Dreams will be achieved and hopes will be crushed in Arlington, Texas next week when NFL teams select the next generation of college talent in the 2018 Draft.
Youngsters who’ve never played a down of pro football will become instant millionaires when the first round kicks off in the small hours of Friday morning in the UK (27 April).
Last year, the first overall pick was Myles Garrett, who graduated from Texas A&M University to the hapless Cleveland Browns and got a $20 million signing bonus as part of his four-year $30 million deal.
Cleveland are picking first again, repeat hapless, the reward for having the worst win-loss record in the NFL last season. It’s one of the several ways the league tries to ensure parity and avoid the kind of ‘buying the title’ one or two-horse races that you see in the Premier League or La Liga.
Worst team picks first, Super Bowl winner picks last in each of the seven rounds. So that’s 256 young men who will see their life’s ambition realised when their name is called by an NFL team. The ultimate is being picked first, but it doesn’t always follow that the best player in the graduating class will go No1 overall. And for some, it could get really ugly – it’s happened before.
Offensive tackle Andre Smith was set to become only the second tackle in 11 years to be first choice in 2009 but showed up at the NFL Combine horrifically out of shape and made the mystifying decision to run topless.
He saw his stock drop and he fell to the sixth spot, where he was snapped up by the Cincinnati Bengals.
Two years ago, another offensive tackle, Laremy Tunsil was part of a bizarre incident. Just before the start of the draft, images purportedly of him wearing a gas mask and smoking from a bong appeared on his Twitter account before being deleted. The expected top-five pick dropped like a stone before being rescued by Miami at no13. Then, moments after his selection, his Instagram page posted text conversations appearing to show him asking his college coaches for money (paying college players is against NCAA regulations). When he reached his press conference, he then appeared to admit the offence before hastily being ushered away by his agent.
Hall of Famers aren’t immune from draft day nightmares either – close to the 1995 event, rumours of drug use at the University of Miami, ensured Warren Sapp would fall to 12th before being saved by Tampa Bay. Off the field concerns also caused all-time great receiver Randy Moss to tumble to 21 overall in 1998.
Green Bay star passer Aaron Rodgers, perhaps endured the most public fall in draft history though. A guest of ESPN, he watched Alex Smith drafted first overall by the 49ers and was then passed over by 22 other teams, with every eye roll and grimace nationally televised.
Quarterbacks are likely to feature heavily this year, it’s possible it could rival the 1983 (six) and 1999 (five) drafts for passers chosen in the first round. Cleveland, NY Jets, Denver and Buffalo are desperate for a face of their franchise, while Arizona, LA Chargers, Jacksonville, Pittsburgh and NY Giants may grab their QB of the future. New England could also surprise and pick a successor for Tom Brady with their 23rd or 31st choices or use both to trade up the order into someone else’s spot. Josh Allen, Josh Rosen, Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield and Lamar Jackson form the strongest passer class in recent memory and will be the beneficiaries of NFL teams’ longing for a main man.
Others to watch include: Penn State running back Saquon Barkley, who is widely accepted as the best prospect on offer; guard Quenton Nelson from Notre Dame, who could be reunited with his college position coach at the Bears, picking eighth; top defenders Bradley Chubb, a relentless edge rusher out of North Carolina State, and defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick from college championship runners-up Alabama.
You can watch the Draft live at NFL.com or on Sky Sports Action from 12.30am on Friday 27 April.
