Will Anderson Jr. just became the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history, and Kay Adams’ latest debate dropped him into the No. 1 overall conversation for a full NFL redraft. PFN’s Jacob Infante listened, gave the take its due, and shut the door on it.
The premise came from Adams’ show, where the idea of Anderson going first if all 32 teams started from scratch got floated as something worth considering. Infante credited the source before pushing back.
Why 14 Quarterbacks Go Before Will Anderson Jr. in a Redraft
Infante’s case rests on positional value, and he brought a number to back it. Pointing to PFN’s NFL Ultimate Redraft Simulator, which runs an analytical formula to value every asset in the league, he laid the gap out in plain terms. “14 quarterbacks would go before Will Anderson Jr.,” Infante said.
That is not a knock on Anderson. He posted a career-best 12 sacks in 2025, earned first-team All-Pro honors, made his second Pro Bowl, and finished runner-up to Myles Garrett for Defensive Player of the Year. Houston paid him like the cornerstone he is, handing him a three-year, $150 million extension that averages $50 million per season and made him the highest-paid defender the sport has ever seen.
The argument is about scarcity, not talent. Dominant edge rushers are rare, but franchise quarterbacks are rarer, and the position swings games and seasons in a way no defender can match. A redraft simulator built to maximize value is going to keep reaching for arms before it ever circles back to a pass rusher. “I don’t think you can pass that up at number one,” Infante said of the quarterback pool.
Drake Maye and Caleb Williams Headline Infante’s QB Wave
Infante split his quarterback tier into two groups. Young passers with ceilings still climbing came first, then the established stars already operating at the top of the league.
“You’re looking at young guys, Drake [Maye], Caleb Williams, superstar potential,” he said, before running through the veterans. “Proven players like Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, so many different players with superstar abilities at the most important position in football.”
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The young names carry real weight after the 2025 season. Maye turned his second year into an MVP runner-up campaign and carried New England to Super Bowl 60. Williams broke through in Year 1 under Ben Johnson, winning the NFC North and pushing the Bears to the divisional round before they fell to the Rams.
Stack those two behind Allen, Burrow, Mahomes, and Jackson, then layer in the rest of the league’s starting-caliber passers, and the board fills in a hurry. Counting 14 quarterbacks ahead of any defender stops sounding like hyperbole and starts sounding like math.
That is the real takeaway from the exercise. A redraft is a referendum on how the NFL values its positions, and the answer has not moved. Anderson earns cornerstone money and deserves every dollar of it. Build a roster from nothing, though, and you take the player throwing the ball first, every time. Infante’s only quarrel with the premise is that it took 14 quarterbacks to make the point, not fewer.