Consensus board vs. draft day: the full QB class, charted.
The Steal
Shedeur Sanders was ranked QB2 on the consensus board (#22 overall) but lasted until pick 144, where the Cleveland Browns took him in Round 5. A 122-spot fall, the largest gap between consensus and draft day of any QB in the class. Behind him, Quinn Ewers (+111) and Will Howard (+69) also outlasted their rankings.
The Conviction Pick
The Cleveland Browns took Dillon Gabriel at pick 94, 74 spots ahead of his #168 consensus rank. That's the league's strongest disagreement with the public board at the position. Teams showed similar conviction on Tyler Shough (50 spots) and Jaxson Dart (24 spots).
The Cliff
After Tyler Shough went at pick 40, the next QB didn't come off the board for 52 picks. That's the sharpest drop in the class.
The Spend
Teams spent 14 picks on QB, 3 of them in the first two rounds. That's above the position's average of 11.9 since 2018.
The Bet
The Tennessee Titans spent more draft capital on QB than any other club: pick 1, 34% of their total draft investment.
| Pick | Player | Pos Rank | Consensus | Δ | School | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cam Ward | QB1 | #8 | −7 | Miami | Tennessee |
| 25 | Jaxson Dart | QB3 | #49 | −24 | Mississippi | New York Giants |
| 40 | Tyler Shough | QB5 | #90 | −50 | Louisville | New Orleans |
| 92 | Jalen Milroe | QB4 | #62 | +30 | Alabama | Seattle |
| 94 | Dillon Gabriel | QB9 | #168 | −74 | Oregon | Cleveland |
| 144 | Shedeur Sanders | QB2 | #22 | +122 | Colorado | Cleveland |
| 181 | Kyle McCord | QB8 | #131 | +50 | Syracuse | Philadelphia |
| 185 | Will Howard | QB6 | #116 | +69 | Ohio State | Pittsburgh |
| 189 | Riley Leonard | QB10 | #179 | +10 | Notre Dame | Indianapolis |
| 197 | Graham Mertz | QB13 | #349 | −152 | Florida | Houston |
| 213 | Tommy Mellott | QB14 | #383 | −170 | Montana State | Las Vegas |
| 215 | Cam Miller | QB12 | #308 | −93 | North Dakota State | Las Vegas |
| 227 | Kurtis Rourke | QB11 | #230 | −3 | Indiana | San Fransisco |
| 231 | Quinn Ewers | QB7 | #120 | +111 | Texas | Miami |
Pre-draft projections are from the Wide Left Consensus Big Board compiled by Arif Hasan, an aggregation of published analyst boards.