We know that the Raiders are going to pick Fernando Mendoza with the first overall pick in the NFL Draft. Ty Simpson coming off the board with the 13th pick to the Rams was considered one of the most surprising picks of the draft. But after that, there were no more signal-callers selected in the first round — but there were plenty of other quarterbacks who were taken later, after Round 1.
Carson Beck to the Arizona Cardinals, Drew Allar to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cade Klubnik to the New York Jets, Garrett Nussmeier to the Kansas City Chiefs, and many more among them. And if history is any indication, one of the non-first-round quarterbacks will make a name for himself at some point.
Now, that’s not necessarily always a good thing; it’s not necessarily going to happen immediately, and it’s not necessarily going to happen with the team who drafts them. Since 2016, there have been 86 total quarterbacks picked after the first round of their respective drafts. We’ve seen these guys do anything and everything from flaming out to hanging around their teams to becoming journeymen around the league to getting paid massive amounts of money to winning a Super Bowl.
This is an assortment of those guys, the year they were drafted, whether it was a successful pick for the team, whether it was a successful career for the player, and what they’re famous (or infamous) for.
2016 NFL Draft
- Non-first rounders: Christian Hackenberg (NYJ), Jacoby Brissett (NE), Cody Kessler (CLE), Connor Cook (OAK), Dak Prescott (DAL), Cardale Jones (BUF), Kevin Hogan (KC), Nate Sudfeld (WASH), Jake Rudock (DET), Brandon Allen (JAX), Jeff Driskel (SF), Brandon Doughty (MIA).
Jacoby Brissett, New England Patriots (Round 3, 91st overall)
- Still a starter (maybe)
It really feels like Jacoby Brissett has been in the NFL for longer than a decade; like one of those guys who sneakily got drafted with Russell Wilson, Nick Foles and Kirk Cousins back in 2012.
That’s kind of the cool thing about Jacoby Brissett: He was drafted to grow underneath Tom Brady, which didn’t really work out, but he just kept on going, and he’s still a starting quarterback in the NFL after 10 years.
Maybe he’s not exactly a perennial starting quarterback or one that you’re necessarily excited about… But he is a starting quarterback, and in 2025, he was able to operate a completely aimless Cardinals offense, and it looks like he might have to do it again in 2026.
Was this a successful pick by the Patriots? No. Is Brissett a successful quarterback? Yeah… Probably.
Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys (Round 4, 135th overall)
- 2016 Offensive Rookie of the Year
- 2023 All-Pro
- 2016, 2018, 2023, 2025 Pro Bowl
- 2-4 playoff record
- Never reached an NFC Championship game
The general idea of a starting quarterback picked after the first round is that a team fell ass-backwards into them, and the further down the draft you get, the more that’s true. That’s absolutely true with the Cowboys getting Dak Prescott in the fourth round of the 2016 draft.
We had all kind of known that Tony Romo was having injury problems, but we didn’t know that we would have ‘the big one’ during the third preseason game in 2016. Dak Prescott slid right in as their starter, and they never really looked back.
They never really looked forward either. If the NFL MVP was decided in Week 13 of every season, Prescott would’ve won five of them. The problem is that it isn’t. He’s been an absolute gem of a mid-round quarterback, but that’s pretty much it because he’s on a franchise that’s not concerned with being competitive.
2017 NFL Draft
- Non-first rounders: DeShone Kizer (CLE), Davis Webb (NYG), C.J. Beathard (SF), Josh Dobbs (PITT), Nathan Peterman (BUF), Brad Kaava (DET), Swag Kelly (DEN)
Joshua Dobbs, Pittsburgh Steelers (Round 4, 135th overall)
- 2023 was pretty cool
Josh Dobbs is fun. His first five seasons in the NFL were not great. He was either bad, or he never really saw the field... Then came the 2023 season when he signed with the Cardinals.
