A clear trend is developing with quarterbacks in the NFL

There’s a clear trend that’s been developing in the NFL among quarterbacks coming into the league that gives clear direction for teams.  Finding a franchise quarterback in the NFL and playing quarterback at a high level in the NFL is perhaps the most difficult thing in the history of professional sports to do.

The quarterback is the most important position in sports, and over the last few offseasons, we’ve seen teams take big risks on quarterbacks, whether through trades, free agency, or in the NFL Draft.  There’s a trend I’ve noticed develop and the trend has not always been there.

Take a look at some of the most talented signal callers in the NFL today.

Guys like Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, and even someone like Justin Herbert were largely seen as “raw” prospects.  Funnily enough, some of the prospects that most of us saw as “the most pro-ready” ending up not working out, right?

Just take a look at players like Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, and Baker Mayfield, for example.  A lot of chatter about these players when they were coming out pegged them as guys who could come in and start day one.

They were indeed viewed as pro-ready prospects because of their supposed high ceiling attributes.

Well, none of those players ended up panning out long-term in the NFL, but rather, quarterbacks who were viewed as projects like Mahomes, Allen, Jackson, Herbert, perhaps even someone like Deshaun Watson all ended up panning out in the NFL.

In the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft, the one prospect that might fit into this “raw” category the most is Anthony Richardson of Florida, who is insane, elite level tools that could be unleashed under the right conditions.

A team will indeed take a chance on a prospect like Richardson, and the returns could be special.