NFL Draft quarterback mistakes that shaped league landscape in 2025

Joel Klatt and Kurt Warner discuss advice for players going into the 2025 NFL Draft. Kurt advises these players to believe in the process when things get tough in their careers and keep learning how to be a better player.

An NFL team is far more likely to make a mistake when drafting a quarterback than they are to make the right pick. 

And often enough, teams make an equally bad mistake when passing on a quarterback, letting him fall and be taken by rivals that then dominate the teams that passed on him for many seasons to come.

The last eight drafts have featured an annual frenzy of these mistakes, costing general managers their jobs and many passionate fans their sleep.

These mistakes are among the most consequential moments that have shaped the current NFL hierarchy.

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The Kansas City Chiefs selected Patrick Mahomes of Texas Tech with the 10th pick in the 2017 NFL Draft on April 27, 2017, in Philadelphia. (Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The seeds of the NFL's current and preeminent dynasty, the Kansas City Chiefs, were planted in 2017 when 10 teams passed on Patrick Mahomes. 

The Browns, Bears, 49ers, Jaguars, Titans, Jets, Chargers, Panthers and Bengals all decided Mahomes wasn't worth their first-round pick, before he fell to the Bills at 10.

The Bills also made the decision not to take Mahomes, but to make things worse for themselves for the next eight years, they agreed to trade their pick to the Chiefs. The Bills would get their franchise quarterback a year later, but sending Mahomes to Kansas City set up the Chiefs to beat the Bills in four straight playoff games since then. 

But at least the Bills