The NFL Draft starts on Thursday after months and months of scouting and planning by teams and each franchise will be looking for a number of impact players in the seven rounds as the Kansas City Chiefs, Jacksonville Jaguars and Oakland Raiders start off with the first three selections.
There have been a number of trades already this offseason that will affect the draft and what certain teams do, including the Seattle Seahawks acquiring Percy Harvin and more recently the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who officially traded for Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis after weeks of rumors. Revis signed a six year, $96 million deal with the team after the trade was completed and took the Bucs out of the top of the first round, as they traded away the number 13 pick along with a conditional selection for next season.
The Buccaneers desperately needed to improve their secondary, as the defense ranked last in the league in passing yards per game last season and having Revis on the roster will only help with that. Eric Wright will be looking to bounce back from a down season and the team also signed Dashon Goldson to a free agent contract to start alongside Mark Barron at safety. The Bucs now have some flexibility in the draft, as they don't need to go after a cornerback early and could focus on a wide receiver to go along with Mike Williams and Vincent Jackson, as well as help on the offensive and defensive lines.
The top of the draft has the Kansas City Chiefs and while they are expected to take Texas A&M left tackle Luke Joeckel, there is a chance they could decide on Eric Fisher or possibly a defensive player like Dee Milliner or Dion Jordan instead. The Jaguars could be in the mix for Geno Smith, but after Gus Bradley was hired as head coach, there is a good chance they will go defense with someone like Jarvis Jones, Sharrif Floyd or Milliner. At three the Raiders could go a number of ways, but most experts think they will play off what the first teams do an select whomever is available between Joeckel, Fisher, or Milliner and possibly Jordan.
The NFL Network will broadcast the draft live on television and streaming on NFL.com, while ESPN will have prime time television coverage as well as streaming on Watch ESPN. The first round will start at 8 pm on Thursday at Radio City Music Hall and will continue on Friday with rounds two and three at 6:30 pm. Saturday is the finals day with quicker selections in rounds four through seven, which will start up at 12 noon on ESPN.
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