Day 1 of the 89th annual NFL Draft concluded with a record-setting night at Campus Martius Park in Downtown Detroit. Offensive players led the way after Round 1, starting with the first three picks going to quarterbacks – Caleb Williams went No.1 to the Chicago Bears, Jayden Daniels went No. 2 to the Washington Commanders and Drake Maye went No. 3 to the New England Patriots – followed by 11 consecutive offensive players.
The 14 straight offensive selections is the longest streak of picks on one side of the ball at any point of a draft in the Common Draft era (since 1967), per NFL Research.
Thursday’s draft also was the first time four quarterbacks were picked in the top eight, five picked in the 10 picks, and six in the top 12.
Wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. was the first non-quarterback selected at No.4, going to the Arizona Cardinals, followed by offensive tackle Joe Alt going to the Los Angeles Chargers, Malik Nabers going to the New York Giants, and offensive tackle JC Lathem going to the Tennesse Titans.
The quarterback position then re-entered the draft with the next three out of five picks. The Atlanta Falcons, who signed quarterback Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract with $100 million in guarantees in March, surprisingly used their No. 8 pick to draft another QB in Michael Penix Jr. This left the 36-year-old signal caller confused about the selection.
“There’s inherent frustration and confusion from Cousins’ camp, as they didn’t use that pick to help the team in 2024,” Thamel posted on X. “They instead drafted his eventual replacement before he’s put on a Falcons helmet. Cousins understands the business of football and is ready to move forward. But there was understandable surprise.”
Penix’s college teammate, Rome Odunze, went next to the Bears and Chicago’s General Manager Ryan Poles was ecstatic and surprised that he landed both of his top draft selections, Caleb Williams and receiver Rome Odunze, in the first round of Thursday night’s NFL Draft.
“If you told me we would end up with both Caleb and Rome weeks ago, I would’ve said you were crazy,” Poles said. “But they were two guys that obviously we were really excited to have. Not only are they really good players but really good people as well that are going to continue to enhance our locker room and our team moving forward.”
The first trade of the Draft came at the 10th pick when the Minnesota Vikings traded the Nos. 11, 129 and 157 picks to the New York Jets for the Nos. 10 and 203, and with their 10th pick, the Vikings selected Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
“He was somebody whose skill set we were really excited about, we know we can build around and win with,” said Vikings General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. “We’re not going to rush his development. We’re just gonna do what’s best for the Vikings in the short and long term, and we’re excited to have him.”
The Jets used their 11th pick to take offensive tackle Olu Fashanu, and the Denver Broncos selected Bo Nix at 12, making him the sixth signal-caller picked in the first round, which tied the 1983 draft for the most in NFL draft history.
The Las Vegas Raiders picked Brock Bowers at 13, the New Orleans Saints picked Taliese Fuaga at 14, and the streak of offensive players ended when the Indianapolis Colts selected the first defensive player with EDGE rush Laiatu Latu at 15. Colts General Manager said Thursday night he believes the Colts “got the best defensive player in the draft.
“I thought we got a little lucky on it,” Ballard said. “We thought there were four or five really elite players, and he was one of them. We felt fortunate to get him. I think he’s gonna produce pretty quickly as a rusher,” Ballard said. “I think he knows how to rush. Of course, there’s going to be an adjustment period, as there is with any rookie rusher. He’s pretty polished. This guy’s a pretty polished product in terms of rushing.”
The 16th and 17th picks were also defensive players. The Seattle Seahawks picked defensive tackle Byron Murphy II, and the Vikings chose Dallas Turner. Of the rest of the picks in the first round, only six were defensive selections, making this draft a record-breaking offensive first round. This year’s NFL draft saw a record-breaking 23 offensive players selected in the opening round, surpassing the previous high of 19 set in 1968, 2004, and 2009. The eight tackles selected tied a record for the first round (2008), and the seven wide receivers also tied a first-round record (2004).
Rounds two and three of the draft will happen on April 26 Friday, April 26: 7 p.m. CT and the fourth through seventh rounds will happen on Saturday, April 27: 11 a.m. CT.
2024 NFL Draft first-round results
Here is a list of the NFL Draft 2024 results from Round 1:
Chicago Bears (from Carolina Panthers): QB Caleb Williams, USC
Washington Commanders: QB Jayden Daniels, LSU
New England Patriots: QB Drake Maye, North Carolina
Arizona Cardinals: WR Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio State
Los Angeles Chargers: OT Joe Alt, Notre Dame
New York Giants: WR Malik Nabers, LSU
Tennessee Titans: OT JC Latham, Alabama
Atlanta Falcons: QB Michael Penix Jr., Washington
Chicago Bears: WR Rome Odunze, Washington
Minnesota Vikings (from New York Jets): QB J.J. McCarthy, Michigan
New York Jets (from Vikings): OT Olumuyiwa Fashanu, Penn State
Denver Broncos: QB Bo Nix, Oregon
Las Vegas Raiders: TE Brock Bowers, Georgia
New Orleans Saints: OL Taliese Fuaga, Oregon State
Indianapolis Colts: DE Laiatu Latu, UCLA
Seattle Seahawks: DT Byron Murphy II, Texas
Vikings (from Jacksonville Jaguars): DE/OLB Dallas Turner, Alabama
Cincinnati Bengals: OT Amarius Mims, Georgia
Los Angeles Rams: DE Jared Verse, Florida State
Pittsburgh Steelers: OL Troy Fautanu, Washington
Miami Dolphins: OLB/DE Chop Robinson, Penn State
Philadelphia Eagles: CB Quinyon Mitchell, Toledo
Jacksonville Jaguars (from Cleveland Browns via Houston Texans and Vikings): WR Brian Thomas Jr., LSU
Detroit Lions (from Dallas Cowboys): CB Terrion Arnold, Alabama
Green Bay Packers: OT Jordan Morgan, Arizona
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: OL Graham Barton, Duke
Arizona Cardinals (from Texans): DL Darius Robinson, Missouri
Kansas City Chiefs (from Buffalo Bills): WR Xavier Worthy, Texas
Dallas Cowboys (from Lions): OT Tyler Guyton, Oklahoma
Baltimore Ravens: CB Nate Wiggins, Clemson
San Francisco 49ers: WR Ricky Pearsall, Florida
Carolina Panthers (from Chiefs via Bills): WR Xavier Legette, South Carolina
