NFL Draft
32 teams will snap up the best college football has to offer. Getty

Three months on from the Denver Broncos celebrating their Super Bowl success in San Francisco, the 31 teams looking to dethrone them have their best chance to close the gap on them at the NFL draft.

Where to watch

The draft sees the 32 franchises take the opportunity to recruit the best new talent to emerge from the American college ranks, as well as a number of underclassmen. Over seven rounds, each franchise will pick a player, with hope of selecting the next Peyton Manning or Lawrence Taylor. It's a three-day affair taking place at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University in Chicago, beginning on Thursday 28 April and ending 30 April. In all, 253 players will be signed up. The draft is available to watch live on Sky Sports 1, with coverage beginning at midnight [BST].

Draft order

The order is traditionally decided based on where a team finished in the previous season, with the worst finishers designated the first pick and vice versa. 2016 champions the Denver Broncos therefore are at the back of the queue. A flurry of trading between franchises inevitably shakes that order up, however.

The Los Angeles Rams will have first dibs on the pool of new talent after trading with the Tennessee Titans, having previously been at 15. Teams often move up and down the draft order as they attempt to put themselves in the right place at the right time to snap up a player in the position they most urgently need. It's what the Rams are trying to achieve; by placing themselves at the top of the list, they are best placed to snap up one of the most promising quarterbacks available.

In exchange, the Titans received 15th pick, two second-round picks, one third-round pick and their first and third-round picks in 2017. The Philadelphia Eagles have done likewise, trading with the Miami Dolphins in order to move up the order.

The New England Patriots meanwhile were docked their first round pick in the aftermath of Deflategate.

Timing

As you might expect, each team will enter the draft having done their homework, and will be set a certain time limit for each pick. Ten minutes are allocated in the first round, seven minutes in the second round, five minutes in rounds three to six, four minutes in the seventh round and four minutes for compensatory picks.

Draft Order

1) Los Angeles Rams

2) Philadelphia Eagles

3) San Diego Chargers

4) Dallas Cowboys

5) Jacksonville Jaguars

6) Baltimore Ravens

7) San Francisco 49ers

8) Cleveland Browns

9) Tampa Bay Buccaneers

10) New York Giants

11) Chicago Bears

12) New Orleans Saints

13) Miami Dolphins

14) Oakland Raiders

15) Tennessee Titans

16) Detroit Lions

17) Atlanta Falcons

18) Indianapolis Colts

19) Buffalo Bills

20) New York Jets

21) Washington Redskins

22) Houston Texans

23) Minnesota Vikings

24) Cincinnati Bengals

25) Pittsburgh Steelers

26) Seattle Seahawks

27) Green Bay Packers

28) Kansas City Chiefs

29) Arizona Cardinals

30) Carolina Panthers

31) Denver Broncos

  • New England Patriots barred from first round

Popular picks

The Rams and the Eagles have both traded their way to the top of the pile to secure the brightest quarterback prospects going; California State's Jared Goff and Carson Wentz of North Dakota State. The duo are almost guaranteed to be the first two names taken. Jalen Ramsey of Florida State is the considered perhaps the best defensive back this year, with DeForest Buckner of Oregon and Ohio State's Joey Bosa likely to be first shouts for those looking to fill a slot at defensive end.

Laremy Tunsil of Mississippi and Ronnie Stanley of Notre Dame could be the first offensive lines to get the call.