The 2024 NFL Draft officially opened on Friday April 25 and it will last through Saturday April 27. The NFL Draft is one of the most important days for the NFL because it brings new players into the league so they can hopefully turn into superstars. It also means a lot for the players getting drafted because it is a lifelong dream of theirs to play in the NFL and now for some it officially comes true. With the 1st pick in the NFL draft the Chicago Bears were on the clock. They finished 7-10 last season but they made a trade in last year's draft to acquire the first overall pick. The trade was with the Carolina Panthers and with the first overall pick they used it to acquire Bryce Young, a quarterback who was the Heisman trophy winner at Alabama in 2021. In this deal the bears also received DJ Moore and more picks in the future. Throughout the 2023 season there was a lot of debate on if the Bears should keep 2021 first round draft pick Justin Fields. When the draft was getting closer and closer the Bears decided that they would want to take a chance with the first overall pick who we now know is Caleb Williams the quarterback and 2022 Heisman winner at USC. The Bears traded Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers so that they can pursue Caleb. Williams was the consensus 1st overall pick because he is one of the best quarterback prospects of all time or he can be considered as one of the best prospects of all time.

Now with the Washington Commanders on the clock they decided to select 2023 Heisman trophy winner Jayden Daniels the quarterback for the LSU Tigers. Jayden Daniels has been known in college for his elite pocket presence and speed but you can’t underestimate his arm either. The Washington Commanders finished 4th in the NFC East with a 4-13 record. Their quarterback last season was Sam Howell who they drafted in the later round of the 2022 draft but he just didn’t turn out the way that Washington wanted him to. The Commanders knew that there was no chance of getting Caleb Williams so they had a long time to decide on who they wanted their future face of the franchise to be. For the most part it was between Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, and JJ McCarthy. In the offseason Washington brought in many new veteran faces to build around the QB that they would take in the future. These players would include Frankie Luvu, Jeremy Chinn, Bobby Wagner, Austin Ekeler and many more. Washington has great receivers a part of their organization as well so Daniels should fit right into the mix of weapons for the Commanders offense. 

With the third pick of the 2024 NFL draft the New England Patriots selected Drake Maye, quarterback, University of North Carolina. This was a great pick for the patriots as they finished with a horrible 4-13 record last season. After a hectic offseason including trading Mac Jones to the Jaguars who was supposed to be the future for the team and the mutual agreement to part ways with legendary coach Bill Belichick the Patriots had to make a splash. Drake Maye was viewed as one of the best prospects in the entire draft and some even viewed him as the best so for New England to snag him at number 3 was huge. New England was viewed as one of the worst offenses last season so they had to step it up, but Maye can’t fix all their problems. In the later rounds the Pats took Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker, two wide receivers that are top prospects and a couple offensive lineman to protect Drake from opposing pass rushers. With the next couple picks of the first round many expected picks went off the board. 

The draft was going very smooth and expected until the Atlanta Falcons selected Michael Penix Jr the QB from the University of Washington. This was a shocking pick because the Falcons signed Kirk Cousins to a multi year contract worth $180 million dollars. Reporters hated the 8th pick for the falcons because they had bigger needs that would have helped them not named Penix. Better picks could have been EDGE rusher Dallas Turner, Laitu Latu, or even cornerbacks Terrion Arnold, or Quinyon Mitchell. With 4 quarterbacks now off the board there were still a lot of teams that needed a quarterback including the Minnesota Vikings, Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders, Seattle Seahawks, and the New Orleans Saints. The top quarterbacks remaining consisted of the Oregon Ducks Bo Nix, South Carolina Gamecocks Spencer Rattler and national champion from Michigan JJ McCarthy. With multiple teams desperate for some quarterback help and the draft position sitting at the 10th pick with the Jets there had to be a trade up and there was. The Minnesota Vikings traded up to select JJ McCarthy to pair him with the best wide receiver in the NFL Justin Jefferson. The Jets only moved down one pick and selected Olu Fashanu offensive tackle from Penn State and then with the 13th pick another quarterback needy team the Broncos were on the clock. Roger Goodell walked onto the stage after a couple minutes and said “With the 12th pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, the Denver Broncos select Bo Nix quarterback Oregon.” This was now the 6th quarterback selected in not only the first round but within the top 12 picks. Half the draft has been QBs to this point and it tied the record for most in a single round. The next 7 picks consisted of Brock Bowers to the Raiders, Taliese Fuaga to the Saints, Laiatu Latu to the Colts, Byron Murphy to the Seahawks, Dallas Turner to the Vikings, Amarius Mims to the Bengals, and Jared Verse to the Rams.

 Now on the clock was the Pittsburgh Steelers and their positions of need were offensive line, cornerback, and wide receiver. The organization decided to select Troy Fautanu, an offensive lineman for the University of Washington. This pick meant a lot to Fautanu because he grew up as a lifelong Steelers fan and now he gets the opportunity to represent the team that he has cheered on for so many years. With the next 2 picks the Miami Dolphins selected Chop Robinson EDGE Penn State, and  the Eagles selected Quinyon Mitchell CB for Toledo. Mitchell was valued as one of the top defensive players in the entire draft and the Philadelphia Eagles ended his sliding down the draft board. Mitchell easily could have gone top 15 because of his talent but there were many worries about him not being able to defend top NFL talent because he didn’t go to one of the top college schools. Toledo was never viewed as a top team in college football so that hurt Quinyon but the Eagles ended up trusting his talent and took him off other opposing teams draft boards. 

After the Eagles made their selection the Jaguars were now on the clock and they decided to take the last remaining top rated LSU Tiger Brian Thomas Jr. Thomas Jr was one of if not the best jump ball wide receiver in the draft. In college he complimented new Commander’s rookie QB Jayden Daniels and Giants rookie WR Malik Nabers. Thomas was a great fit with them because as Nabers took away the middle of the field with his elite route running and speed Brian Thomas Jr was able to have many one on ones with cornerbacks or safeties and most of the time Brian Thomas was coming down with that football for either a first down or a tiger touchdown.  The next few picks included Lions drafting Terrion Arnold, Packers grabbing Jordan Morgan, the Bucs getting Graham Barton, and the Cardinals selecting Darius Robinson. Now the Buffalo Bills were on the clock and they needed a wide receiver to help Josh Allen because of the Stefon Diggs trade but that is not what they did. They traded the pick away and it went to their rival and 2 time defending superbowl champions Kansas City Chiefs.

 Kansas City also needed a wide receiver to catch balls from Patrick Mahomes. With the Chiefs leading the NFL in dropped passes in 2023 they had to get the two time MVP a new weapon and that is what happened. The Chiefs stole Xavier Worthy from the University of Texas. Going into the NFL draft Worthy was the fastest player and it wasn’t even close and he proved it at the draft combine. Xavier Worthy broke John Ross’s record for the fastest time with a 4.21 40 time! The next few picks concluded the first round of the draft and they included. Cowboys Tyler Guyton, Ravens Nate Wiggins, 49ers Ricky Pearsall, and Panthers Xavier Legette. Every team improved a lot in the first round this season whether it was getting a new franchise QB, explosive playmaker, or the new star to their teams defense but it was a great first round for every team.