran and rookie were reversed. The Vikings didn’t pick up a veteran to play in front of their first-round draft choice, but rather as a backup to their rookie. That plan fell apart when their prize first-year player and tenth overall selection, J.J. McCarthy, was injured in the preseason and lost for the year.
The backup the Vikings had signed, Sam Darnold, who was the third overall selection in the 2018 NFL draft, had his first season living up to his draft status while guiding the Vikings to 14 regular season wins. Still, his one-year wonder success didn’t deter Minnesota management from sticking with their plans and turning their team over to the young quarterback out of Michigan.
In something reminiscent of the Baltimore Ravens releasing Trent Dilfer the year after he led them to a victory in Super Bowl XXXV, the Vikings didn’t sign Darnold for this season and he is now penciled in as the starter in Seattle. The Vikings are turning over their quarterback duties this season to McCarthy.
If he succeeds, leads the Vikings back to the playoffs, and Williams and Penix develop into the players their teams expect … well you can put the 2024 drafting of NFL quarterbacks right up there with the bevy of field generals that burst on the scene in 1983.