Draft might see record run of QBs

As soon as the San Francisco 49ers traded three firstround picks to move up to No. 3 overall, it became clear that quarterbacks would come off the board at a record pace at the NFL draft.

While QBs are widely expected to go 1-2-3 tonight for just the third time in the common draft era that started in 1967, there are still questions about how many others will follow in the top 10 and first round.

Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson are expected to be the top two picks, to Jacksonville and the Jets, with the 49ers likely choosing among Mac Jones, Trey Lance and Justin Fields at No. 3.

That would match 1971 (Jim Plunkett, Archie Manning, Dan Pastorini) and 1999 (Tim Couch, Donovan McNabb, Akili Smith) as the only drafts with QBs taken with the top three picks.

A record could be set with four QBs going in the top four if Atlanta drafts the successor to Matt Ryan or trades down to a quarterback-needy team.

If Fields, Jones and Lance all get taken in the top 10, that would also be a first, beating the four top-10 QBs taken in the 2018 draft when Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen and Josh Rosen all went off the board quickly.

All five of those QBs are almost assuredly firstround picks, something that also happened in 1999 when the five came off in the top 12, and in 2018 when Lamar Jackson was picked 32nd to join the four top-10 QBs. PANTHERS TRADE BRIDGEWATERTOBRONCOS>> Drew Lock didn’t have to wait for the draft to get competition for his starting job that new GM George Paton has been promising. Paton traded a sixth-round pick in this draft to Carolina in exchange for QB Teddy Bridgewater.