Get to Know the Top QB Picks From the 2023 NFL Mock Draft!

The NFL season ended with a Super Bowl win for the Kanas City Chiefs on February 12th and now sports fans are anticipating the NFL Draft. Today, we will introduce you to the quarterbacks who are expected to be picked in the first round!

In 2022, the NFL Draft brought the Pittsburgh Steelers a new top-pick quarterback, Kenny Pickett, a 2021 Pittsburgh University football alum. He “was the only quarterback taken in the first round,” and only 9 overall were drafted. This year the 2023 NFL Draft has 4 projected quarterbacks being drafted in the first round, with other quarterbacks being chosen in later rounds. But who are these potential NFL stars, and how did their journeys start? 

Bryce Young

Bryce Young is predicted to be the overall No. 2 pick and the first quarterback pick for the Houston Texans. Young entered his name into the NFL Draft, ending his athletic and academic career as the starting junior quarterback at the University of Alabama. During his time at Alabama, he became the very first quarterback in the program to win the Heisman Memorial Trophy, an award given to an outstanding college football player.

His statistics are admirable, as he threw for 8,356 yards, coming in second to A.J. McCarron. 80 touchdowns, the second most in Alabama Football history, falling short of 7 to Tua Tagovalioa’s 87 touchdowns. Young’s last game was the Allstate Sugar Bowl, where they beat Kansas State 45-20, and where he threw for 321 and five scores, but he only completed 15-of-21 passes.

During his college career, he has caught the eyes of many teams, with Houston being one of the tops due to their connections to Young and Alabama. In 2022, The Texans drafted former Alabama wide receiver John Metchie III. Unfortunately, he had to be sidelined due to a leukemia diagnosis. There is also a report that Houston will be hiring the San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator and former UofA linebacker, DeMeco Ryans, as their next head coach.

It is as if the stars are aligned for Houston and Young to succeed this upcoming season if the cards are in their favor.

C.J. Stroud

Predicted to be the No. 4 overall pick for the Indianapolis Colts, C.J. Stroud is the Ohio State starting QB. A Southern California native who has a bit of a different story than the rest of the QBs on this list. He grew up a basketball and football player and was self-taught. “He did it all himself. He watched YouTube clips on Drew Brees and made himself better,” said Mark Verti, C.J.’s high school coach. He was a powerhouse and started as a junior and senior and racked up great stats, which eventually brought an offer from Ohio State Football coach Ryan Day.

As an OSU quarterback, he is Ohio State’s only two-time Heisman Trophy finalist. As a starter, his record is 21-4, and in 2022 he led his team to a No. 9 ranking nationally in total offense and No. 2 in scoring only as a third-year sophomore. He has set 16 Ohio State passing, total offense, and three additional Big Ten records. He ends his career throwing for 8,123 yards and 85 touchdowns in the two seasons he played as a starter. Stroud’s stats fall second to J.T. Barett, who played for four years at OSU.

In the Football Playoff Semifinal, Stroud’s final game, he threw for 348 years and four touchdowns; despite this, they fell just short of a win losing to Georgia 42-41. Via Instagram, he announced on January 16th that he was entering the draft. The deadline was that following Monday, making him one of the final underclassmen to announce their decision to leave their programs. No matter where he lands, we are sure he will make a great impact on those programs as well.

Anthony Richardson

The No. 8 predicted first-round pick is Anthony Richardson going to the Atlanta Falcons. The Florida Gators quarterback announced via Twitter that he would not be playing in the Las Vegas Bowl and will be forgoing his remaining eligibility years due to his preparations for the 2023 NFL Draft.

In 2019, Richardson was an Elite 11 Finalist and ended his high school football career with 4,633 passing yards, 37 touchdowns, 1,633 rushing yards, and 41 touchdowns. He was also a basketball star, and you can actually catch him on the Netflix series QB1: Beyond The Light. His life was forever changed when he received a call from the University of Florida’s Head Football coach, Dan Mullen.

At UofF, he threw for 2,549 years and 17 touchdowns, and this was in his first and only full season as a starter. He also rushed for another 1,116 yards and 12 scores across three college seasons. He did have a history of injuries, such as a hamstring strain, an off-season knee operation, and even an ankle injury. He was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week in the first week of college football in 2022. In 2021, he was placed on the All-SEC Freshman Team and all while maintaining great academics as he made the SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll in 2022.

No matter where Richardson ends up, we hope and wish the best for him. He will find his place in the football world.

Will Levis

Will Levis, who comes from the University of Kentucky, is predicted to be the Carolina Panthers No. 9 pick. Levis began his collegiate football career at Penn State University in 2018 as a redshirt freshman. In 2019 he was considered a “real freshman” and appeared in seven games and started in one. During this season and his sophomore season at Penn State, he threw for 644 yards and 3 touchdowns, and he ran rushed for 473 yards and has 6 touchdowns.

At the Univerity of Kentucky, he finished with a 17-7 record after transferring in 2021, ting with Terry Wilson for the second most QB wins since 1993. He passed for 5,233 yards, the sixth most in the program’s all-time list, and has 54 touchdowns at UK, of which 43 of them were passing, and the other 11 were rushing.

During his time in both schools, his academics were also a priority; he graduated in three years in May 2021 magna cum laude with a finance degree from PSU’s Smeal College of Business. At Kentucky, he graduated with his master’s degree in finance from UK’s Gatton School of Business in Economics in December of 2022.

Levis has great natural arm talent, along with some of the best hip rotation, according to Zach Hicks. He is a quick game operator and has been accurate with his decision-making. He has the ability to move and find the pocket to send the ball into the hands of his teammates. The Penn State and the University of Kentucky football community are anxiously waiting to see where Will’s talents take him; we wish him the best.

Where to Watch the 2023 NFL Draft

You can tune into the 2023 NFL Draft to see where these quarterbacks will call home next season. The 2023 draft is scheduled to be held from April 27th through the 29th in Kansas City, Missouri. The draft will start with the first round on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET. On Friday at 7 p.m. ET, rounds two and three will commence, and on Saturday at 12 p.m., the draft will conclude with the final four rounds. The 2023 NFL Draft will stream all seven rounds on ESPN, ABC, and the NFL Network.