The NFL Draft begins in primetime on Thursday night and this year the event will get some Hollywood treatment, as Kevin Costner will be filing a new movie on site at Radio City Music Hall along with director Ivan Reitman and co-star Denis Leary.
The NFL has scheduled the draft in primetime over the past few years and each season the event gets bigger and bigger as more and more media start reporting on each pick and everything that goes along with it. The NFL Network and ESPN will have a number of programs on during the week previewing the draft and coverage will start at 8 p.m. for the first round on Thursday in prime time.
The Kansas City Chiefs have the number one overall pick at the event in the first round, while the Jacksonville Jaguars, Oakland Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles and Detroit Lions will follow with their selections. Rounds two and three will go down on Friday starting at 6:30 p.m., while on Saturday the pace will be much faster as rounds four through seven will go down starting at 12 p.m.
The television coverage will be done by ESPN and the NFL Network, with ESPN putting some of their best NFL people on it, including Chris Berman, Jon Gruden and Mel Kiper. The streaming will go down on NFL.com for all the rounds and ESPN will also be providing a ton of online content, including scouting reports, player analysis, pick predictions and trade predictions between teams.
Luke Joeckel from Texas A&M is expected to be the top pick by the Chiefs, while a number of other players will be highly regarded at the top of the draft and in attendance, including Manti Te'o, Tavon Austin, Dee Milliner, Sharrif Floyd, Jarvis Jones, Dion Jordan and Eric Fisher. The offseason has been building towards the draft for weeks and as teams look at players and film they will finalize their boards as they head to New York. The Super Bowl is months away, but the NFL draft may signal who will be hoisting the Lombardi Trophy come February and who may be home for the playoffs.
CLICK here for the full draft order.
April 25, 8 p.m.: 1st round
April 26, 6:30 p.m.: 2-3 rounds
April 27, 12 p.m.: 4-7 rounds
