The Carolina Panthers shook up the NFL world with Friday’s trade to acquire the No. 1 overall pick from the Chicago Bears. The Bears acquired a haul from the Panthers and will presumably select their quarterback of the future in next month’s NFL draft.
How does Carolina’s trade impact the rest of the first round? Well, it’s almost certain that quarterbacks will go with the first two picks between Carolina and the Houston Texans. Whichever two quarterbacks aren’t selected means two other first-round prospects will slide down the board.
The consensus is Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud are the top two quarterback prospects, while Anthony Richardson is third. However, some teams may view these rankings differently.
For a team like the Washington Commanders, who pick at No. 16, the more quarterbacks that go in front of them push a good player down. In his latest mock draft for CBS, Chris Trapasso has the Commanders landing Oregon cornerback Christian Gonzalez at No. 16.
The Commanders jump at this opportunity to get a star outside cornerback onto this roster.
In some mock drafts, Gonzalez has gone as high as No. 6 to the Detroit Lions. Washington would be thrilled if Gonzalez dropped to No. 16.
The most interesting scenario for the Commanders would be if one of the four quarterbacks slide down the board. While that is unlikely to happen, draft season is silly season, and you can never rule out anything.
