The National Football League (NFL) draft is one of the most beloved events by sports fans all around the world. With hundreds of players’ dreams being fulfilled each year during the 3 days of drafting, fans end up either very happy or extremely disappointed from the selection made by their favorite team.

          Round 1 of the draft is the most watched and anticipated day as the best players in the draft usually come out of this round. This year was unpredictable and exciting as usual and left a lot of fans excited for the future of their teams. The first pick of the Draft was as expected, star quarterback from Clemson, Trevor Lawrence who is headed to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Lawrence was the undisputed first pick as he had been considered throughout the entire draft process to be the first selection. Later in the first round, Travis Etienne, a former Clemson teammate of Lawrence, was the 25th pick and he will immediately bring chemistry to the locker room. 

The first 3 picks would be all quarterbacks with the New York Jets, taking BYU’s Zach Wilson, who became the obvious choice at that pick. Then with the 3rd selection the San Francisco 49ers picked North Dakota States, Trey Lance. Lance was a 50/50 decision as Alabama University’s Mac Jones was the other prospect the 49ers were looking at. Lance was incredible in college as he never threw an interception in his college career, a stat that sounds like it came out of a “Madden,” an NFL video game. 

The next three picks brought great offensive weapons to some teams with the Falcons, selecting one of the best tight end prospects ever from University of Florida, Kyle Pitts. The Bengals would select wide receiver from Louisiana State University (LSU), Ja’Marr Chase, pairing him up with his former LSU teammate quarterback Joe Burrow. The Dolphins would end up following that mindset selecting another receiver from Alabama University, Jaylen Waddle who would get put back with his old Alabama teammate, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. 

          As the draft went on, other big picks, including a pair of corners picked at eight and nine with South Carolina’s Jaycee Horn going to the Carolina Panthers, and Alabama’s Patrick Surtain III going to the Denver Broncos. The Philadelphia Eagles would trade up to pick ten with the Dallas Cowboys to select Heisman winning receiver, Devonta Smith from Alabama. Pick eleven would have another trade with the Chicago Bears, stealing Ohio State’s quarterback Justin Fields in a trade with the New York Giants. This was particularly interesting as the Bears have failed to find success in finding a quarterback for the long term for almost the entirety of their franchises existence, so they hope this is the one that changes that narrative. 

More interesting picks include the Cowboys picking Linebacker Micah Parsons, the Patriots picking quarterback Mac Jones, the Giants selecting receiver Kadarius Toney, the Steelers snagging running back Najee Harris, the Ravens adding receiver Rashod Bateman, and the final pick in the first round the Super Bowl winning Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected defensive end Joe Tryon.

          With 2 more days of the draft left, it is likely most of the stars of NFL have already been selected, but you never know who will come out to be the greats. Now after the draft we will see how these players’ careers pan out in the years to come.