The NFL draft starts on Thursday after months of speculation and scouting and the event will be in primetime as the league will broadcast the event on ESPN and the NFL Network at 8 p.m. from Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
The draft will have 23 players in attendance, including names like Dee Milliner, DJ Fluker, Eddie Lacy, Chance Warmack, Luke Joeckel and Eric Fisher. It's three less than last year and the second round will begin Friday at 6:30 pm, while the fourth through seventh rounds will go down on Saturday starting at 12 noon.
All 32 teams will be in attendance and each pick must go through from the teams to the league through phone communications. The draft has seven rounds and this season there were 32 compensatory picks given out on top of the 222 other selections, with some going to the Giants, Chiefs, Texans, Dolphins and Steelers after losing free agents before last season.
The Jets, Rams and Vikings all have two first round picks, while Seattle, Tampa Bay and Washington are out of first rounders this season. Teams will have 10 minutes in the first round two decide, seven in the second and from three through seven they have five minutes. Both ESPN and the NFL Network will be offering streaming for the event, including on the main NFL.com website and on Watch ESPN.
ESPN will have pre and post draft coverage on ESPN and on television, while a number of draft experts will be working the broadcast for ESPN, including Mel Kiper and Adam Schefter along with Jon Gruden and Chris Berman. The NFL also will be offering feeds into a number of team's war rooms on draft day as well as interactive content on their main website.
