Thursday night, millions of NFL fans from all 32-teams will be tuned in to watch and hear their favorite team draft and hope to find the next great player. This year the 86th annual draft will take place in Cleveland, Ohio broadcasting live from First Energy Stadium and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Round 1 is scheduled for Thursday, April 29 @ 8:00pm est, Rounds 2-3 will begin on Friday, April 30 @ 7:00pm est, and Rounds 4-7 will start @ 12pm est, on Saturday, May 1; all will be on ESPN, ABC, the NFL Network, and streaming on fuboTV (try for free), NFL app, and the ESPN app.
How the 1st Top “10” Picks May Go
- Jacksonville Jaguars – Trevor Lawrence – QB – Clemson – Barring a last minute whirlwind, Jacksonville will most likely take Lawrence as he has been the consensus no. 1 overall-pick since the mock drafts originally predicted. With first-year head coach Urban Myer at the helm, it may take some time for Lawrence to get adjusted to his pro-career. If this pans out, Jaguars fans will love this guy.
- New York Jets – Zach Wilson – QB – BYU – Here we go again with the New York Jets drafting another quarterback in hopes he will be the savior that will finally turn this franchise around. The Jets have had a bad history of drafting well in the first round, most recently with now former QB Sam Darnold now with the Carolina Panthers. Could this be the year where the Jets actually draft right? ESPN Draft Analyst Mel Kiper Jr. says that Wilson has superstar status written all over him, but this is the same guy whom back in 2007, said Jamarcus Russell would be one of the elite top-5 quarterbacks in the NFL. But, nobody is perfect at making predictions or draft selections.
- New England Patriots VIA San Francisco 49ers – Mac Jones, QB – Alabama – This is where the draft starts to get tasty. Both the 49ers and Patriots said that they were going to add a rookie QB in this year’s draft and both fan bases would agree with this. Right now, the Patriots have Cam Newton who re-joined the team this past offseason, but he is getting up there in age. Normally, the Patriots and Bill Belichick do not pull-off trades like this, but with the team needing another franchise quarterback to replace the great Tom Brady, Jones fits Belichick’s system as it is similar to the one run by Nick Saban at Alabama.
- Atlanta Falcons – Trey Lance – QB – North Dakota State – The Falcons have needed to draft a rookie quarterback for quite a while now, but they haven’t because Matt Ryan never seems to age. This all could change as Lance is considered an underdog prospect of the rookie quarterbacks this year. But let’s remember, Josh Allen was considered one too when drafted by the Buffalo Bills in 2018 and look how that’s turned out. Can Lance do it too?
- Cincinnati Bengals – Penei Sewell – OT- Oregon – This is the most logical pick here for the Bengals as they grabbed their franchise quarterback last year in LSU’s Joe Burrow. Sadly, Burrow missed the rest of the 2020 season after an ACL injury in the mid way point. What helps a young quarterback like Burrow stay upright for all 16-games this year? Well, a staple at left tackle where the quarterback’s blindside is. Sure, they can select a playmaking tight-end like Kyle Pitts, but Cincy could be tired of selecting top-10 busts in skill players.
- Miami Dolphins – Jalen Waddle – WR – Alabama – Now, this may seem like a reach, but wouldn’t it make sense for the Dolphins to add an Alabama speedster since Tua Tagovailoa is the quarterback. Mocks have Devonta Smith being the first wide receiver to go off the board, but Waddle is not far off as he has 4.3 speed.
- Detroit Lions – Ja’Marr Chase – WR-LSU With the Lions recently trading for Jared Goff, why not give him a nice deep threat WR to develop chemistry with. Chase is cut out of the LSU Wide Receiver mold of both Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry who have managed to put their egos aside and be a great 1-2 punch for QB Baker Mayfield with the Cleveland Browns.
- Carolina Panthers – Jaycee Horn – CB – South Carolina – The Panthers need help at corner, especially on the outside. While some mocks have Patrick Surtain II going as the first cornerback taken, Horn is about as good as Surtain in terms of man and zone coverage.
- Denver Broncos – Justin Fields – QB – Ohio State – With a new General Manager in George Patton, he may decide to go with his own quarterback since current start and Young Jeezy fan Drew Lock had a sophomore slump last season. That would make for an interesting quarterback battle, as someone needs to be able to, “Put On” for the city of Denver.
