The time is finally here, and the first round of the NFL Draft is kicking off shortly at 7:00 p.m. Central Time tonight, with broadcasts on ABC, ESPN, and NFL Network as usual.
In the past, we’ve seen ABC be more “College Gameday” like, with Rece Davis hosting with Kirk Herbstreit, Nick Saban, and Desmond Howard. ESPN is the traditional broadcast with Mike Greenberg, Mel Kiper Jrl, Louis Riddick, and Booger McFarland. Finally, NFL Network has carved out a niche as the more “analysis-driven” broadcast,
with Rich Eisen hosting Daniel Jeremiah, Charles Davis, and Joel Klatt.
Interestingly, ESPN went and quietly bought the rights to NFL Network this year. So, really, Disney owns all of the broadcasts for the NFL Draft now. NFL Network is supposedly getting to keep their own show as normal this year, but who knows how much longer that will last or how much Disney will have people crossing over in the following days. They’re also giving Pat McAfee an alternate ESPN channel to run his Draft show as well. Even more Disney!
For Alabama fans, there are two players with 1st Round aspirations who have been invited to attend the Draft in person: offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor and quarterback Ty Simpson.
Proctor is a 3-year starter for the Tide that has long been expected to be an eventual first round draft pick. He never quite caught up to that “top-ten” level expectations, but he’s still expected by most to be a mid-to-late first. Offensive tackles are a hot commodity, and there aren’t a whole lot of good ones this year.
Ty Simpson, meanwhile, has been one of the more polarizing players in Draft talk spheres this spring. He had a stretch of about 6 games where he looked like he should be a #1 overall pick, and the rest of the season had mediocre results for a variety of reasons, including health. That lack of sample size and results should push him squarely out of the first round, but his combination of elite film and the scarcity of functional QBs may have teams willing to draft him early.
As long as one of the two are picked tonight, it will extend Alabama’s streak to 18 straight years with at least one player selected in the first round. Sure is great to be a Tide fan!
For now, here is the expected order of picks for the first round, though it is subject to change as the teams start trading:
- Las Vegas Raiders
- New York Jets
- Arizona Cardinals
- Tennessee Titans
- New York Giants
- Cleveland Browns
- Washington Commanders
- New Orleans Saints
- Kansas City Chiefs
- New York Giants
- Miami Dolphins
- Dallas Cowboys
- Los Angeles Rams
- Baltimore Ravens
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- New York Jets
- Detroit Lions
- Minnesota Vikings
- Carolina Panthers
- Dallas Cowboys
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Los Angeles Chargers
- Philadelphia Eagles
- Cleveland Browns
- Chicago Bears
- Buffalo Bills
- San Francisco 49ers
- Houston Texans
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Miami Dolphins
- New England Patriots
- Seattle Seahawks
