Quarterbacks are the gold standard in the National Football League Draft.

There are times when the college talent available for draft day is distinguished by other positions, perhaps a strong crop of wide receivers, linebackers or defensive linemen, but most attention is routinely focused on the field generals. This year, the Las Vegas Raiders are expected to open the draft by selecting Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza. He is alone at the top of most draft boards, with Ty Simpson of Alabama and Garrett Nussmeier of LSU also possible first round selections.

It is not a year in which most NFL scouts consider it a strong year for quarterbacks … but what do they know?

The strongest year for quarterbacks coming out of college by most estimations before the draft was conducted and the players demonstrated their worth on the field was 1983. The strong projections for that quarterback class were mostly realized with actual results. That class included three future Hall of Famers: John Elway, Jim Kelly and Dan Marino among the six QB’s taken in the first round.

In more recent times, the 2018 NFL draft was regarded as a strong one for quarterbacks. That year, Baker Mayfield went first overall, Sam Darnold was the third first round choice, and the Buffalo Bills added Josh Allen to their roster with the seventh overall selection. Three picks later, the Arizona Cardinals chose the only old maid from the group, making Josh Rosen the fourth first round quarterback selected that year. With the 32nd pick in the 2018 draft the Baltimore Ravens got Lamar Jackson.

Pretty strong quarterback class … but what order would you plot those five quarterbacks now?

Okay, I suspect we can all agree that Rosen is fifth among that group, but I suggest the other four could generate a lot of different opinions. I suspect there are those that would list Jackson as number one, while the most likely current candidate for Hall of Fame status is Allen. Mayfield was the first player taken that year, and a few years ago there is little doubt he would have been listed third on most rankings behind Allen and Jackson.

But, the only signal caller to lead his team to a Super Bowl from that group is someone that as recently as three seasons ago would have been listed fourth behind Allen, Jackson and Mayfield … Sam Darnold. I was on record before the 2018 draft that I thought Darnold should have gone first, before Mayfield. A couple years ago I had surrendered that opinion while thinking Allen was the cream of that crop.

Now?

Well, Darnold has put together back-to-back seasons where he led his teams to 14 regular season wins, only one other quarterback in history has accomplished that level of winning for two straight seasons and his name is, well you probably know it, Tom Brady.

It took time for Darnold to blend his skills in the right organization … or should we say organizations? After nondescript years with the New York Jets, Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers, Darnold led the Minnesota Vikings to 14 wins in 2024. Last year, it was the Seattle Seahawks he guided to a 14-win regular season that concluded with his triumph in the Super Bowl. So far, the only QB to reach that pinnacle from the class of 2018.

When will we know how well the scouts did in mapping out the projected careers of the top quarterbacks from the class of 2026?

Long after pundits grade this week’s draft … years after.

And, as the selections go on, we can remember that the greatest quarterback ever was a sixth-round draft choice.