While Will Levis and Hendon Hooker didn’t get selected in the first round — some experts thought as many as five QBs would go in the first round — the top two and three of the top four were quarterbacks.
Bryce Young went overall No. 1 to the Carolina Panthers. C.J. Stroud shrugged off talks of falling and went No. 2 to the Houston Texans and Florida phenom Anthony Richardson went fourth to Indianapolis.
Per the NFL, a quarterback has been selected first overall on 27 occasions, the most among all positions going back to 1997.
And this 2023 NFL Draft is the fourth in the common-draft era to have three quarterbacks chosen among the top four selections, joining 2021, 1999 and 1971.
By the way, Young became the first player from Alabama to be selected with the first overall pick in the and also he became the 10th quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy and be chosen No. 1 overall since 1967.
Panthers GM Scott Fitterer talked about the Young pick.
“When we met in February, there was just overwhelming conviction for him during our draft meetings,” Fitterer said yesterday. “Coach (Frank Reich) actually had just gotten here at the time; he was putting the staff together. He came in, he was a part of that, he heard it, because we wanted him to hear how strongly these guys feel about him and what they know about him, kind of set the table for him, so he can go and do his evaluation with the staff. So we were a little bit further ahead. But throughout the process he checked every box that we had. You know, we tested him, we talked to him, we had dinner with him. Just every time we met with him, we felt more and more convicted. And we liked all the guys, but Bryce was the guy that we really felt strongly about.”