- Dallas Cowboys – Patrick Surtain II – CB – Alabama – Dallas’s struggles last year were clearly on the defensive side of the ball, which led to the firing of defensive coordinator Mike Nolan. With Dan Quinn in charge of the defense, they are going back to the, “Legion of Boom” defense which requires a lockdown corner. Rumor has it though that Owner and GM Jerry Jones is infatuated with Florida Tight End Kyle Pitts and when Jones feels this way, he will trade up to grab an instant playmaker.
Remaining 1st Round Picks 11-32
11. NY Giants
12. Philadelphia Eagles (From SF through Miami)
13. Los Angeles Chargers
14. Minnesota Vikings
15. New England Patriots
16. Arizona Cardinals
17. Las Vegas Raiders
18. Miami Dolphins
19. Washington Football Team
20. Chicago Bears
21. Indianapolis Colts
22. Tennessee Titans
23. New York Jets (from SEA)
24. Pittsburgh Steelers
25. Jacksonville Jaguars (from LAR)
26. Cleveland Browns
27. Baltimore Ravens
28. New Orleans Saints
29. Green Bay Packers
30. Buffalo Bills
31. Baltimore Ravens (from Kansas City Chiefs)
32. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Other Events to Watch During the Draft
Even if your not a big football fan, there are other events you can watch during the draft.
On Thur @ approximately 7:40pm est, Grammy Award winners Kings of Leon will kick off the football celebration @ the Draft Theater. The Sunrise Jones will act as the house band for night 1 and night 2 of the festivities.
On Fri @ approximately 11:00pm est, Rock and Soul duo Black Pumas will perform at the conclusion of round 3, @ the Draft Theater.
On Sat @ approximately 6:30pm est, Machine Gun Kelly will close out the draft after the last pick is made. Both performances will be streamed in full on NFL.com, in the NFL app and live on the NFL’s Facebook page each night. Portions of the performances will also be televised across NFL Network, ESPN and ABC’s draft coverage.
.@machinegunkelly will take the stage in Cleveland on Saturday, May 1 to close the @NFLDraft with a performance after the last pick is made.
Watch the NFL Draft Concert Series presented by @Bose LIVE on Facebook pic.twitter.com/hc7TaERc9U
— NFL (@NFL) April 20, 2021
Now if you are a big football fan, you may like this next event to be showcased on the NFL Network.
It is called, “RUN RICH RUN”. It is led by NFL’s Network’s Rich Eisen. It will be televised during the coverage of rounds 4-7 on Sat @ 12:00pm est. This year’s 40-yard dash is presented by Lowe’s and Zebra Technologies.
The competition will take place @ SoFi stadium @ Hollywood Park in Los Angeles, CA, (site of Super Bowl LVI). Eisen, along with many former NFL players to include: Jerry Rice, Ray Lewis, Cris Carter, Rod Woodson, Terrell Davis, Michael Vick, Torry Holt and Eric Metcalf, all of which will be partnered with some of the finest entrepreneurs.
The entrepreneurs are:
Brett Adcock and Adam Goldstein – Co-Founder and Co-CEOs of Archer
Vinit Bharana – Co-Founder of Quidsi (Diapers.com, Soap.com, Wag.com) and Some Spider Studios
Andy Dunn – Co-Founder of Bonobos
Nate Faust – Founder of Olive and Co-Founder and Jet.com
Jenny Fleiss – Co-Founder of Rent the Runway and Venture Partner at Volition Capital
Glenn Gonzales – Co-Founder and CEO of Jet It
Marc Lore – Serial Entrepreneur (Quidsi, Jet.com)
Jason Robins – Co-Founder and CEO of DraftKings
The group donated more than $1 million to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The pair that ran the 40-yard dash with the lowest combined time were declared the winners. To me, it seems like the children and their families are the ones who are going to be the winners. Thank you to all who participated and to Mr. Eisen.
“Run Rich Run” 40-yard dash to air on NFL Network during 2021 NFL Draft coveragehttps://t.co/zakbLaF1e1
— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) April 22, 2021
Final Thoughts
With the NFL draft being such a big event, and coming back live this year, fans are very excited to see what draft pick their team will be making. Some will be happy, while others will be left surprised, or angry. Let’s hope every player gets to the team they want, even “Mr. Irrelevant” which is the last pick of the NFL draft (#254).
