April 29, 2016

The National Football League (NFL) draft is an unofficial holiday on the calendar of many pro football fans. Like a sports-themed hybrid of New year’s Day, Christmas, and your birthday, it is a day filled with optimism and hope for the future for fans of every team as well as the players selected. This year, representatives from all 32 NFL teams and the top-ranked college prospects from across the country gathered in Chicago between April 28-30 for the televised event that regularly draws high ratings.

The Los Angeles Rams chose University of California quarterback Jared Goff as the top overall pick of the NFL draft in Chicago on April 28, 2016.
Credit: © Charles Rex Arbogast, AP Photo

Drama marked the draft from the beginning as teams traded future picks for higher first round choices in order to land coveted players. The Los Angeles Rams traded a number of future picks to the Tennessee Titans in return for the number one overall pick. The Rams chose University of California quarterback Jared Goff. The Philadelphia Eagles had the next pick, which they obtained in a trade with the Cleveland Browns. The Eagles chose North Dakota State quarterback Carson Wentz. This was the second consecutive year that quarterbacks were selected one-two in the draft. In all, seven teams traded for better first round positions.

The draft is the process by which NFL teams select players from the ranks of college football. Most of the players the teams choose are seniors who have completed their college playing careers. However, juniors and underclassmen who declare their eligibility for the draft may also be selected. The first choice goes to the NFL team that ended the preceding season with the worst record, unless that team trades the draft choice. The Super Bowl winner—in this case, the Denver Broncos—picks last. Denver, however, traded some picks to the Seattle Seahawks to move up to the 26th position. Seattle made the first round’s final pick. Every team hopes to land a future star player, while some picks will ultimately fail and be labeled as “busts.”

As in most NFL drafts, most first rounders were selected from the top college teams. Eight players were selected from the Southeastern Conference, the most of any college football conference. Five players from The Ohio State University of the Big 10 Conference were among the first 20 players selected in the first round, one player short of the record six first-round picks from the University of Miami in 2004.

There were only 31 selections made in this year’s first round. In 2015, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell took away the first round pick of the New England Patriots following accusations that the team tampered with footballs in a playoff game. The 2016 NFL Draft continues for six more rounds over the next two days.