History suggests not all six of the quarterbacks taken in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft will work out.

Most of them won’t, if previous drafts are any indicator.

So while the Giants came away without a QB in a year they reportedly tried to trade up for UNC’s Drake Maye and spent considerable pre-draft time with Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy, that might not be the worst thing in the long run.

First-round NFL draft picks remain precious, especially when a team is selecting in the top 10. Missing on one that high – like the Giants did with Ereck Flowers in 2015 and Eli Apple a year later – can set back a franchise in need of top-end talent.

Missing on a quarterback usually extends the setback. Good quarterbacks are hard to find, and teams tend to stick with their investments at the position longer, hoping a prospect’s potential will turn into production. Coaches and general managers lose their jobs over it. It’s a vicious cycle.

Even in so-called “deep” quarterback drafts, the hit rate is low. Just look at 2021. Trevor Lawrence, whom the Jaguars selected No. 1 overall that year, has been good, but not great, thus far.

The other four first-round quarterbacks in that draft are already on new teams, having fizzled with the ones that drafted them.

The Jets traded No. 2 pick Zach Wilson to the Broncos last week. The 49ers moved on last year from Trey Lance, for whom they had traded a haul to take at No. 3. Justin Fields, drafted No. 11 by the Bears, is now a Steeler. Mac Jones, the Patriots’ pick at No. 15, is Lawrence’s backup in Jacksonville.

That 2021 draft shared similarities with this year’s. It was the last draft in which the top three picks were all quarterbacks. It featured a “can’t-miss” QB in Lawrence, just like this year’s top pick, Caleb Williams, who went to Chicago.

Lawrence and Fields had been touted for years as future NFL stars, just like Williams and Maye were coming into this year’s draft.

...continued

©2024 New York Daily News. Visit at nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.