Record 14 straight offensive players kick off historic 2024 NFL Draft

There were quarterbacks, chalk, offensive tackles, trades, wide receivers, surprises and a tight end.

It was a 14-pick whirlwind, but it was all offense in a record run to begin the 2024 NFL Draft on Thursday in Detroit. The initial 14 selections of the draft were all offensive players in what became the longest streak of picks on one side of the ball at any point of a draft in the Common Draft era (since 1967), per NFL Research.

It all began with the long-prognosticated selection of USC quarterback Caleb Williams by the Chicago Bears at No. 1 and concluded with a likewise predictable New Orleans Saints selection of an offensive tackle, as they went with Oregon State's Taliese Fuaga.

In between was a record-setting roller coaster ride.

Perhaps fittingly, the most surprising selection of the first round -- the Atlanta Falcons' pick of Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. -- was the record-breaker. In 2021, seven straight offensive players went off the board until the Carolina Panthers took cornerback Jaycee Horn. Penix was the eighth consecutive offensive player, but hardly the last.

The first-round surge featured six quarterbacks, four offensive tackles, three wide receivers and one tight end, before UCLA pass rusher Laiatu Latu busted the streak like he bursts through offensive lines. Latu was picked 15th overall by the Colts and was the first defensive player taken.

It stopped a historic streak of picks, but it hardly ended the offensive onus in the opening round.

A record 23 of the 32 selections were on the offensive side of the ball, easily besting the previous high of 19, as a bevy of records were set.

It will be many autumns to come before it can be determined just how successful the 2024 first-round class is, but on