How the 2020 NFL Draft Was Dominated by Quarterbacks, Led by Top Pick Young

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — It should come as no shock that teams were so eager to find good quarterbacks in the NFL draft.

Three of the best quarterbacks – Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud and Anthony Richardson- were chosen within the top four picks on Thursday night. This was expected from this particular class which has been highly anticipated since last year. But one quarterback, Will Levis, didn’t get the chance to be part of it.

Seven weeks after a big move, the Carolina Panthers chose slender and athletic quarterback Mac Jones from Alabama as their No. 1 pick.

Though he did well in the SEC, some are concerned that his size might be a concern in the NFL since he is only 5-foot-10 1/8 inches tall and weighs 204 pounds.

Young said that he respects other people’s opinions even if they don’t agree with him. He thinks it is one of the best things about sports – coming together and having opinions on who is good at what. He prefers to focus on controlling what he can.

Stroud didn’t have to wait long, despite some people thinking he might not be chosen in the top 10 due to his bad score on the S2 Cognition test. Earlier in the day, Stroud said that he wasn’t sure which team would choose him, but Houston chose him at spot number 2! After they chose Stroud, they made an exciting trade with Arizona and acquired the 3rd pick. With this pick they picked Will Anderson Jr., a player from Alabama who plays defense.

Stroud said: “I’m so excited to play with Will! Just hopefully he won’t hit me too hard during practice!”.

The Indianapolis Colts chose Richardson as the No. 4 pick, and he will become the team’s 6th starting quarterback in a row. Even though Richardson has the most potential, he has had less playing experience than others; he only threw 393 passes during his time at Florida. The Colts’ owner Jim Irsay is fond of Philadelphia Eagles QB Jalen Hurts and Richardson also has comparable playmaking skills. He will join coach Shane Steichen who helped turn Hurts into an MVP runner-up while coaching in Philadelphia.

Richardson stated that he’s excited to work with the new quarterback, even though he knows what bad experiences the team had before. Before the draft, it was hard to know who would be chosen after the first pick and that wasn’t certain either. Even Levis from Kentucky was expected by some to get picked but he didn’t make it on day one and neither did Hendon Hooker from Tennessee (who is recovering from a knee surgery).

The new Panthers coach Frank Reich said that it took the organization several weeks to come to a decision about something on Monday. After his visit with the Panthers, Young said he learned lots of things and described their staff as ‘amazing’ saying that there was an energy and desire from them to win.

The Panthers have been looking for a new quarterback since parting ways with Cam Newton, who was chosen in the first spot overall of 2011’s NFL Draft and was even named MVP in 2015 when he guided the team to 15 wins and 1 loss, with them reaching the Super Bowl. A dual-threat playmaker with excellent accuracy, instincts and intelligence, Young also has all the necessary characteristics sought by coaches, such as good leadership skills and strong work ethic.

Mac Jones had a great experience as part of Alabama college football team and the Panthers team hope he could help them to win the Lombardi Trophy for the first time. Mac was playing in a professional-style sport under Bill O’Brien, who was previously the head coach of Houston Texans, now he is coaching New England’s sports team.

Stroud, who has been a finalist for the Heisman Trophy Award two times in a row from Ohio State, is joining the Houston Texans to replace Deshaun Watson. This is the ninth time that two quarterbacks were picked first and second and it’s also the first time ever with both of them being Black.

Stroud said he hopes this will encourage a lot of Black children.

Seattle chose a cornerback (Devon Witherspoon) at No. 5 after the run on quarterbacks, while the Cardinals moved up to pick an offensive lineman (Paris Johnson) from Ohio State at No. 6. Las Vegas selected Texas Tech edge player Tyree Wilson at that spot and Atlanta got a running back (Bijan Robinson), which was the highest number since Saquon Barkley went to the Giants in 2018.

The Philadelphia Eagles got the chance to take Jalen Carter, a defensive tackle from Georgia who has had difficulties in life, as their No. 9 pick. The Chicago Bears then chose Darnell Wright, an offensive lineman from Tennessee, for the tenth spot. Meanwhile, the Eagles selected another Georgia player- Nolan Smith,an edge rusher- at pick 30. The Titans and Buccaneers both skipped over Levis; instead, Tennessee opted for Peter Skoronski from Northwestern University while Tampa Bay ended up with Calijah Kancey from Pitt.

It took until pick 20 before a Wide Receiver was finally picked. The Seattle Seahawks started off by choosing Jaxon Smith-Njigba, then four other receivers were drafted one after the other. The Chargers chose Quentin Johnston next, the Ravens added Zay Flowers to their team alongside Odell Beckham Jr., and lastly, the Vikings selected Jordan Addison to pair with Justin Jefferson.

Two months ago, the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl championship and threw a big parade in downtown. As a result, many fans wearing red lined up near Union Station, which is over 100 years old.

The Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes and All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce held up the Vince Lombardi Trophy to excitedly cheer up the crowd before NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell took over.

Mahomes told the fans to scream louder, and they did. Kelce asked if they wanted to try and get the number one pick in the draft. But since the Chiefs already have a quarterback, they don’t need another one. However, teams like Carolina, Houston and Indianapolis do need a new QB if they want to be strong for many years.