College Football: Replacements for every first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft

The 2023 NFL Draft has concluded, but how will college football teams like Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Ohio State and more replace the first-round picks?

The 2023 NFL Draft has come and gone with all 259 selections being made. Now, the majority of the discourse is revolving around how former Alabama quarterback Bryce Young will look with the Panthers, how former Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud can fare with the Texans, how dominant Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter can be with the Eagles, and so on.

What is less talked about, however, is the college football implications of this. We marvel at teams like Georgia under Kirby Smart or the Alabama dynasty under Nick Saban because of their ability to replace high-end NFL talents and still succeed. It’s the art of winning and doing so consistently in college football.

Obviously, in most situations, college football programs have the ability to fill the holes for draft picks. However, it’s how well teams can replace those draft picks, specifically the best ones, that will determine what the college football landscape will look like. That’s particularly important with replacing the best players in the draft class, specifically the first-round picks.

So who will step up and replace the first-round picks from Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Texas, Tennessee, TCU, Florida and many more? Let’s take a look at the situations to replace each in the 2023 college football season.

College Football: Replacements for every first-round pick in 2023 NFL Draft

1. Alabama football replacement for Bryce Young (Panthers): Ty Simpson? Tyler Buchner? Jalen Milroe?

We knew that Nick Saban would be moderating a quarterback battle at Alabama this offseason with Bryce Young’s departure. We had no idea it would go the direction it has to this point.

Ty Simpson and Jalen Milroe were expected to duke it out for the right to be QB1 in Tuscaloosa and were both given that opportunity in the spring. After middling reports from practice and a spring game performance from both that sent the fan base into panic mode, though, the Crimson Tide had to turn to other options.

Where they landed was a familiar face for new offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, Tyler Buchner, who transferred from Notre Dame soon after the Irish’s spring game and chose Bama.

Buchner isn’t going to be handed the starting job, even with his familiarity with Rees. After all, this is a quarterback who struggled in limited time as the Notre Dame starter a year ago. Having said that, he exemplifies the uncertainty in how Alabama plans to make up for the loss of a generational quarterback to the draft with Young now in Carolina.