Every year, viewers throughout the United States tune in to watch their favorite collegiate athletes get drafted into the National Football League (NFL). Football is one of the most-watched American sports, making the NFL draft a major annual sporting event. Each year the NFL draft is important for every team, as it determines their roster for the coming season.
The NFL draft has seven rounds, with each round consisting of 32 picks. Since there are 32 NFL teams, each team receives one pick every round. Like other sporting leagues such as the NBA, fairness is a prominent aspect of the draft. Thus, the most desired draft picks are reserved for the NFL teams that had the worst team records during the previous season. This prevents the best teams in the league from receiving the most desirable picks in the draft. A rule within the NFL draft is that the team that won the Super Bowl in the previous year, this year that team being the Kansas City Chiefs, receives the last draft pick in each of the seven rounds, as it was the best team in the league the year before.
The 89th annual draft will begin on April 25, 2024, at 8 p.m. (EST). At this time, the first round of the draft will take place. Drafting for rounds two and three begins on the following day, April 26 at 7 p.m. (EST). The next day, on April 27, draft selections will be made for rounds four through seven, starting at noon (EST). Since the 2023-2024 NFL season has already ended, the order of the 2024 draft has been determined, as the teams’ records are final. The first pick in the NFL draft will go to the Chicago Bears. Further, the Washington Commanders, New England Patriots, Arizona Cardinals, and Los Angeles Chargers will receive picks two, three, four, and five respectively.
For every sport that holds a drafting night or weekend, media websites throughout the country create “mock drafts,” where reporters predict what collegiate athletes will go to which teams. According to numerous sites such as NFL.com, Patriots Wire, and Pro Football Network, Caleb Williams is unanimously expected to be drafted first by the Chicago Bears. Williams is a 22-year-old junior who plays the quarterback position for the University of Southern California. There is little debate that Williams will likely be drafted number one, but as for the number two pick, the odds are less certain. The majority of sources predict that the Washington Commanders will draft Drake Maye, a sophomore from the University of North Carolina, who also happens to be a quarterback. However, other sources believe that the Commanders will select quarterback J.J. McCarthy from the University of Michigan, who has recently gained popularity in mock drafts.
To answer these uncertainties and watch dreams come true among college athletes, tune into ESPN, ABC, or NFL Network on April 25 at 8 p.m. (EST). Continue by following the other six rounds of the draft that weekend until the 2024 NFL draft comes to an end on Sunday, April 27. Will the Chicago Bears select Caleb Williams first? Who will the Washington Commanders select as their new quarterback, Drake Maye or J.J. McCarthy?