Welcome to the NFL, Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert.
As the 2020 NFL Draft got underway on Thursday, those three were the first three quarterbacks off the draft board as many excepted, going to the Bengals, Dolphins and Chargers, respectively. Burrow was selected with the first-overall pick while Tagovailoa and Herbert were selected fifth and sixth.
With that occurring, the trio became part of a small slice of NFL Draft history. It was only the third time in the modern era of the draft that three signal callers were selected in the top-six picks. The other two times saw the quarterbacks selected with the first three picks, 1-2-3.
The first occurrence was in the early ears of the modern draft in 1971. That draft saw the Patriots start things off with Jim Plunkett, followed by the Saints’ selection of Archie Manning. That trio was rounded out by the then Houston Oilers picking Dan Pastorini.
More recently it happened in 1999. That year saw the Browns tab Tim Couch as the first-overall pick, followed by the Eagles nabbing Donovan McNabb and the Bengals selection of Akili Smith.
