The Jacksonville Jaguars had the first draft pick again, a year after they used the No. 1 pick to knock out Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Yet unlike many years past, when the first pick is announced weeks or months in advance, there was little consensus as to who was going to be picked first this year.
The last non-quarterback to be first overall came in the 2017 NFL Draft, when the Cleveland Browns took on Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett.
According to scouts for ESPN and NFL Network, the strength of this year’s draft would lie in its multitude of offensive tackles, passers and wide receivers, while few quarterbacks would deserve a high draft pick.
University of Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson was the second overall pick, heading to the Detroit Lions. The Houston Texans had the No. 3 pick and picked Derek Stingley Jr., a cornerback from Louisiana State University.
Round 1 of the draft will end late Thursday, followed by rounds 2 and 3 on Friday at 7 p.m. ET, then rounds 4-7 on Saturday at noon.
All seven rounds air on ESPN, attracting an average audience of six to eight million people throughout the three-day event over the past three years.
Additionally, different cities have been taking turns hosting the draft since 2015, drawing hundreds of thousands of fans to city centers. Recent hosts include Dallas, Nashville and, most recently, Cleveland.
