Six quarterbacks were taken within the first 12 picks, but not all of them were received well.
The opening round of the 2024 NFL Draft is in the books.
It was a round dominated by quarterback discourse, particularly within the first 12 picks.
Six signal-callers were chosen in that span, ranging from Caleb Williams to the Chicago Bears with the first overall pick to Bo Nix to the Denver Broncos at No. 12. But not all of the picks were well received, specifically one in the top 10.
The 49ers addressed their wide receiver need by drafting Florida’s Ricky Pearsall at No. 31 overall. But so did the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, who traded up to No. 28 and picked speedy Texas wideout Xavier Worthy.
Let’s dive into the Round 1 winners and losers of the 2024 NFL Draft:
WINNER: Quarterbacks
It’s a good time to be a quarterback. With the quality in the position not so high across the league, you can see the logic behind some needy teams hoping to land a gem early on. These are the signal callers who went in the first round:
- Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears (No. 1 overall)
- Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders (No. 2 overall)
- Drake Maye, New England Patriots (No. 3 overall)
- Michael Penix Jr., Atlanta Falcons (No. 8 overall)
- J.J. McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings (No. 10 overall)
- Bo Nix, Denver Broncos (No. 12 overall)
Will they all pan out? Probably not. But teams can’t win the Super Bowl without a star quarterback, so the onus shifts to the respective franchises to properly develop their new players.
LOSER: Atlanta Falcons
But there’s also the cases of drafting a player too early — especially a quarterback if a team just handed a lucrative contract to one in free agency.
Such was the case with the Falcons, who picked Washington’s Penix Jr. at No. 8 overall. The Falcons under newly hired head coach Raheem Morris have several holes to fill on defense, but they instead opted for a 24-year-old quarterback who will have to sit behind soon-to-be 36-year-old Kirk Cousins.
Cousins, who is coming off an ACL tear, signed a four-year, $180 million deal with Atlanta in free agency. The news of Penix Jr. being drafted reportedly left Cousins “a bit stunned.” So, he doesn’t like that?
