2023 NFL Draft: Could a surprise team take a quarterback?
The NFL is full of surprises. Could we see a surprise team take a quarterback in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft, and which team could that be? Whether it’s the actual on-field performances, a crazy free agency period, or something during the NFL Draft, the league is full of surprises.
The 2022 season certainly has lived up to those surprises. As we progress towards the end of the season and a Super Bowl winner is crowned, teams will begin and continue their progress in preparing for the 2023 NFL Draft.
The draft is the most important aspect of team building. Good teams are built through the draft and touch up the rest of their roster during free agency. Some teams are historically heavily involved in free agency, while other teams aren’t.
While there is no secret, 100% correct formula, it’s pretty clear that building the core of a team through the NFL Draft is the most tried and true way to do it.
There will surely be fireworks during April’s draft, and I do think we’ll see some surprises. Could there be a surprise team who may take a shot at taking a quarterback?
I think that’s perfectly reasonable, but which team could shock the league and make a move to draft a QB?
The Minnesota Vikings
Vikings’ head coach Kevin O’Connell is a candidate for coach of the year, as he’s gotten the most out of a talented Vikings’ roster. They’re well coached; they win close games and are efficient on offense. However, their biggest issue is clearly their defense, but that’s for another article.
Kirk Cousins has made millions upon millions of dollars in the NFL serving as a slightly above average quarterback for nearly a decade. He’s also one of the most interesting discussions to have in the NFL.
Some think he’s not good enough to consistently win with. Others think he’s perhaps a bit underrated and deserves more credit for his passing success. He’s in that weird middle tier where his teams can sometimes win because of him.
But there’s also times when his teams simply win with him, and even win in spite of him. He’s got a pretty abysmal primetime record, which is another knock on Cousins. However, he’s made himself quite a bit of money and does have nearly 40,000 passing yards and should reach 300 career touchdown passes sometime in 2024.
In the 2023 NFL Draft, the quarterback class could be much stronger in year’s past with guys like Bryce Young, CJ Stroud, Will Levis, Anthony Richardson, and others pleading their case to be drafted.
I think the Vikings could be a surprise team to take one of these signal callers, as they have a new regime in town from top to bottom, are not married to Kirk Cousins, and Cousins does not exactly fit the mold of the most successful quarterbacks today.
He’ll be 35 when the 2023 season starts and his days in Minnesota could be coming to an end.