Although quarterbacks went 1-2 in this year’s NFL draft, from top to bottom NFL teams viewed this as one of the weakest years for quarterback prospects ever.
As a result, only seven quarterbacks were drafted -- the fewest in any NFL draft since six quarterbacks were taken in 1955.
After Jameis Winston went first to the Buccaneers and Marcus Mariota went second to the Titans, the rest of the quarterback picks were sparse: The Saints took Garrett Grayson and the Rams took Sean Mannion in the third round, the Jets took Bryce Petty in the fourth round, the Packers took Brett Hundley in the fifth round and the Broncos took Trevor Siemian in the seventh round.
In that 1955 draft, with only six quarterbacks drafted, George Shaw went first overall to the Baltimore Colts. That didn’t work out very well; Shaw had a mediocre career. But in the ninth round that year, the Steelers took quarterback Johnny Unitas. That worked out pretty well for the Colts, as Unitas got cut without ever playing a game for the Steelers, and then headed to Baltimore where he became one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history.
