Which quarterbacks were first-round picks in the 2022 USFL Draft?
The 2022 USFL Draft included some intriguing names at the quarterback position. Which quarterbacks were selected in the first round?
The 2022 USFL Draft kicked off with each of the eight teams in the resurrected professional league taking quarterbacks in the first round.
Similar to what we saw back in 2019 with the XFL Draft, every round of the 2022 USFL Draft had pre-determined position groups each team needed to pick from, and of course, things started off with the most important position for any football roster — the quarterback position.
NFL teams have mostly assembled their offseason 90-man rosters aside from free agent acquisitions and NFL Draft picks, so the USFL Draft player pool is pretty much just the NFL free agent pool and players they can convince to leave the CFL (which they did, in some cases).
Which quarterbacks were taken in the first round of the USFL Draft? Let’s take a look (in the order in which they were selected).
Michigan Panthers first-round QB in USFL Draft: Shea Patterson
Michigan Panthers head coach: Jeff Fisher
The Michigan Panthers had the first overall pick in the draft and they used it on former five-star prospect Shea Patterson, who split his collegiate career between Ole Miss and Michigan.
He heads back to the state of Michigan to try and revive his professional career, which includes an NFL stop in 2020 with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Like many young NFL prospects in 2020, it was probably the worst possible time to come into the league because players like Patterson didn’t get the chance to put anything on tape in the preseason because of the pandemic.
Even considering his collegiate career, it’s surprising that Patterson was the highest player selected in this Draft.
Tampa Bay Bandits first-round QB in USFL Draft: Jordan Ta’amu
Tampa Bay Bandits head coach: Todd Haley
The Tampa Bay Bandits had the second pick in the USFL Draft, and they used it on the former dual-threat out of Ole Miss, Jordan Ta’amu.
Ta’amu makes it two former Rebels and former Kansas City Chiefs developmental QBs in a row to start the USFL Draft.
Ta’amu was a starter for St. Louis in the XFL in 2019 and completed 72 percent of his passes. He’s an intriguing player to watch who has gotten looks from about a half-dozen NFL teams in the last three years already.