The 2023 NFL Draft was expected to be a bit chaotic, but I’m not sure anyone really had an idea of just how awesome and fun the first round would be overall. Starting near the top of the draft with the Houston Texans shocking everyone by taking CJ Stroud second overall and then moving up to take Will Anderson Jr. right behind him the first round was loaded with shocking picks.
But even the most experienced mock draft artists out there couldn’t have predicted some of this chaos. What picks were the most unexpected of round one? Let’s take a look at the top five.
5 most unexpected first-round picks in the 2023 NFL Draft
1. CJ Stroud, QB, Houston Texans (2nd overall)
Well, that was a shocker, wasn’t it? The theatrics of this selection were pretty amazing, quite frankly. Everyone knew that Bryce Young was going to go first overall to the Carolina Panthers, but no one really knew what Houston was going to do. Most mock drafts had pivoted in recent weeks off of CJ Stroud and onto Will Anderson Jr. of Alabama, or even Tyree Wilson of Texas Tech.
The Texans clearly pulled the wool over all our eyes (well, not everyone, of course) and managed to not only land Will Anderson Jr. in a trade up right after the second overall pick, but they landed a bona fide franchise QB in CJ Stroud. At this point, nobody cares about the “S2” scores or whatever they’re calling this new Wonderlic thing. It’s all about football and we know CJ Stroud is good at it.
He gets to join the DeMeco Ryans operation in Houston with offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, running back Dameon Pierce, and a very interesting group of receivers/tight ends led by the likes of Robert Woods, Nico Collins, John Metchie, and Dalton Schultz.