Three quarterbacks were selected in the third round back in April, and early reports have been good and bad. With Atlanta's Desmond Ridder, it sounds like he might push to start right away. With Malik Willis (Tennessee) and Matt Corral (Carolina), early indications have been nothing of the sort.
Willis, according to a recent report, might be Tennessee's No. 3 quarterback, confirming the belief that he needs a lot of development. Corral there hasn't been much on; just the feeling that Carolina is still planning on acquiring a veteran, either Baker Mayfield or Jimmy Garoppolo, rather than starting Corral this season.
Expectations for all three players, though, need to be low. The hits at the position, in Round 3, are few and far between.
Since 2000, there have been 28 other quarterbacks selected in the third round. To this point, only two of those players have had a top-15 fantasy season at any point in their career. Russell Wilson is the star. Next best have been Matt Schaub and Nic Foles.
Table shows all the third-round quarterbacks drafted since 2000 who have started games at some point (I dumped guys like Garrett Grayson and Giovanni Carmazzi), with their best fantasy seasons listed. (And which year in the league that season was.) Davis Mills showed signs as a rookie of one day crashing that top-15 party; maybe this year. But a lot of guys who never amounted to much.
| THIRD-ROUND QUARTERBACKS, 2000-2021, BEST SEASONS | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Yr | G | Cmp | Att | Yds | TD | Yds | TD | PPR | Rk |
| 2017 | Russell Wilson, Sea. | 6 | 16 | 339 | 553 | 3983 | 34 | 586 | 3 | 415.8 | 1 |
| 2009 | Matt Schaub, Hou. | 6 | 16 | 396 | 583 | 4770 | 29 | 57 | 0 | 362.2 | 3 |
| 2013 | Nick Foles, Phil. | 2 | 13 | 203 | 317 | 2891 | 27 | 221 | 3 | 296.7 | 17 |
| 2017 | Josh McCown, NYJ | 16 | 13 | 267 | 397 | 2926 | 18 | 124 | 5 | 260.7 | 21 |
| 2011 | Colt McCoy, Cle. | 2 | 13 | 265 | 463 | 2733 | 14 | 212 | 0 | 214.4 | 22 |
| 2008 | Trent Edwards, Buff. | 2 | 14 | 245 | 374 | 2699 | 11 | 117 | 3 | 210.7 | 22 |
| 2006 | Charlie Frye, Cle. | 2 | 13 | 252 | 393 | 2454 | 10 | 215 | 3 | 202.2 | 23 |
| 2019 | Jacoby Brissett, Ind. | 4 | 15 | 272 | 447 | 2942 | 18 | 228 | 4 | 269.1 | 24 |
| 2013 | Mike Glennon, T.B. | 1 | 13 | 247 | 416 | 2608 | 19 | 37 | 0 | 210.1 | 25 |
| 2005 | Chris Simms, T.B. | 3 | 11 | 191 | 313 | 2035 | 10 | 31 | 0 | 145.6 | 28 |
| 2021 | Davis Mills, Hou. | 1 | 13 | 263 | 394 | 2664 | 16 | 44 | 0 | 205.6 | 29 |
| 2019 | Mason Rudolph, Pitt. | 2 | 10 | 176 | 283 | 1765 | 13 | 42 | 0 | 144.5 | 30 |
| 2016 | Cody Kessler, Cle. | 1 | 9 | 128 | 195 | 1380 | 6 | 18 | 0 | 96.8 | 32 |
| 2017 | C.J. Beathard, S.F. | 1 | 7 | 123 | 224 | 1430 | 4 | 136 | 3 | 119.1 | 33 |
| 2007 | Chris Redman, Atl. | 8 | 7 | 89 | 149 | 1079 | 10 | 16 | 0 | 95.6 | 34 |
| 2015 | Ryan Mallett, 2TM | 5 | 8 | 136 | 244 | 1336 | 5 | 15 | 1 | 96.3 | 36 |
| 2006 | Andrew Walter, Oak. | 2 | 12 | 147 | 276 | 1677 | 3 | 30 | 0 | 98.9 | 37 |
| 2014 | Charlie Whitehurst, Ten. | 9 | 7 | 105 | 185 | 1326 | 7 | 90 | 0 | 104.3 | 37 |
| 2007 | Brodie Croyle, K.C. | 2 | 9 | 127 | 224 | 1227 | 6 | 18 | 0 | 87.2 | 39 |
| 2019 | Will Grier, Car. | 1 | 2 | 28 | 52 | 228 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 13.6 | 56 |
| 2003 | Dave Ragone, Hou. | 1 | 2 | 20 | 40 | 135 | 0 | 51 | 0 | 12.4 | 57 |
| 2017 | Sean Mannion, LAR | 3 | 5 | 22 | 37 | 185 | 0 | -2 | 0 | 9.1 | 57 |
| 2008 | Kevin O'Connell, N.E. | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 23 | 0 | -6 | 0 | .6 | 71 |
| 2021 | Kellen Mond, Min. | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .3 | 76 |
--Andy Richardson