NFL

NFL Draft 2023 – Date, Order, Projected Picks, and More

In what should be an unpredictable, wild night, the 2023 NFL Draft is finally upon us this week. In this guide, we have all the important information on when the draft starts, where it is held, the draft order, and the key storylines you should know before watching.

NFL Draft 2023 – When Is It?

The 2023 NFL Draft is a three-day event to select the latest class of college players eligible for the NFL.

  • Location: Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri
  • Televised by: ABC, ESPN, ESPN Deportes, NFL Network, Sky Sports, fuboTV, or other live stream
  • Begins: Thursday, April 27, 2023 at 8:00 p.m. ET
  • Ends: Saturday, April 29, 2023 by the evening
  • Round 1: Thursday, April 27 at 8:00 p.m. ET
  • Rounds 2-3: Friday, April 28 at 7:00 p.m. ET
  • Rounds 4-7: Saturday, April 29 at 12:00 p.m. ET

NFL Draft Order

The 2023 NFL draft order is much like the last few years where the top 18 picks belong to non-playoff teams ranked by ascending record, and picks 19-32 are for the teams who made the playoffs based on playoff result:

  • Teams eliminated in the Wild Card round pick 19-24
  • Teams eliminated in the Divisional round pick 25-28
  • The Conference Championship Game losers pick 29-30
  • The Super Bowl loser picks 31st
  • The Super Bowl winner picks 32nd

Here is the NFL draft order for this year’s first round, which consists of 31 picks after the Miami Dolphins were stripped of their pick for their role in tampering with Tom Brady and Sean Payton.

Round 1

1) Carolina Panthers (from Chicago)
2) Houston Texans
3) Arizona Cardinals
4) Indianapolis Colts
5) Seattle Seahawks (from Denver)
6) Detroit Lions (from L.A. Rams)
7) Las Vegas Raiders
8) Atlanta Falcons
9) Chicago Bears (from Carolina)
10) Philadelphia Eagles (from New Orleans)
11) Tennessee Titans
12) Houston Texans (from Cleveland)
13) Green Bay Packers (from N.Y. Jets)
14) New England Patriots
15) New York Jets (from Green Bay)
16) Washington Commanders
17) Pittsburgh Steelers
18) Detroit Lions
19) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
20) Seattle Seahawks
21) Los Angeles Chargers
22) Baltimore Ravens
23) Minnesota Vikings
24) Jacksonville Jaguars
25) New York Giants
26) Dallas Cowboys
27) Buffalo Bills
28) Cincinnati Bengals
29) New Orleans Saints (from San Francisco through Miami and Denver)
30) Philadelphia Eagles
31) Kansas City Chiefs

NFL Draft Top Prospects

Bryce Young
Photo by John Angelillo/UPI/ABACAPRESS.COM – Photo by Icon sport

Here is an alphabetical list of some of the top prospects in this year’s draft that you should expect to see selected on Thursday night in the first round:

  • Will Anderson, Alabama Edge
  • Jalen Carter, Georgia DT
  • Christian Gonzalez, Oregon CB
  • Paris Johnson Jr., Ohio State OT
  • Dalton Kincaid, Utah TE
  • Will Levis, Kentucky QB
  • Joey Porter Jr., Penn State CB
  • Anthony Richardson, Florida QB
  • Bijan Robinson, Texas RB
  • Peter Skoronski, Northwestern OL
  • Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Ohio State WR
  • J. Stroud, Ohio State QB
  • Tyree Wilson, Texas Tech Edge
  • Devon Witherspoon, Illinois CB
  • Darnell Wright, Tennessee OT
  • Bryce Young, Alabama QB

Biggest Storylines of the 2023 NFL Draft

Finally, here are some of the key storylines you should be aware of going into this draft Thursday night.

Expect the Unexpected

Many still believe the Carolina Panthers will select Alabama quarterback Bryce Young with the No. 1 pick, but things could get chaotic right after that if the Texans trade the No. 2 pick or bypass a quarterback. There could be a battle between several teams trying to secure the quarterback they want as the No. 3 pick held by Arizona has long been considered a trade destination.

Few draft classes have ever spurred this much disagreement among analysts on which players are the best for most positions. About the closest thing to a consensus is that Texas running back Bijan Robinson is the best back in this class, though good luck on finding any agreement on where he should go given his lack of positional value.

Night of the Quarterbacks

Last year, Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett was the only quarterback drafted in the first 70 picks. This year, there expects to be at least four in the first round, if not five depending on someone giving Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker a shot.

Kentucky quarterback Will Levis is creeping up as the favorite to go No. 2 and No. 4, and he even has +400 odds at some places to go No. 1. This late rise is either a great smoke screen by a few teams, a gross miscalculation of the quarterback class, or the real deal. We will find out Thursday night if someone really likes Levis that much.

Anthony Richardson was the quarterback who was rising fast after his combine performance as he is a great athlete with amazing potential. He has been considered a logical fit for the Colts due to his Jalen Hurts-like potential for new head coach Shane Steichen, but we will see where he lands with Levis and C.J. Stroud also looking for teams.

Who Is the First Defender?

Will Anderson was long considered the best defensive player in this class, then Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter took that title in January. But Carter fell after he was involved in a fatal car crash, which has added to off-field concerns.

Now, Carter is not expected to go in the top five while some mocks even have Tyree Wilson from Texas Tech going No. 2 to Houston instead of Anderson, the Alabama edge rusher.

Carter’s slide could be the talk of the draft on Thursday night, or some team with nothing to lose like Seattle (No. 5 pick) could take him and shock people with a value pick.

Would the Packers Draft a WR or TE in Round 1?

In what could be one of the most amusing stories this Thursday evening, the Green Bay Packers now hold the No. 13 pick after swapping places with the New York Jets, who had the No. 15 pick. They got this pick swap in the Aaron Rodgers trade, which was finally completed Monday.

Now the Packers could draft potentially the first wide receiver (Ohio State’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba?) or tight end (Utah’s Dalton Kincaid?) in this class with a pick they got from trading Rodgers.

This would be amusing since the Packers infamously have not drafted a first-round wide receiver or tight end since Javon Walker way back in 2002, three years before they drafted Rodgers in the first round. It is by far the longest draft drought in the league.

But it is a new era in Green Bay, and like for all 32 teams, this draft class could represent the start of a new era for these teams if they make the right picks.


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