Kyler Murray was still on the mend, coming off his torn ACL from December the year before. So Johnathan Gannon gave the starting job to Dobbs. The Cardinals started that season 0-2, but it wasn’t completely because of Dobbs.
Then in Week 3, they ran into a “David vs. Goliath” situation. The 2-0 Cowboys, who had a point differential of +60 through those two games, came to town. So naturally, they couldn’t stop Dobbs, who finished the game going 17-of-21 (81%) for 189 passing yards and a touchdown. The Cardinals won that game (read: The Cowboys lost that game) 28-16… That ended up being Dobbs' only win of the season with the Cardinals.
Murray came back, and Arizona sent Dobbs to Minnesota because Kirk Cousins had just shredded his Achilles. After practicing exactly zero times with the Vikings, he came in and played in the Week 9 game against the Falcons, won the dadgum thing… and that’s pretty much been it for him.
He was fun for a very hot second, and then kind of faded back to the obscurity that is the backup quarterback circuit.
By no means was he a successful draft pick by the Steelers, and his career is best described as “fun.”
Nathan Peterman, Buffalo Bills (2017, Round 5, 171st overall)
- Genesis for Josh Allen
Remember when Nathan Peterman threw five interceptions in the first half of that game against the Chargers in 2017? That was crazy.
2018 NFL Draft
- Non-first rounders: Mason Rudolph (PITT), Kyle Lauletta (NYG), Mike White (DAL), Luke Falk (TEN), Tanner Lee (JAX), Danny Etling (NE), Alex McGough (SEA), Logan Woodside (CIN)
Mason Rudolph, Pittsburgh Steelers (Round 3, 76th overall)
- May or may not have said something bad to Myles Garrett
If you were looking for the genesis of the Steelers' quarterback problems since Ben Roethlisberger, you could probably start with drafting Mason Rudolph in 2018.
You can’t blame them for not trading up to get Mayfield, Allen, Darnold, or Rosen because they were all picked in the top-10… But they decided to go with a safety, one of the hardest positions for teams to assess, with the 28th pick in the draft, and they got Terrell Edmunds… who has turned out not to be very good at all. That means they left Lamar Jackson on the board, and he was picked four spots later by the Ravens.
Hindsight is 20-20. There’s no way you could know that drafting a Heisman-winning quarterback who was 21-years old would’ve been the right way to transition away from your 36-year-old and physically shattered quarterback… There’s no way you would ever rationally think that…
So, they went with Mason Rudolph in the third round. Did he almost have his brain bashed in by Myles Garrett? Yes. Is he still with the team and (possibly) competing for a starting job? He sure is.
Maybe he’s one of those incredibly, incredibly rare cases where he has the eighth-year bump. We’ll see, but until then, this has been unsuccessful for just about everyone involved.
2019 NFL Draft
- Non-first rounders: Drew Lock (DEN), Will Grier (CAR), Ryan Finley (CIN), Jarrett Stidham (NE), Easton Stick (LAC), Clayton Thorson (PHI), Gardner Minshew (JAX), Trace McSorely (BAL)
Drew Lock, Denver Broncos (Round 2, 42nd overall)
- Puts on for his city
The Broncos drafted Paxton Lynch in the first round of the 2016 draft to replace Payton Manning. That didn’t work, even a tiny bit. So they did a combination of Trevor Siemian and Case Keenum for a couple of years until they drafted Drew Lock in the second round of the 2019 draft.
Again, it didn’t work out. He only started 21 games in his three seasons in Denver before they sent him to Seattle as part of the Russell Wilson trade. He bounced from there to the New York Giants and then back to Seattle to win a Super Bowl behind Sam Darnold.
It was objectively bad for the Broncos, but for Lock? The dude is getting a Super Bowl ring, so he’s probably cool with it.
Jarrett Stidham, New England Patriots (Round 4, 133rd overall)
- Not Nick Foles
When the Patriots drafted Jarrett Stidham, it was before Tom Brady had signed his final extension with them. No one was thinking that the Pats were going to move on from Brady that season, but at the time of the draft, it was pretty clear that Bill Belichick wasn't going to give him the multi-year deal that he wanted.
