The 2012 NFL Draft begins on Thursday night LIVE. It will be televised nationally on ESPN with complete First Round coverage and an 8:00 p.m. start time.
This year's draft will be the 77th annual meeting of National Football League franchises. The event will be held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The Draft will also see action on Friday and Saturday with later round coverage on ESPN. Complete first round coverage will take place on ESPN on Thursday night with the second rounds and beyond coming in the following days. Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck is anticipated to be the top overall selection in this year's draft by the Indianapolis Colts.
Teams are slotted based on how they finish in the prior season. For example, the Colts finished with the worst overall record of any NFL with a record of just 2-14. The Washington Redskins finished just behind them and are expected to make Baylor quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III the second overall pick. After that, the Draft seems to be up in the air in regards to what team will select which players. Also, teams that are slotted lower in the draft always try and trade up to get some of the more premier talent coming in from college football's ranks. The New York Giants won the Super Bowl and thus pick last in the first round. New England also made it to the Super Bowl, therefore their pick will be the second to last.
Three teams in this year' Draft have two selections in the first round. The Cleveland Browns will pick at the No. 4 spot in addition to drafting at No. 22. The Cincinnati Bengals will draft at No. 17 and No. 21 while the New England Patriots also have two first round picks at No. 27 and No. 31. Those teams will probably look to either trade one or both of their picks in order to move up in the draft. They may also move one of their picks to get extra picks later on in the draft to help fill our their rosters, which is something the New England Patriots do quite often.
Friday's ScheduleRounds 2 and 3, LIVE on ESPN, 7 p.m.
Saturday's ScheduleRounds 4-7, LIVE on ESPN, noon
First Round OrderNo. 1 Indianapolis ColtsNo. 2 Washington Redskins (from St. Louis)No. 3 Minnesota VikingsNo. 4 Cleveland BrownsNo. 5 Tampa Bay BuccaneersNo. 6 St. Louis Rams (from Washington)No. 7 Jacksonville JaguarsNo. 8 Miami DolphinsNo. 9 Carolina PanthersNo. 10 Buffalo BillsNo. 11 Kansas City ChiefsNo. 12 Seattle SeahawksNo. 13 Arizona CardinalsNo. 14 Dallas CowboysNo. 15 Philadelphia EaglesNo. 16 New York JetsNo. 17 Cincinnati Bengals (from Oakland)No. 18 San Diego ChargersNo. 19 Chicago BearsNo. 20 Tennessee TitansNo. 21 Cincinnati BengalsNo. 22 Cleveland Browns (from Atlanta)No. 23 Detroit LionsNo. 24 Pittsburgh SteelersNo. 25 Denver BroncosNo. 26 Houston TexansNo. 27 New England Patriots (from New Orleans)No. 28 Green Bay PackersNo. 29 Baltimore RavensNo. 30 San Fransisco 49ersNo. 31 New England PatriotsNo. 32 New York Giants
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