NFL draft 2024 takeaways: QB moves, luxury picks and contenders - ESPN

The 2024 NFL draft had everything: a historic run on offensive players, an even more historic run on quarterbacks, moms blocking their sons' girlfriends from getting in on the draft night celebration, head-scratching picks and a whole slew of trades.

The good news after a record-setting weekend in Detroit: Your team is going 20-0 and winning the Lombardi Trophy.

The bad news: Your team missed out on your favorite X factor prospect, and the future is bleak.

The real news: 257 players had their dreams come true throughout the weekend when they were selected to join an NFL team and help their new organization compete for a Super Bowl.

No pressure.

Here's a look at some of the major trends of the 2024 NFL draft.

It's good to be a quarterback. Or at least it's good to be a first-round quarterback. In a league where quarterback play — especially from young, affordable talent — is becoming increasingly more valuable, the 2024 draft saw six quarterbacks go in the first 12 picks, marking only the second time that six QBs were picked in the first round since 1983. It also represented the fewest selections in which six signal-callers have been drafted.

The first three off the board weren't much of a surprise: Caleb Williams (Bears), Jayden Daniels (Commanders) and Drake Maye (Patriots). Then things went sideways when the Falcons stunningly drafted Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. at No. 8, despite signing quarterback Kirk Cousins to a lucrative free agent deal less than two months ago. Two picks later, the Minnesota Vikings made their much-anticipated trade up to select Michigan's J.J. McCarthy, and the Broncos rounded out the group with Oregon's Bo Nix at No. 12.

But after the boom of quarterbacks in the top 12 picks, not