Its all revisionist history.
No team was taking anyone other than Caleb Williams at 1.1
The better history review is why did certain teams like Trubisky/Watson over Mahomes when none were considered slam dunk 1st pick in the draft type qb's.
That ones pretty easy, if you watch mahomes tape he was making a lot of stupid decisions and throws in college. The arm talent was clear, but he also came from an air raid scheme which was known for having great NCAA talent and giant failures in the pro level.
Basically was just dumb GM Group think based on prior decades of history. A couple teams with coaches who know QB talent(Saints,Chiefs,etc) saw him and figured it was worth trying to coach all the bad out of him as the level of arm talent was exceptional.
This also led to busts(Like Trey Lance and Zach Wilson) because then GM's figured it was worth taking risks for the "next mahomes"
The real headscratcher was mitch over watson, as watson was a proven top QB for multiple years at the highest level of NCAA football.