Have you ever thought about wanting to go into the NFL? Well, first you are going to go to the NFL Draft. On April 25th, the 2024 NFL draft will be held in Detroit, Michigan. I am going to be telling you about how the NFL Draft works and its importance to the league. 

First, I am going to be telling you about the combine. The combine is an event that allows NFL scouts and coaches to evaluate football players’ skills. Players will attend the combine by invitation only, and if players are invited they can declare for the draft. The combine allows each participant three opportunities to run the drill, and the best time of all three attempts is recorded as the players’ time. The scouts and coaches will evaluate players’ 40-yard dash, bench press, vertical jump, broad jump, three-cone drill, 20-yard shuttle, and 60-yard shuttle. All the drills that they do at the combine are football drills designed for every position that is in the game of football. 

Next, I am going to be talking about NFL Draft Day. Draft day is the day that all the teams in the NFL will pick who they want to be on their team. How the draft works is the teams who did the worst get to pick first, then the teams who did the best have to pick later in the draft. 

While the draft is going, teams can trade players or picks away so they can get higher picks in the draft, or they might trade picks away for better players. Teams will often trade for higher picks because they might want to draft one of the positions that the team needs or a position that they want. 

Next, I am going to be telling you about the top 5 best draft picks. At #5 is Roger Staubach. He played college football at U.S. Naval Academy from 1962-65. Staubach played in 5 Super Bowls with the Cowboys, winning two and earning game MVP. At #4 is Brett Favre. He played college football at Southern Mississippi from 1987-90. Favre has an 11-time Pro Bowl and a 3-time NFL MVP. He helped lead the Packers to victory in Super Bowl XXXI. At #3, is Jim Brown. He played college football at Syracuse from 1954-56. Brown was a 3-time NFL MVP, and is the 1971 inductee into the Pro Football Hall Of Fame. At #2 is Joe Montana. He played college football at Notre Dame from 1974-78. Montana was an 8-time Pro Bowl selection and is a part of the NFL’s 1980s all-decade team. He also won 4 Super Bowls with the 49ers, earning 3 game MVP awards. Lastly, at #1 is Tom Brady. He played at the University of Michigan from 1995-99. Brady is a 10-time Pro Bowl selection and is a member of the 2000s all-decade team. He led the Patriots to 6 Super Bowls winning four and earning game MVP in 3 of them. 

In conclusion, that is how the NFL Draft works. I talked about the combine, what happens on draft day, and about the top 5 best draft picks of all time. A team that I watched closely in the draft were the Green Bay Packers because they are my favorite NFL team. This year in the draft the Packers selected 11 new players to add to their team. They drafted 5 offensive players, and 6 defense players. The Packers may have drafted these players because they might have thought that they had a lack of talent in those positions. We’ll have to wait to see how good these rookie players will end up doing.