NFL Draft primer: Flawed, yet talented QB group can be found at head of class

After a one-year hiatus, quarterbacks will be back in demand early in the NFL Draft.

Passers could be taken in four of the first five selections, a contrast to the 2022 class when no quarterbacks were taken until the Pittsburgh Steelers grabbed Pitt’s Kenny Pickett with the No. 20 overall pick.

Pickett, in fact, was the only quarterback taken before the third round.

History won’t repeat itself in 2022. Expect the first round of the draft to begin much like the ones in 2021 and 2020.

Two years ago, quarterbacks went off the board with the first three picks: Trevor Lawrence to Jacksonville, Zach Wilson to the New York Jets and Trey Lance to the San Francisco 49ers. A year earlier, Joe Burrow went first overall, with Justin Herbert going to the Los Angeles Chargers at No. 6 after Tua Tagovailoa went to the Miami Dolphins.

Although there isn’t a consensus generational prospect in the bunch, the Carolina Panthers moved up eight spots in a trade with the Chicago Bears presumably to take Alabama’s Bryce Young with the No. 1 overall pick.

Behind Young on the draft boards reside Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, Kentucky’s Will Levis and Florida’s Anthony Richardson — in some order. Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker could go in the back half of the opening round.

“It’s not one of those years where you have Trevor Lawrence,” NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said. “It’s not Joe Burrow. It’s not Andrew Luck. It’s not that year where you say, ‘OK, this is that one — I don’t want to say can’t-miss — but it’s going to be hard to miss.’

“We don’t have that. They all have warts and flaws, but I think there are five potential solid starters in this group.”

It’s just a matter of how long it will take this year’s rookie quarterbacks to ascend to a starting role. Pickett was the only one in the 2022 class to start the majority of his team’s games. It might take some time for Young and company to ascend to the top spot as well.

Some teams, though, don’t have that patience. The Jets are ready to move on from Wilson two years after he was the No. 2 overall pick as they continue to work on a trade for Aaron Rodgers. The Tennessee Titans apparently have soured on Malik Willis a year after taking him in the third round as a so-called quarterback of the future.

That makes it paramount for teams in search of quarterbacks to find the right fit. Young, for all of his potential and pedigree, stands just 5-foot-10 and weighs 204 pounds. But he was a two-year starter at Alabama and won the Heisman Trophy in 2021.

“If you just looked at it analytically, how many guys at that size have (become) superstars as undersized quarterbacks?” new Panthers coach Frank Reich said at the NFL annual meeting. “And there are some like Drew Brees and so on and so forth. It all goes back to that recipe: How much are we going to weigh that? How important is that to us as an organization? That’s the process we go through, but everything is a consideration. … It’s always a consideration with his playmaking ability, his accuracy, his leadership, his instincts.

“It’s the same thing with C.J., Levis, Richardson, all of those guys. You look at every single one of those things, and it’s sliding scale on how you evaluate them.”

Houston, holding the No. 2 overall pick, could be targeting Stroud, who has more traditional quarterback measurements at 6-3, 214 pounds. Taking over for first-round pick Justin Fields in 2021, Stroud was a back-to-back Heisman finalist at Ohio State and led FBS in pass efficiency while throwing for 41 touchdowns and just six interceptions in 2022.

“He had so much talent around him that maybe teams will feel like that assisted him,” ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. said.

Wild cards in the quarterback class are Levis and Richardson. The 6-4, 229-pound Levis started 24 games over two seasons at Kentucky following a transfer from Penn State. The drawback on Levis is he was sacked 37 times in 2022 and threw a combined 23 interceptions over two seasons as a starter.

“That’s the cause for concern,” Jeremiah said. “That’s the flag.”

Richardson emerged as a riser on draft boards after he declared for the draft following his sophomore season at Florida. He has the size — 6-4, 232 pounds — teams covet, and he was a dual threat for the Gators. The concern is he started just one season on the collegiate level.

Hooker was the SEC Offensive Player of the Year and finished fifth in Heisman balloting. Yet, he is 25 years old and tore his ACL in November.

“The thing with these quarterbacks is they are just so interchangeable,” Kiper said. “It depends on what you want. If you say height or size is a factor … then Bryce Young is out. If you say a quarterback has to have a certain number of starts, then Anthony Richardson is out. If you said a quarterback had to finish strong and play well in that final year, Will Levis is out.

“All of these quarterbacks, you can find a reason not to take them. But as Bill Walsh used to say, ‘Don’t tell me what he can’t do, tell me what he can do.’ I can tell you what all of them can do, which is why think all of them will go (high).”