While we can’t see into the future, it’s a safe assumption this year’s quarterback-light NFL draft won’t repeat itself in 2025.
After just 2 quarterbacks were selected in the first round this year, that number could easily bump up to 5 or 6 in 2026, depending on who decides to leave school early or who comes out of nowhere, a la this year’s No. 1 pick in Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward.
That means teams like the Philadelphia Eagles, who have their franchise quarterback in place for the next decade with Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts, are going to wind up in positions of bargaining power with teams who don’t.
That’s why CBS Sports NFL Reporter Ryan Wilson predicts the Eagles will trade their 2026 first round pick to the New York Jets — one of the most QB-poor teams in the league — and allow them to select South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers with the No. 32 overall pick.
“Thick, physical, athlete who can win with his feet and also has a huge arm … Sellers is just incredibly raw,” Wilson wrote on June 3. “That said, there was a reason that every SEC edge rusher I spoke to at the combine earlier this year described Sellers as the toughest QB they faced. I got ‘Baby Cam (Newton)‘ a lot as a descriptor, and when you watch Sellers play, it’s easy to see why. He does a lot of things really well; he just needs to play with more consistency, which will come with experience. He has the talent to be the No. 1 player in most draft classes.”
The trade would give the Jets 2 picks in the first round and bump the Eagles to the second round, where Wilson projects they will take versatile Georgia defensive lineman Christen Miller with the No. 37 overall pick.
https://x.com/espn/status/1835012377559154798
QBs Should Dominate Draft Conversation in 2026
Wilson currently has 5 quarterbacks projected to go in the first round of the 2026 draft, including LSU quarterback Garett Nussmeier at No. 1 overall to the New Orleans Saints.
That number could easily bump up to 6 if Texas quarterback Arch Manning decides to enter the 2026 draft after his presumptive first season as the starter for the Longhorns.
The Eagles have drafted quarterbacks in 2 of the last 3 drafts — both in the sixth round — with Stanford’s Tanner McKee in 2023 and Syracuse’s Kyle McCord in 2025.
The Eagles haven’t drafted an offensive player in the first round since 2021, when they took Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith at No. 10 overall.
Eagles Traded Up in First Round of 2025 Draft
The Eagles are one of the teams every other team knows is willing to deal when it comes to draft day — they traded up in the first round in 2025 to take Alabama linebacker Jihaad Campbell at No. 31 overall.
One thing the Eagles won’t need to draft in the first round in the foreseeable future is a quarterback — we could very well be into the mid-2030s before that happens. Which means the next first round pick for the Eagles could currently be preparing to enter the seventh grade this fall.
The last time the Eagles picked a quarterback in the first round was North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz, who they took with the No. 2 overall pick in 2016.
Hurts was a second round pick (No. 53 overall) in 2020.