That’s to say, no one thought that Stidham was going to be the Pats starting QB in 2019… but when Brady did sign the small extension that let him hit free agency after the 2019 season, Stidham was the front-runner for the QB1 job in New England for the 2020 season.
They ended up signing Cam Newton and he got the job instead, which is probably a good thing for Stidham because you never want to be the guy after the guy. However, nothing ever really worked out for him. He spent three years on the bench in New England, a year on the bench in Las Vegas, and three years on the bench in Denver…
Until he had to start in a snowy 2025 AFC Championship game against the Patriots defense. That went pretty much exactly how everyone thought it would go. He threw one touchdown and the Broncos offense had a total of 181 yards.
It's tough to say if this was unsuccessful for the Patriots: He didn’t do anything for the team… But they also brought him into the NFL world, and he would eventually not do anything against the team either. So, eh.
Gardner Minshew, Jacksonville Jaguars (Round 6, 178th overall)
- The Mustache
- Denim
- High fives
As far as vibes go, it’s going to be tough to find a dude who is more dude-like than Gardner Minshew. As far as being a good quarterback goes, it’s been not great. However, they used a sixth-round pick on the guy and they got a year and a half of starting quarterback play out of him… which directly led to them getting Trevor Lawrence first-overall in the 2021 draft.
Whether it was on purpose or not, the Jaguars used a sixth-round quarterback to land a first-round quarterback. That’s successful. For Minshew, he’s still in the NFL and 2026 will be his eighth season in the NFL. That’s pretty solid for a sixth-rounder.
2020 NFL Draft
- Non-first rounders: Jalen Hurts (PHI), Jacob Eason (IND), James Morgan (NYJ), Jake Fromm (BUF), Jake Luten (JAX), Cole McDonald (TEN), Ben DiNucci (DAL), Tommy Stevens (NO), Nate Stanley (MIN)
Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles (Round 2, 53rd overall)
- Super Bowl LIX MVP
This all starts and ends with Jalen Hurts. The Eagles drafted him in the second round of the 2020 draft. That was a year after they exercised Carson Wentz’s fifth-year option and gave him a four-year contract extension, an extension that he would never play on with the Eagles.
Hurts got his first start in Week 14 of the 2020 season, and the Eagles saw what they needed to see; they traded Wentz to the Colts in the offseason and Hurts was the starter for the 2021 season.
It wasn’t a great season for him. He held on to the ball for too long, and had some big time accuracy problems, and struggled big-time with pressure… But the Eagles still made it to the postseason.
He spent that offseason getting a whole lot better and took the Eagles to the Super Bowl LVII in 2022, where he out-gunned Patrick Mahomes.
That’s been the story of Jalen Hurts’ career. Struggle in an aspect of the game, spend the offseason getting better, and lethally operate the offense the next season. In 2024, the Eagles rode Saquon Barkley to the playoffs, but in the NFC Championship game and the Super Bowl, Hurts played two of the best postseason football games we’ve seen in recent history.
In those games combined, he was 37-of-50 (74%) for 467 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. He also rushed 21 times for 86 yards and four touchdowns.
This has been a universal success for everyone involved.
2021 NFL Draft
- Non-first rounders: Kyle Trask (TB), Kellen Mond (MIN), Davis Mills (HOU), Ian Book (NO), Sam Ehlinger (IND)
Davis Mills, Houston Texans (Round 3, 67th overall)
- Kickstarted a Houston rebuild
A month and a half before the start of the 2021 draft, Deshaun Watson was accused of some really, really messed up sexual assault things. At that point, the Texans must’ve started prepping for not having him for the entire season.
About a week later, they signed Tyrod Taylor and then picked Davis Mills in the third round of the draft. Taylor started the season (which makes sense) but went on the IR after he jacked up his hamstring in Week 2. Then it was Mills’ time… and it was bad… for about two seasons.
