Every off-season NFL teams make their respective decisions on which quarterback will be their starter for the upcoming season. Many of which opt to roll with free agent veteran quarterbacks while others look to the draft for a rookie to lead their franchise into the future. Unfortunately, many of those decisions don’t work out. Front offices and their respective scouting departments have to go back to the drawing board. Here are five teams that are likely going to look to the 2024 NFL Draft for a new quarterback.
5 NFL teams that will be drafting a QB in 2024
Team no. 5: Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons had a chance to move up in the draft in 2023 to select a quarterback. They opted to use their 8th pick overall on running back Bijan Robinson assembling an impressive offensive unit for 2023. The Falcons also opted to go offensive line and defense with their remaining picks.
They will be handing the keys to the offense to their third-round pick from 2022, quarterback Desmond Ridder. Marcus Mariota was the starter in 2022 before Ridder stepped in for the final four games of the season. Ridder finished the season 2-2 with 708 total passing yards with 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.
Both of Ridder’s touchdowns came against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the final game of the season. Ridder improved his completion percentage from his first game starting at 50% compared to his fourth game where he landed 63.3% of his pass attempts.
Ridder certainly has potential but head coach Arthur Smith has compiled quite a squad in the last two offseasons. If such a young, talented team can’t make the playoffs in a weak NFC South division the Falcons will be looking for Ridder’s replacement in the 2024 draft. It’s possible Ridder will lead the Falcons to the postseason if he improves his ball placement/accuracy issues. Currently, the expectation is he won’t be the starter in 2024.
Team no. 4: Green Bay Packers
While Packers fans are attempting to hop on board the “Love Train” many of us are not so easily convinced. Quarterback Jordan Love has enormous shoes to fill with the departure of future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers. Love showed promise in his various appearances over his first three seasons in the league as Rodgers’ backup. Love is similar to Ridder where there is a very small sample size to evaluate as far as his performances go.
Love has only one game as the starter which came in 2021 against the Kansas City Chiefs. In that bout, he had a 55.9% completion rating, threw for 190 yards (5.6-yard average per completion), and threw one touchdown with one interception. The Packers would lose that game 7-13 which wasn’t terrible considering the Chiefs made it to the AFC Championship that season. However, in that game, there were noticeable issues in decision making and accuracy. Love made only brief appearances in 2022 and did not start.
Perhaps with the departure of Rodgers, Love will play better knowing that he is the undisputed starter of the Packers and is no longer playing second fiddle. Still, based on what has been seen thus far it will be a rocky road for Love in 2023. He is working with fewer weapons than he had in 2021 against the Chiefs and the rest of the NFC North (except the Vikings?) will likely overtake the Packers. The Packers won’t draft a wide receiver in the first round in the 2024 draft (as usual) but they may be looking for a new quarterback.
Team no. 3: Las Vegas Raiders
The Jimmy Garoppolo experiment in Las Vegas is not off to a great start. This is unfortunate considering the season has yet to actually start. The Raiders released Derek Carr who never missed more than one game a season in 9 years in the NFL. The Raiders replaced Carr with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo who has only had three seasons where he played in 10 games or more.
Garoppolo is not known for his deep ball or for scoring anything more than an average amount of passing touchdowns. Jimmy G won’t even hit the field until July (at the earliest) after it was reported that he failed his initial physical with the Raiders. Garoppolo missed off-season activities and is hopeful that he will rejoin the team in time for training camp. Garoppolo and All-Pro wide receiver Davante Adams need this time to establish rapport and get ready for the regular season.
Raider fans are not entirely optimistic about the 2023 NFL season and they have a reason to be. The Raiders general manager Dave Ziegler attempted to move up in the draft to select a franchise quarterback to replace Carr but the price was too steep. The backup plan of an injured Jimmy Garoppolo, Brian Hoyer, and fourth-round rookie Aidan O’Connell doesn’t sound like a double-digit win season at all.
The Raiders will be lucky to win 8 games in 2023 and will likely score a high enough draft pick in 2024 to go after Caleb Williams or Drake Maye. The Raiders need a reboot at the quarterback position and not the kind of boot Jimmy Garoppolo is currently sporting.
Team no. 2: Washington Commanders
The Washington Commanders are the new New York Jets. The Commanders’ management has been building up the defense and offense for several seasons. Both units are formidable but the team still finished a disappointing 8-8-1 in 2022. The Commanders, similar to the Jets, are possibly one good quarterback away from making a strong postseason run in 2023.
The Commanders also tried the “Carson Wentz Experiment” which failed. A longtime favorite of head coach Ron Rivera, Taylor Heinicke, stepped in and went 5-3-1 before being replaced by Wentz. Wentz was then replaced by rookie Sam Howell for the final games of the season.
Howell, a fifth-round pick from 2022, ended up beating the Cowboys in the final game of the season 26-6. Howell finished his single start of the season with 169 passing yards with one touchdown and one interception. Howell also rushed for 35 yards on five carries.
The Commanders make this list because similarly to the Packers and Falcons there is a limited sample size to evaluate and what we have on tape isn’t exactly mind-altering. As stated earlier, the Commanders are similar to the Jets in the sense that they have a strong foundation on both sides of the ball. The way they are also similar is they are lacking a strong quarterback to lead them, although the Jets have seemingly remedied that by adding Aaron Rodgers to their roster.
Howell is not Aaron Rodgers and is still a developmental quarterback being thrust into a starting position in a talented NFC East division. Howell has noticeable issues with his mechanics, footwork, and pocket awareness. The Commanders could be in for a challenging 2023 season, to say the least.
The Commanders will give Howell a shot in 2023 but if Washington is getting a new owner they should consider a new quarterback to lead them into this new era.
Team no. 1: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Going from Tom Brady to an unknown future with either Baker Mayfield or Kyle Trask at the helm is just scary. Mayfield will likely win the starting job but this is his fourth team in five years. This may be Mayfield’s last chance to start and will begin his career as a journeyman backup quarterback. A far drop from being the first pick overall in the draft.
The Buccaneers will be able to field a competent defense in 2023 and their offense still has a variety of weapons in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. The issue is the quarterback position is quite unstable at the moment in Tampa. Mayfield threw 8 touchdowns with 8 interceptions in his stints with the Rams and Panthers and Trask has thrown three completions in the NFL. If Mayfield goes down things could get scary, and they could very well be scary with Mayfield starting. This simple clip hasn’t helped their case either.
Checking in on the Bucs' QB competition between Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask. #GoBucs pic.twitter.com/8kZQzEbdsp
— Kyle Burger (@kyle_burger) May 30, 2023
Todd Bowles unfortunately made our list of head coaches that could be fired in 2023. If Bowles is fired the regime will want to pair their new head coach with a new quarterback as well. Even if Bowles is not fired the Buccaneers will probably struggle in 2023 and a new quarterback and the promise of a new start could help keep Bowles in place.
Either way, the Buccaneers starting quarterback in 2023 will not be Mayfield or Trask. Looks for the Bucs to make a splash in the draft in 2024 with the other four teams on this list.