The first round of this year’s draft starts at 8pm ET on Thursday. But that’s just the start because this is a long, drawn out process that some cynics – not us! – would say is designed to maximise TV and online advertising. The second and third rounds start on Friday at 7pm ET, while the session for the fourth to seventh rounds starts on Saturday at 12pm ET. But if you only have time for one session, watch the first round – that’s when the really big names are picked.
The draft is held in different cities each year, often ones that are too cold too host theSuper Bowlin February and are given the draft as a consolation prize.Which brings us to this year’s host: the very cold (in winter) and very small Green Bay, home to one of the NFL’s most hallowed teams, thePackers. Green Bay has a population of a little more than 100,000 and they could nearly all fit into the Packers’ Lambeau Field, which has a capacity of about 80,000. The draft will take place outside the historic stadium. Bad news for fans: the weather doesn’t look great, unless you like drizzle and a chilly wind.
Teams are ordered based on their record the previous season, with the team with the worst record picking first in the first round and theSuper Bowl championspicking last, at No 32. This is supposed to help maintain parity, with the worst teams getting the best players out of college. But bad teams are bad for a reason and it can be hard to judge a player solely on their college career, so teams often get their picks wrong, although it can be years before a player’s true value can be fairly assessed. The Tennessee Titans have the No 1 pick this year. Teams can also trade picks, moving up the order if they see a player they really like. There will be 257 picks in this year’s draft so we won’t list the entire order here, butyou can find it here if you like.
It depends what you mean by best. For example, quarterbackJoe Burrowis an excellent player but it wasn’t a brilliant piece of strategy or scouting by theCincinnati Bengalswhen they picked him No 1 overall in 2020: anyone with a passing knowledge of football would have done the same in their position, if they needed a quarterback. However, most people would agree that theKansas City Chiefs’ decision to trade up to No 10 in the 2017 draft and getPatrick Mahomeswas the best move of the last decade. Mahomes wasn’t considered a sure-fire success, and plenty of other teams passed up the chance to get him, but he has gone on to win three Super Bowls, and is already one of thegreatest quarterbacks of all time.
Caleb Williams was pickedNo 1 overall in 2024by theChicago Bears. The quarterback had an adequate first season but was outshone by the Washington Commanders’ Jayden Daniels, who was picked at No 2 and had one of thebest rookie quarterback seasons of all time.
Florida quarterback Cam Ward is generally considered likely to be the No 1 overall pick. He is the best available player at football’s most important position and the Titans, who are due to pick at No 1, are in need of a quarterback.
While Ward will probably go No 1, he isn’t necessarily the best player: it’s just that the Titans need a quarterback and Ward is the best one available. Colorado’s Travis Hunter is considered the most talented player by most scouts. His wild athleticism means he is good enough to play on defense at cornerback or on offense at wide receiver, an ability that is incredibly rare in professional football. Some would counter that Hunter is a jack of all trades but a master of none. They would go for Abdul Carter, an elite pass rusher who should thrive in theNFL.
Pretty much every website out there has a mock draft, and the Guardian is no exception. Although we have done things slightly differently and made various predictions this year. Anyway, they’re great.You can read them here.If not, Google is available.
Obviously, you should follow it with the Guardian’s excellent liveblog which will belive here from 7pm on Thursday. If you want to watch actual moving pictures of the draft, it’s available to watch in the US on ESPN, ABC and the NFL Network. In the UK, the draft will air on Sky Sports, in Canada it will be on TSN and on DAZN in Australia and New Zealand.