In his 26 starts between 2021 and 2022, the Texans had a 5-19-1 record and he threw 33 touchdowns and 25 interceptions (he led the league with 15 interceptions in 2022).
That ended up being kind of a good thing in the long-term because it forced the Texans into a rebuild. The problem is that their rebuild almost went a little too well after they drafted C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson in 2023. The team was/is (maybe) ready to compete, but the offensive line is terrible and they’re stuck in a spot where they’re getting into the playoffs and not able to draft premier players with their own draft picks. It’s tough because they’re good, but not built to be great.
That’s not Davis Mills’ fault, though. You’re hoping for a quarterback who isn’t going to be a liability when you draft one in the third round. They got a liability.
2022 NFL Draft
- Non-first rounders: Desmond Ridder (ATL), Malik Willis (TEN), Matt Corral (CAR), Bailey Zappe (NE), Sam Howell (WASH), Chris Oladokun (PITT), Skylar Thompson (MIA), Brock Purdy (SF)
Malik Willis, Tennessee Titans (Round 3, 86th overall)
- Got paid by Miami
Malik Willis is notable because the Dolphins very confusingly paid him $21 million per year. It’s confusing because:
A. He’s only started six games in his career.
B. They shouldn’t be spending money on anyone.
C. The last time we saw him, he threw out his shoulder (maybe not a big deal).
D. They got rid of all his pass catchers, so there is no way to actually know how good he’s going to be.
That last one is important because Willis has a decently high ceiling. But this is about how successful he was for the Titans, who drafted him in the third round, and he was definitely not successful for them.
Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers (2022, Round 7, dead last)
- 2023 Pro Bowler
- 2023 NFC Champion
- Mr. Irrelevant
There’s a very, very good chance that the 49ers picking Brock Purdy with the last pick of the 2022 draft will be the best pick of the decade.
The dude went from being Mr. Irrelevant, to being QB3 on the 49ers roster, to starting quarterback, to winning five-straight regular season games as a starter, to taking the team to the NFC Championship game… As a rookie.
Then, in 2023, the 49ers were the first seed in the NFC and made it to the Super Bowl. 2024 and 2025 were down years for both him and the team, but he did end up getting a five-year contract for $265 million.
That means San Francisco used the least valuable pick in the draft to get a franchise quarterback who has taken them on playoff runs in three out of his four seasons as a pro. That’s just about as good as you could possibly imagine.
2023 NFL Draft
- Non-first rounders: Will Levis (TEN), Hendon Hooker (DET), Jake Haener (NO), Stetson Bennett (LAR), Aidan O’Connell (LV), Clayton Tune (ARI), Dorian Thompson-Robinson (CLE), Sean Clifford (GB), Jaren Hall (MIN), Tanner McKee (PHI), Max Duggan (LAC)
Will Levis, Tennessee Titans (Round 2, 33rd overall)
- Puts mayo in his coffee
- Very Handsome
- Very bad interceptions
Looking back at it, it was pretty sad that Will Levis went to the draft and then ended up not getting picked in the first round. At the time, it was kind of funny. Not a ‘look at this chump’ funny, but a ‘the comedic timing of the broadcast showing him in the draftee room over and over is hilarious’ funny.
Think about it like when Peter Griffin falls on the ground and hurts his knee. He winces for a solid two minutes. That bit starts funny, then it's not funny, then it's really funny. You get it.
Regardless, it turns out that all the teams that passed on him were right. He was the backup at the beginning of the season (which is always the right move), and then when Ryan Tannehill hurt his ankle, Levis took over until they were mathematically eliminated from the postseason, which happened after Week 15.
He took oodles of sacks, was very inaccurate and threw some terrible interceptions, and then he kept that train rolling in the 2024 season and ended up getting benched.
