[DC 86]

In the common draft era, teams have traded up into the first five picks 11 times to draft a quarterback:

Steve Bartkowski (1) - two Pro Bowls.
Jeff George (1) - traded after four seasons, no Pro Bowls.
Ryan Leaf (2) - released after two seasons, no Pro Bowls.
Michael Vick (1) - three Pro Bowls (twice top-4 MVP) before career interrupted by legal issues.
Mark Sanchez (5) - released after four seasons, no Pro Bowls.
Robert Griffin (2) - released after three seasons, one Pro Bowl.
Carson Wentz (2) - traded after five seasons, one Pro Bowl.
Jared Goff (1) - traded after five seasons, two Pro Bowls.
Mitchell Trubisky (2) - released after four seasons, one Pro Bowl.
Sam Darnold (3) - traded after three seasons, no Pro Bowls.

Trey Lance (3) - tbd

So eleven times NFL front offices felt so confident in their evaluation that they traded significant assets to move up and draft "their guy" at the most important position. Too early to tell on Lance, of course. Bartkowski and Vick were both drafted first overall and had very good careers, though well short of the Hall of Fame and without reaching the Super Bowl.

But of the other ten, eight were traded or released within five years by the team that drafted them, including the last six prior to Lance. There's no need to elaborate on the quarterbacks available if teams had not traded up and simply drafted at their original position, but in retrospect it's clear teams didn't have any special insight that justified trading assets in order to move up into the top five for a particular player. Lance may ultimately outshine all the others on this list, but I will ascribe that to good fortune, not to the front office having great foresight, given the dismal history of aggressive trades into the top five of the draft for specific quarterbacks.

[DC 86]

In the common draft era, teams have traded up into the first five picks 11 times to draft a quarterback:

Steve Bartkowski (1) - two Pro Bowls.
Jeff George (1) - traded after four seasons, no Pro Bowls.
Ryan Leaf (2) - released after two seasons, no Pro Bowls.
Michael Vick (1) - three Pro Bowls (twice top-4 MVP) before career interrupted by legal issues.
Mark Sanchez (5) - released after four seasons, no Pro Bowls.
Robert Griffin (2) - released after three seasons, one Pro Bowl.
Carson Wentz (2) - traded after five seasons, one Pro Bowl.
Jared Goff (1) - traded after five seasons, two Pro Bowls.
Mitchell Trubisky (2) - released after four seasons, one Pro Bowl.
Sam Darnold (3) - traded after three seasons, no Pro Bowls.

Trey Lance (3) - tbd

So eleven times NFL front offices felt so confident in their evaluation that they traded significant assets to move up and draft "their guy" at the most important position. Too early to tell on Lance, of course. Bartkowski and Vick were both drafted first overall and had very good careers, though well short of the Hall of Fame and without reaching the Super Bowl.

But of the other ten, eight were traded or released within five years by the team that drafted them, including the last six prior to Lance. There's no need to elaborate on the quarterbacks available if teams had not traded up and simply drafted at their original position, but in retrospect it's clear teams didn't have any special insight that justified trading assets in order to move up into the top five for a particular player. Lance may ultimately outshine all the others on this list, but I will ascribe that to good fortune, not to the front office having great foresight, given the dismal history of aggressive trades into the top five of the draft for specific quarterbacks.