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Black QBs in hot demand

Fred Jeter | 4/27/2023, 6 p.m.
It looks like a Black quarterback will be selected first in this year’s NFL draft. The question is which Black …
C.J. Stroud

It looks like a Black quarterback will be selected first in this year’s NFL draft.

The question is which Black QB?

With the very first pick, the Carolina Panthers are expected to call the name of either Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, age 21, or Alabama’s Bryce Young, 22.

Young might have a slight edge for first overall based, in part, on having competed in the nation’s toughest conference, the Southeastern.

With the second pick, look for the Houston Texans to call whichever QB the Panthers don’t pick.

In two seasons as Buckeyes’ signal caller, the 6-foot-3, 214-pound Stroud threw for 7,775 yards and 81 touchdowns. He was a Heisman finalist this past season.

Young, 5-foot-11 and 194 pounds, passed for 8,200 yards and 79 TDs in two full seasons as ‘Bama’ QB, and was the Heisman Trophy winner.

Bryce Young

Bryce Young

Also likely to hear his name called in the first round is Florida QB Anthony Richardson, who is just 20 years old.

At 6-foot-4 and 244 pounds, Richardson has a powerful arm and legs to match.

The Gators’ QB passed for 2,549 yards and 17 TDS this past season and ran for another 1,116 yards and 12 more scores.

Drawing “oohs and ahhs” at the NFL preseason Combine, Richardson ran the 40-yard dash in 4.43 and did a 40.5-inch vertical leap.

And don’t go to sleep on Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker, who was Heisman favorite before suffering a leg injury last season. Hooker, 25, is a 6-foot-3, 217-pound dual threat QB who transferred to UT from Virginia Tech. Before his injury, Hooker passed for 3,135 yards and 27 TDs and ran for another 430 yards and five TDs.

Hooker is projected to go no later than the second round. Only five Black QBs previously have ever been drafted

No. 1 overall. They were:

• Michael Vick (Virginia Tech), 2001 by Atlanta

• JaMarcus Russell (LSU), 2007, by Oakland

• Cam Newton (Auburn), 2011, by Carolina

• Jameis Winston (Florida State), 2015, by Tampa

• Kyle Murray (Oklahoma), 2019 by Arizona

Looking to 2024 draft, a likely No. 1 pick is Southern California QB Caleb Wiliams, the current Heisman winner. The first Black athlete of any position to go first overall was Syracuse running back Ernie Davis in 1962.

Davis was picked by Washington but quickly traded to Cleveland for Bobby Mitchell. Tragically, Davis died of leukemia before ever playing in the NFL.