Since the Carolina Panthers traded with the Chicago Bears for the No. 1 pick, the Indianapolis Colts will likely end up with the third quarterback off the board.
On Friday, the Chicago Bears traded the No. 1 overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft to the Carolina Panthers. This caused some sadness for Indianapolis Colts fans, because Indy was expected to be the team that would trade up with Chicago for the No. 1 pick. However, the Colts are still sitting at No. 4, and there are currently two quarterback-needy teams in front of Indianapolis.
There’s a chance that the Arizona Cardinals at No. 3, could be willing to trade their pick to a quarterback-needy team. That’s why several people have already made the case that the Colts should trade with Arizona to move one spot up, ensuring that Indy selects the third quarterback of the draft. However, some are still wondering if selecting the third quarterback is even all that promising.
While it’s definitely great to have the top pick and be able to decide from every prospect, history shows that selecting the third quarterback in a draft class can be very promising.
Colts should be just fine with QB3 in the draft
In the 2017 Draft, the third quarterback selected was Deshaun Watson, at No. 12 overall. In 2018, the QB3 of the draft was Josh Allen, at No. 7, and in 2020, the third quarterback selected was Justin Herbert, at No. 6. Things worked out pretty well for the Houston Texans, Buffalo Bills, and Los Angeles Chargers when they took the third QB in a draft.
The same can happen for the Colts. Just becuase Indianapolis is likely to end up with the third quarterback off the board doesn’t mean that the QB is the third-best quarterback. There’s even a chance that Indianapolis could get the top QB on the team’s personal board and he could be the third quarterback selected. You never know how the draft will unfold and how each team is evaluating prospects.
Ultimately, there’s no telling how any of these prospects will pan out. Even more important than where a quarterback is drafted is the circumstances that they’re drafted into. An argument can be made that’s it’s not necessarily about what quarterback a team drafts but what the team does for a quarterback after drafting him. Whoever it is that the Colts select, Indianapolis must adequately build around and develop the young quarterback.
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