If you’re drafting a guy with the first pick of the second round of a draft, there’s a chance (a slim one) that he could have a first-round grade. That wasn’t the case with Levis. They moved on from him when they drafted Cam Ward with the first-overall pick in the 2025 draft. This was bad for everyone.
2024 NFL Draft
- Non-first rounders: Spencer Rattler (NO), Jordan Travis (NYJ), Joe Milton (NE), Devin Leary (BAL), Michael Pratt (GB)
Spencer Rattler, New Orleans Saints (Round 5, 150th overall)
- Remember when he played for Oklahoma?
This one is pretty simple: Spencer Rattler was Derek Carr’s backup in 2024, but ended up being the starter for a handful of games when Carr was dealing with a couple of injuries. It was bad, but it was also a really bad situation because the Saints were really bad.
He was the starter for Weeks 1 through 8 in the 2025 season. He started that season playing pretty terribly, but there were a few games where he looked like a starting quarterback. At the time, so dumb people like me might’ve said some things like, “Rattler’s been dealing decently well: He’s connected with seven different receivers, and he hasn’t turned the ball over. That’s totally fine.”
That was wrong.
He fell off a cliff at a very specific point: In Week 8, he got picked off by the Buccs’ Anthony Nelson who proceeded to stiff arm Rattler into the core of the Earth on his way to a pick-six.
However, Rattler was a fifth-round pick. Your expectations are low for those guys, and his eight starts in 2025 paved the way for Tyler Shough. All in all, this was unsuccessful, but good for the Saints, and straight-up unsuccessful for the Rattler.
2025 NFL Draft
- Non-first rounders: Tyler Shough (NO), Jalen Milroe (SEA), Dillon Gabriel (CLE), Shadeur Sanders (CLE), Kyle McCord (PHI), Will Howard (PITT), Riley Leonard (IND), Graham Mertz (HOU), Tommy Mellott (LV), Cam Miller (LV), Kurtis Rourke (SF), Quinn Ewers (MIA)
Tyler Shough, New Orleans Saints (Round 3, 40th overall)
- Fun
We don’t know a whole lot about Tyler Shough, other than that he offered a pretty solid bit of juice to the Saints offense late last season. He brought the Saints on a four-game winning streak from Week 14 to 17 and he looked pretty good as both a thrower and a runner.
So far, this was a very good draft pick.
Dillon Gabriel, Cleveland Browns (Round 3, 94th overall)
- Not Shedeur Sanders
It was confusing when the Browns drafted Dillon Gabriel in the third round when they did it a year ago, and it’s still confusing now.
The Browns started Joe Flacco for the first four games of the season, then benched him and threw Gabriel to the wolves in Week 5 against the Vikings and Brian Flores’ defense. That is entirely too complicated of a defense for a rookie quarterback to have his first start against.
His time as a starter ended in Week 11 when got concussed. If you’re going to draft a quarterback to be the third quarterback on your roster (at the time he was drafted), it's weird to do it in the third-round, and you would rather not just pull the plug on him after starting just six games. Definitely unsuccessful for everyone and there’s no way that they can turn back, because they also drafted:
Shadeur Sanders, Cleveland Browns (Round 5, 144th overall)
- Shedeur Sanders
- Pro-Bowler
Whether you like it or not, Shedeur Sanders was a good pick by the Browns. And talent-wise, he might be kind of a steal. Did he 3-4 as a starter and look downright petrified at times? Sure. Did he also go 11-of-22 for 111 yards and zero touchdowns in Week 18 against a terrible Bengals defense? Absolutely.
Did he also look good a handful of times as a rookie on the Browns offense? Yes, and that is very, very impressive. Cleveland has a guy who can be their placeholder in 2026 before they inevitably draft their 1,000th quarterback in 2027… and that placeholder got drafted in the fifth round.
By hook or by crook, Sanders is a Pro Bowler and that's always going to be on his Pro Football Reference page. So far, this is a successful draft pick.
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