Consensus board vs. draft day: the full QB class, charted.
The Steal
Sam Howell was ranked QB5 on the consensus board (#56 overall) but lasted until pick 144, where the Washington Commanders took him in Round 5. A 88-spot fall, the largest gap between consensus and draft day of any QB in the class. Behind him, Malik Willis (+58) and Matt Corral (+50) also outlasted their rankings.
The Conviction Pick
The Pittsburgh Steelers took Kenny Pickett at pick 20, 12 spots ahead of his #32 consensus rank. That's the league's strongest disagreement with the public board at the position. Teams showed similar conviction on Bailey Zappe (10 spots).
The Cliff
After Sam Howell went at pick 144, the next QB didn't come off the board for 97 picks. That's the sharpest drop in the class.
The Spend
Teams spent 9 picks on QB, 1 of them in the first two rounds. That's below the position's average of 11.9 since 2018.
The Bet
The Pittsburgh Steelers spent more draft capital on QB than any other club: picks 20 and 241, 39% of their total draft investment.
The One Who Slipped
Carson Strong, ranked #99 on the consensus board, went undrafted through all 262 picks.
| Pick | Player | Pos Rank | Consensus | Δ | School | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Kenny Pickett | QB2 | #32 | −12 | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh |
| 74 | Desmond Ridder | QB3 | #42 | +32 | Cincinnati | Atlanta |
| 86 | Malik Willis | QB1 | #28 | +58 | Liberty | Tennessee |
| 94 | Matt Corral | QB4 | #44 | +50 | Mississippi | Carolina |
| 137 | Bailey Zappe | QB7 | #147 | −10 | Western Kentucky | New England |
| 144 | Sam Howell | QB5 | #56 | +88 | North Carolina | Washington |
| 241 | Chris Oladokun | QB | — | — | South Dakota State | Pittsburgh |
| 247 | Skylar Thompson | QB12 | #274 | −27 | Kansas State | Miami |
| 262 | Brock Purdy | QB14 | #290 | −28 | Iowa State | San Francisco |
| Undrafted (UDFA) | ||||||
| — | Carson Strong | QB6 | #99 | — | Nevada | — |
| — | Jack Coan | QB8 | #192 | — | Notre Dame | — |
| — | Kaleb Eleby | QB9 | #218 | — | Western Michigan | — |
| — | Cole Kelley | QB10 | #255 | — | Southeastern Louisiana | — |
| — | EJ Perry | QB11 | #270 | — | Brown | — |
| — | Dustin Crum | QB13 | #287 | — | Kent St. | — |
| — | Aqeel Glass | QB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Cole Johnson | QB | — | — | — | — |
| — | D'Eriq King | QB | — | — | Miami | — |
| — | McKenzie Milton | QB | — | — | — | — |
Pre-draft projections are from the Wide Left Consensus Big Board compiled by Arif Hasan, an aggregation of published analyst boards.