Some NFL teams prefer passing on QBs in the first round

By JERRY TAPP

Even though it’s the “off-season,” the NFL is in the news with the NFL Combine being held in Indianapolis.

One thing that usually goes along with the Combine is the plethora of mock drafts which circulate in the media. Every NFL expert (and even some who are not experts) have an opinion about who and how each of the NFL’s 32 teams will draft in April.

One such mock draft I read had the Packers choosing a QB in the first round. The logic was that the team needed to prepare for the inevitable time when Aaron Rodgers would not be an elite QB and the team needed to start putting a succession plan in place. Should the Pack select a QB in the first round of this year’s draft? Let the debate start.

It got me thinking about QBs selected in the first round over the past several years. Specifically, I looked at the QBs who were chosen in the first round of the NFL Draft since 2000, a total of 20 drafts this century.

A total of 56 QBs were chosen in the first round of the draft from 2000-2019, an average of just under three per year. Four teams, however, have not drafted a QB in the first round this century: Dallas, New England, New Orleans and Seattle. In fact, the team that has the longest stretch where they have not drafted a QB in the first round are the New Orleans Saints. The last QB they drafted in the first round was in 1971 when they tabbed Archie Manning, Peyton and Eli’s father, in the first round of that draft.

Here’s a look at the last year each NFL franchise chose a QB in the first round of the NFL Draft (the current city for each franchise is listed).

1971: New Orleans (Archie Manning)
1989: Dallas (Troy Aikman)
1993: New England (Drew Bledsoe), Seattle (Rick Mirer)

2003: Cincinnati
2004: L.A. Chargers, Pittsburgh
2005: Green Bay, San Francisco
2007: Oakland
2008: Atlanta
2009: Detroit
2011: Carolina
2012: Indianapolis, Miami
2014: Jacksonville, Minnesota
2015: Tampa Bay, Tennessee
2016: Denver, L.A. Rams, Philadelphia
2017: Chicago, Houston, Kansas City
2018: Baltimore, Buffalo, Cleveland, N.Y. Jets
2019: Arizona, N.Y. Giants, Washington

• Nine franchises have drafted three or more QBs in the first round this century; the Redskins and Browns have each drafted four different QBs in the first round since 2000. The seven teams that have drafted three QBs in the first round since 2000: Arizona, Baltimore, Buffalo, Denver, Jacksonville, N.Y. Jets, Tennessee.
• There have been four colleges that have had three or more of their QBs taken in the first round since 2000… USC has seen four of its QBs taken in the first round since 2000 to top the list; California, Florida State and Oklahoma have had three of their QBs taken in the first round since 2000.

Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp