2023 NFL mock drafts starting to show five first-round quarterbacks
The battle for the first overall pick between Bryce Young and CJ Stroud has been a raging debate for a while, but a new question has emerged – how many quarterbacks will be drafted in the first round on April 27?
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Young and Stroud are almost assuredly going to be joined by Anthony Richardson and Will Levis, and all of them may be taken in the top five picks. Because of the draft order, the deeper you go, the less of a need there is for a quarterback because bad teams pick early and they typically have bad quarterbacks. Also, it is harder to get a true, franchise-altering No. 1 guy as the talent pool thins.
With Young expected to go first overall, DraftKings has CJ Stroud as the second QB selected at -250, with Will Levis at +300, and Anthony Richardson at +500.
Levis and Richardson are co-favorites at +150 to be the third QB selected, while Stroud is +300. (Odds as of April 27, 11 a.m. PT)
A new first-round challenger has emerged and his name is Hendon Hooker.
How many quarterbacks will be drafted in the first round?
DraftKings had Over 4.5 (+100) and Under 4.5 (-130) as of April 5, but that was the low point. The line is back up to -225 on the Under 4.5 and +180 on the Over as of April 6. On Draft Day (April 27), the line is still 4.5, with Over at -150 and Under at +120.
Writing about the NFL Draft can be tricky because the odds move with each smokescreen, each report and each new mock, but there seems to be a ton of buzz about Hooker, whose senior season at Tennessee was cut short due to a torn ACL suffered on November 20 against South Carolina.
The 25-year-old Hooker is said to be progressing well from the injury and has been making the rounds meeting with teams in the lead-up to the big day. Draftniks and analysts seem to be leaning more towards Hooker being a first-round pick than not, but what do our experts have to say?
Tim Murray and Shaun King shared their thoughts on the April 4 edition of VSiN Primetime:
Jonathan Von Tobel took a strong stance while filling in on The Lombardi Line on April 5:
Dan Saley also weighed in during a guest spot on VSiN Tonight:
Quarterbacks are always easy targets for writers to talk about because they get clicks, but we’ve seen a lot of front offices reach for QBs in hopes of filling a need with the most important position on the field.
The odds will change and the markets will move a ton between now and the draft, but the QB market is sure to be one watched the closest.