The 2024 NFL Draft had a record six first-round quarterbacks. Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, Michael Penix Jr., J.J. McCarthy and Bo Nix all went from No. 1 to No. 12 overall.
Going into the 2025 season, all six are starting in Week 1 and are joined by one more second-year QB, the New Orleans Saints' Spencer Rattler, a fifth-round pick.
But with how some of those quarterbacks performed last season and considering upside expectations for this season, should they have gone in a different order to different teams, including those who didn't take a QB?
If Sporting News were picking again today, here's how those half-dozen passers would be redrafted:
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2024 NFL Draft: Redrafting the top QBs
Jayden Daniels
Where he went: No. 2 overall to Washington Commanders
Where he should have gone: No. 1 overall to Chicago Bears
Williams has some high-ceiling talent and more of that can manifest better in Year 2 after a typical up-and-down first season. Daniels, however, has already arrived as an elite passer and runner, producing more combined yards than any rookie QB in NFL history.
Daniels is the superstar in hand and hindsight says the Bears would be accelerating as an NFC contender with him, given he took the Commanders all the way to the conference title game. The question is whether Daniels would have run into some of the same offensive dysfunction pre-Ben Johnson in Chicago, leading to more inconsistent and inefficient results.
Daniels landed in the ideal spot with Kliff Kingsbury's system and any other path might have made him more mediocre than stellar. The teams with the other second-year first-round QBs are all hoping for anything that resembles'Daniels' immediate all-around ascent.
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Drake Maye
Where he went: No. 3 overall to New England Patriots
Where he should have gone: No. 2 overall to Washington Commanders
If the Bears had taken Daniels instead of Williams, then the Commanders would have had to pivot to the next best athletic style of QB for Kingsbury to maximize rookie productivity. They could have gone Williams No. 2 with Daniels off the board, but they also would have been comfortable going for the dynamic running skill set of Maye.
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Caleb Williams
Where he went: No. 1 overall to Chicago Bears
Where he should have gone: No. 3 overall to New England Patriots
If the Bears went with Daniels as the top prospect and the Commanders went Maye as the better dual-threat fit for their offense, the Patriots would have jumped on Williams. In Chicago, Williams had to wait for Year 2 to get the offensive mind of Ben Johnson. In New England, Williams would have gotten the opportunity to work with Josh McDaniels on delay.
Williams would have been the easy long-term successor to Tom Brady, succeeding where Mac Jones didn't in Maye's current favorable position. Caleb's competitive makeup would have made him a no-brainer with the Patriots desperate to restore their long-time championship edge, now under Mike Vrabel.
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Bo Nix
Where he went: No. 12 overall to Denver Broncos
Where he should have gone: No. 11 overall to New York Jets
The Jets whiffed in not lining up a certain successor for Aaron Rodgers. They are taking a calculated dual-threat risk with Justin Fields to see if he could be the long-term solution. But they would be in a much more comfortable position post-Rodgers if they had acquired Nix's experience and playmaking moxie. Nix would also have been a big hit in New York.
J.J. McCarthy
Where he went: No. 10 overall to Minnesota Vikings
Where he should have gone: No. 12 overall to Denver Broncos
With the previous quarterbacks going in different spots and Nix off the board, here's thinking the Vikings could have been fine just sticking with Sam Daronld to replace Kirk Cousins. Darnold was a big pleasant surprise, but the presence of McCarthy told the team it would be only one year.
There's a chance the Falcons and Vikings could have passed on QBs, leading Denver to get McCarthy instead of Nix. McCarthy was high on the Broncos' radar as a franchise quarterback they would have jumped on, given his winning mindset and overall skill set with Nix gone.
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Michael Penix Jr.
Where he went: No. 8 overall to Atlanta Falcons
Where he should have gone: No. 16 overall to Seattle Seahawks
Penix was overdrafted in a shocker, going ahead of both McCarthy and Nix to a team that already had Cousins. Had the Falcons and Vikings passed on QBs, then it would have set up McCarthy and Nix to go back-to-back ahead of Penix.
There's a path in which the Vikings keep Darnold, but the Seahawks are also moving on from Geno Smith. If the Seahawks knew that, they might have given Penix a shot to compete with Smith under Penix's offensive coordinator at Washington, Ryan Grubb. That could have also helped Grubb stay at OC vs. being relieved and creating a Huskies reunion under coach Kalen DeBoer at Alabama.
Although all this is fun, Daniels and Nix have proved they are in the right spots. McCarthy and Penix landed in similar Rams adjacent systems that can lift them both. Each already has shown special flashes.
As for Williams, the expectation with much more help in Chicago is that he will go boom, ending any bust talk.