Free agency is just about to begin, but plenty of attention is understandably being paid to the next month’s draft. The 2023 quarterback class is rife with uncertainty, though passers could very well litter the top 10 given the need several teams have at the position. 
Two of those squads reside in the NFC South. The Saints have taken care of their QB vacancy with Derek Carr in place for at least the intermediate term, but the Panthers and Falcons could each stand to make a significant addition under center. The sentiment around the league points to both Carolina and Atlanta spending Day 1 capital on signal-callers.
Jason La Canfora of the Washington Post notes that the Panthers are “fixated” on landing one of the top four QBs in this year’s class (Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, Anthony Richardson and Will Levis). That comes after it was reported that Carolina would prefer to use their draft position – currently the No. 9 pick – as a long-term means of solving their quarterback position, as opposed to a signing similar to Carr’s contract. Getting within range of Young, the projected top QB to be selected, would require a significant move up the board (likely up to the first overall slot, presuming the Bears trade down), though the other three passers could be had with less substantial maneuvering.
The Panthers are one of several teams not expected to pursue Lamar Jackson, so their focus currently remains on developing their incumbent options and potentially extending their relationship with Sam Darnold. On the other hand, Jimmy Garoppolo – the top veteran set to reach free agency next week – appears to be on Carolina’s radar. Their actions on the open market will no doubt inform their intentions in April with respect to using not only their first-round choice but the draft capital they added in the Christian McCaffrey deal.
The situation is somewhat different for the Falcons, who La Canfora notes are considered “probable” to draft a QB in 2023. They did so in the third round last year by adding Desmond Ridder, who took over as the starter late in the season. His play down the stretch drew praise from owner Arthur Blank last month, though Ridder has not been fully endorsed as the passer to enter the coming season atop the depth chart. The release of Marcus Mariota opens up a roster spot for an addition of some kind, though Atlanta has a number of roster holes which could be filled with a different position when the team selects eighth overall (barring any trades).
Interestingly, the Falcons were the first team reported to not be in the running to offer sheet or trade for Jackson. That decision could point them further towards a Day 1 QB, but they and the Panthers will have competition from a number of other teams picking in the top 10 regardless of how the veteran quarterback market shakes out in the coming days and weeks.
I’d love to know how different teams have the different QBs ranked. The top four guys have such different pros and cons that one team’s favorite could understandably be uninteresting to another.
I think it will be all over the place. I think they all like Young’s skillset, but size could be an issue. Some will like Stroud’s overall talents, others will be starry eyed over Levis’s arm/size, or Richardson’s overall athleticism. Hopefully for the Bears sake that is the case, and they can trade down twice securing a boatload of current and future assets.
Totally. I’ve already heard one analyst say Levis’ performance last year should be excused a bit because of his injury troubles, while hearing someone else say his injuries should be cause for concern. Same will be true of Richardson’s upside and also how far from it he might be. It’s a very eye of the beholder group, albeit a much better eye of the beholder group than some recent ones.
Agreed, I would love to know. But I already don’t trust anything coming out of anyone’s mouths at this point of draft season, so not sure it would really be all that instructive anyway.
Yeah, I think the top of the draft (and lead up to it) should be pretty interesting. Every team is trying to guess what the others are doing every year, but it seems especially vague with these four QBs. Of course, maybe it becomes less vague over the next several weeks, but should be fun.
I would wait until 3rd round and draft Stetson Bennett. Not only would that give Desmond some competition and be a potential backup unless he wows, but it would shut up all of the “GoDawgs” idiots that complain every year when the Falcons don’t draft a team full of Georgia players.
He’s under 6 feet, under 200 pounds, over 25 years old, and not only skipped the Senior Bowl, but got arrested for drunken stupidity instead. Taking him in the first three rounds would be madness.
Then they’d have two backups and no starter.
Bennett and Ridder have a combined age of 74
If the various reports we’ve seen mean anything, either Carolina doesn’t know what they want to do yet or they’re just blowing as much smoke as they can. We’ve basically heard that they’re interested in all options at QB.
“All options are on the table” is NFLspeak for “we don’t know what we want to do so we’ll blow smoke for now”.
Precisely
‘…That comes after it was reported that Carolina would prefer to use their draft position – currently the No. 9 pick – as a long-term means of solving their quarterback position….’. Bears have the 1st overall pick and a top 11 QB, why? Fields should be a stud not a dud. Same for plenty other highly drafted QB’s. Jets, Carolina had 2 top 5 drafted QB’s….long list of busts.
It’s still the clearest path to a solution to the hardest question in football. The clearest path just still has a rocky probability.
TB would disagree. 2 division titles and SB going after a vet rather than a rookie. Rams w/ Stafford as well.
OK, if the greatest QB of all time is a free agent willing to sign at a below-market rate, that’s a great path. But that’s not an actionable plan in most situations. As for Stafford, they had a win-now roster, they had to trade two first rounders, and take on a huge financial commitment. In this case, they got a Super Bowl out of it before the situation collapsed. Obviously well worth it. But Denver thought they were doing the same thing. At least when a highly drafted QB fails, the team can move on from him pretty easily.
No different than the Jets this offseason. The owner said, from what I’ve read, ‘GO GET RODGERS!!’ wouldn’t you do what your boss says? Aaron would be a better QB than Tua, Josh, & Mac. That’s a division title right there. Playoffs sort themselves out.
Sure. Best path. High risk, high reward with a roster that might be ready to win now aside from QB. Now do all the other teams that need a QB.
I’m surprised they mention Richardson; he hasn’t shown much
Other than the greatest athletic showing of any QB in combine history, plus a cannon arm. He needs a ton of refinement, but so does Will Levis, who’s had much more opportunity, has had injury troubles, and is 2 years older.
Every year the draft has raw QBs that need to sit for a year or two to develop and this year is no different.