There are four quarterbacks viewed as locks to be selected in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, and potentially all in the first four picks: USC’s Caleb Williams, LSU’s Jayden Daniels, North Carolina’s Drake Maye, and Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy.
After that, it’s unclear if the first round will feature any other quarterbacks. Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. and Oregon’s Bo Nix are viewed as potential first-round picks, but definitely not locks. South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler is an intriguing prospect, but in much more of a Day 2 way.
DraftKings Sportsbook sets the over/under at 4.5 quarterbacks in the first round, with the “over” favored at -270. So, the betting market thinks it’s likely that there will five quarterbacks selected in the first round.
Well, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero appeared on The Dan Patrick Show on Monday and was asked how many quarterbacks he think will go in the first round.
Pelissero told Dan Patrick, “Right now, sitting here, I would say six quarterbacks go in round one.”
"Right now sitting here I would say 6 QBs go in Round 1… You have more teams right now that need QBs than there are QBs to be taken."
–@TomPelissero explains why he thinks 6 QBs will go in the 1st round of the #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/ziJCwVcXMp
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) April 22, 2024
As Pelissero alluded to, there are plenty of quarterback-needy teams, and that’s of course where the desperation could come into play.
The Chicago Bears (Williams), Washington Commanders, and New England Patriots are likely to take quarterbacks in the draft’s first three picks. The New York Giants (No. 6), Minnesota Vikings (No. 11 and 23), Denver Broncos (No. 12), and Las Vegas Raiders (No. 13) all need quarterbacks too. Then you have teams like the Los Angeles Rams — as Pelissero suggested — potentially looking to find a long-term option at quarterback, even if they already have a definitive starter in place.
It’s easy to see any of the Vikings (they already made one trade to land the No. 23 pick), Broncos, and Raiders looking to trade way up for a quarterback. And if these teams come up empty in that pursuit on draft night, perhaps they’ll turn their interest to Penix or Nix, whether it be at their current pick slot or in a trade-back scenario.
It will be interesting to see how many quarterbacks are selected in the first round and which teams make those picks. We’ll get answers soon, with the NFL Draft arriving Thursday night in Detroit.
[The Dan Patrick Show on X/Twitter]
