The Draft Scout Deep Dive: Black QBs and NFL Teams

A deep dive into each team's history of Black quarterbacks and how it will affect the 2025 NFL draft

The list of NFL teams that are in need of a quarterback is starting to crystalize as the season draws to a close. The New York Giants, Las Vegas Raiders, Cleveland Browns and many others are desperate for upgrades at the most important position in sports.

And more than ever before, the list of starting quarterbacks in the NFL is being dominated by young Black men. Players like Patrick Mahomes II, Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts and young superstars Kyler Murray, Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels.

In fact, 15 of the league’s 32 teams employs a starting quarterback who is not caucasian. That’s the most in NFL history.

But what does each team’s history say about its willingness to draft a Black quarterback? In a conversation with a prominent NFL general manager this week, he remarked “You better move Carson Beck up, you know some of these owners will never take a Black man at quarterback.”

Beck, who is white, has struggled at Georgia this season; so this got me thinking: are there really NFL teams that shy away from Black quarterbacks? In the year 2024 and when the supply at the position is porous at best?

The answer, at least on paper, is yes. There are teams that have historically not produced a high number of starts from Black quarterbacks. We won’t pretend to know the answer as to why, but can only present the numbers to you as they exist.

Since Marlin Briscoe became the first Black starting quarterback in 1968, for the Denver Broncos, every NFL team has started a Black quarterback for at least one game—and there are few franchises shockingly close to that “one game” mark.

The Broncos were the first team to break the color barrier at quarterback in ‘68—a year pivotal in American history with race playing a major role in the assassinations that year of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy; as well as race riots in Washington D.C. and protests at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. These events would lead to the passing of the Civil Rights Act by President Lyndon B. Johnson on April 11, 1968. Just six months later, on October 6, Briscoe would break the NFL’s color barrier.

The last team to do so? The New York Giants, nearly 50 years later. And the Giants’ record on Black quarterbacks was shocking to us once we dug in. Could it change this year with Shedeur Sanders, Cam Ward and Jalen Milroe expected to be the first passers off the board?

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Here is our list, thanks to pro-football-reference.com and Wikipedia searches, of every team’s history at the position. We give you these numbers with no context of our own added. You may infer what you like from the raw data.

32. New York Giants

First Black Starting QB: December 3, 2017 (latest)

Number of Black Starting QBs: 2

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 1

Number of Games Started: 6 (fewest)

I know we said no context, but seriously Giants? You’ve been a franchise since 1925 and in the Super Bowl era you have six games started by a Black quarterback. You’ve had just two total since 1968? And one drafted?

31. New England Patriots

First Black Starting QB: September 22, 2016

Number of Black Starting QBs: 2

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 3

Number of Games Started: 23

30. Indianapolis Colts

First Black Starting QB: January 3, 2016

Number of Black Starting QBs: 3

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 1

Number of Games Started: 42

29. Green Bay Packers

First Black Starting QB: November 10, 2013

Number of Black Starting QBs: 4

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 2

Number of Games Started: 38

28. San Francisco 49ers

First Black Starting QB: October 31, 2010

Number of Black Starting QBs: 3

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 2

Number of Games Started: 68

27. Houston Texans

First Black Starting QB: November 2, 2003

Number of Black Starting QBs: 3

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 2

Number of Games Started: 68

26. Arizona Cardinals

First Black Starting QB: September 7, 2003

Number of Black Starting QBs: 4

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 2

Number of Games Started: 98

25. Jacksonville Jaguars

First Black Starting QB: December 29, 2002

Number of Black Starting QBs: 3

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 2

Number of Games Started: 121

24. Miami Dolphins

First Black Starting QB: October 20, 2002

Number of Black Starting QBs: 7

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 2

Number of Games Started: 85

23. Carolina Panthers

First Black Starting QB: September 8, 2002

Number of Black Starting QBs: 5

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 2

Number of Games Started: 187

22. Atlanta Falcons

First Black Starting QB: November 11, 2001

Number of Black Starting QBs: 4

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 4

Number of Games Started: 99

21. Kansas City Chiefs

First Black Starting QB: November 26, 2000

Number of Black Starting QBs: 2

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 1

Number of Games Started: 107 (all but one game by Patrick Mahomes)

20. New Orleans Saints

First Black Starting QB: September 3, 2000

Number of Black Starting QBs: 5

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 2

Number of Games Started: 112

19. Baltimore Ravens

First Black Starting QB: October 31, 1999

Number of Black Starting QBs: 11

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 4

Number of Games Started: 169

18. Seattle Seahawks

First Black Starting QB: September 7, 1997

Number of Black Starting QBs: 5

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 2

Number of Games Started: 253

17. Cincinnati Bengals

First Black Starting QB: October 30, 1994

Number of Black Starting QBs: 2

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 1

Number of Games Started: 83 (none since Akili Smith 2002)

16. Minnesota Vikings

First Black Starting QB: September 4, 1994

Number of Black Starting QBs: 12

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 4

Number of Games Started: 205

15. Detroit Lions

First Black Starting QB: October 1, 1989

Number of Black Starting QBs: 4

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 2

Number of Games Started: 103

14. Las Vegas Raiders

First Black Starting QB: October 4, 1987

Number of Black Starting QBs: 8

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 4

Number of Games Started: 67

13. Washington Commanders

First Black Starting QB: September 20, 1987

Number of Black Starting QBs: 8

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 4

Number of Games Started: 155

12. Dallas Cowboys

First Black Starting QB: December 21, 1986

Number of Black Starting QBs: 6

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 3

Number of Games Started: 194

11. Philadelphia Eagles

First Black Starting QB: September 15, 1985

Number of Black Starting QBs: 6

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 1

Number of Games Started: 348

10. Tennessee Titans

First Black Starting QB: September 2, 1984

Number of Black Starting QBs: 5

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 3

Number of Games Started: 383 (most)

9. Chicago Bears

First Black Starting QB: September 16, 1979

Number of Black Starting QBs: 5

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 2

Number of Games Started: 81

8. Cleveland Browns

First Black Starting QB: November 20, 1977

Number of Black Starting QBs: 13

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 3

Number of Games Started: 82

7. Los Angeles Chargers

First Black Starting QB: September 18, 1977

Number of Black Starting QBs: 2

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 1

Number of Games Started: 12 (second-fewest)

6. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

First Black Starting QB: October 24, 1976

Number of Black Starting QBs: 6

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 4

Number of Games Started: 157

5. New York Jets

First Black Starting QB: December 15, 1975

Number of Black Starting QBs: 5

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 3

Number of Games Started: 46

4. Los Angeles Rams

First Black Starting QB: October 20, 1974

Number of Black Starting QBs: 2

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 0 (only team with none drafted)

Number of Games Started: 65 (none since 1998)

3. Pittsburgh Steelers

First Black Starting QB: December 3, 1973

Number of Black Starting QBs: 9

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 5

Number of Games Started: 108

2. Buffalo Bills

First Black Starting QB: September 14, 1969

Number of Black Starting QBs: 4

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 3

Number of Games Started: 66

1. Denver Broncos

First Black Starting QB: October 6, 1968

Number of Black Starting QBs: 4

Number of Black QBs drafted 2000-present: 1

Number of Games Started: 50