The NFL Draft is the biggest event of the offseason in professional football and the league has made it into a huge spectacle at Radio City Music Hall and this season it will also get the Hollywood treatment, as Kevin Costner is filming a major motion picture on the grounds.
The first round is set to get started on ESPN and the NFL Network at 8 pm while both networks will be doing pre and post event coverage online and on television. The draft has been anticipated for months and after scouting and research, teams will finally get to make their choices as they try to build the next Super Bowl champion.
Teams like the New York Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers and the San Francisco 49ers are some of the best drafting teams in the league (which is why they have multiple Super Bowls), while others like the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Jets have not had as much luck in recent years (ie: Mark Sanchez, Vernon Gholston..and on and on), but this year the Jets have two first round picks as part of the Darrelle Revis trade, giving them a chance to rebound.
23 players that were invited are attending the draft and many have the chance to be taken on the first night, including Dee Milliner, Jonathan Cooper, Eric Fisher, Sharrif Floyd, Tavon Austin and Luke Joeckel. The event starts up at 8 pm with the Chiefs picking first, while the Jaguars, Raiders, Eagles and Lions round out the top five with the Browns, Cardinals, Bills, Jets and Titans rounding out the top 10.
Each team will have 10 minutes in the first round to select, seven in the second and five minutes for the rest of the draft and there will be 254 selections total, with 32 compensatory picks that have been handed out. The Jets, Vikings and Rams all have two first rounders after making trades while the Seahawks, Buccaneers and Redskins have none.
The first round is expected to be busy, as a number of teams have expressed an interest in trading, including the Philadelphia Eagles, the Detroit Lions, the Cleveland Browns, the Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins.
