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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Christian D'Andrea

NFL Draft experts are fading this year’s quarterbacks like it’s 1997

Kenny Pickett Malik Willis NFL NFL Draft NFLcom

This year was never going to be a very good one for quarterback prospects. The preseason favorites to be the first guys off the board, Sam Howell and Spencer Rattler, each suffered through unpleasant 2021 campaigns.

That left the mantle of “FUTURE FRANCHISE QB” to be carried by: a fifth-year senior who came into his final year at Pittsburgh with a 37:25 touchdown-to-interception ratio in 39 games and a guy who couldn’t win Auburn’s starting job so he transferred to Liberty.

Kenny Pickett and Malik Willis may still be the first two quarterbacks off the board. If Thursday’s trends hold up, they won’t even sniff the top 10. As the final round of 2022 NFL mock drafts roll in, experts are more confident than ever that teams aren’t interested in investing major draft assets in flawed passers.

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