For the first time since 1999, five quarterbacks heard their names called in the first round of the 2018 draft. After a 19-year gap being a quintet of first-round quarterbacks, the new streak may not even get to one.
There’s a current belief in some circles (thanks to a source who knows the ins and outs of the draft as well as anyone) that this year’s draft also could result in five quarterbacks being picked in round one.
Three are a given: Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray, Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins, and Missouri’s Drew Lock. (Lock could actually go before Haskins.) The fourth would be Duke’s Daniel Jones.
The fifth could be one of multiple options, depending on various factors like whether a team drafting late in round one likes one of the remaining quarterbacks enough to pick him and whether a team trades back into round one for a quarterback and the possible five-year deal that goes along with getting him before round two.
Twice since the 2014, a team has moved up to pick No. 32 for a quarterback. The Vikings traded up for Teddy Bridgewater five years ago, and the Ravens traded up in 2018 for Lamar Jackson.
The fifth this year could be, in theory, N.C. State’s Ryan Finley, Auburn’s Jarret Stidham, Northwestern’s Clayton Thorson, or West Virginia’s Will Grier.
This isn’t a report or a prediction that there will be five taken in round one. It’s a “someone who knows his stuff thinks there could be five” head’s up regarding the possibility that, just like a year ago, five new quarterbacks could enter the NFL on the first night of the draft.
And it makes sense. As more and more solid young quarterbacks flood the league, more and more teams that don’t have one will want one. Given that signing a rookie (especially late in the first round) is a lot cheaper than signing a veteran, it makes sense to roll the dice on someone who could become a franchise-caliber player.
