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The National Football League draft is an annual sports draft in which NFL teams select newly eligible players for their rosters. To be eligible, a player must be out of high school for at least three years. Each NFL franchise seeks to add new players through the annual draft. The draft rules were last updated in 2009. The team with the worst record the previous year picks first, the next-worst team second, and so on. Teams also have the option to trade with another team to move up to a better draft position. Teams that did not make the playoffs are ordered by their regular-season record, with any remaining ties broken by strength of schedule. Playoff participants are sequenced after non-playoff teams, based on their round of elimination (wild card, division, conference, and Super Bowl).[1]
From 1947 through 1958 the first selection was awarded by a random draw. The team which received this "bonus" pick forfeited its selection in the final round of the draft. The winner of the "bonus pick" was eliminated from the draw in future years. By 1958 all twelve clubs in the league at the time had received a bonus choice and the system was abolished.[2][3]
Before the merger agreements in 1966, the American Football League (AFL) directly competed with the NFL and held a separate draft. This led to a massive bidding war over top prospects between the two leagues, along with the subsequent drafting of the same player in each draft. As part of the merger agreement on June 8, 1966, the two leagues held a multiple round "common draft". Once the AFL officially merged with the NFL in 1970, the "common draft" simply became the NFL draft.[4][5][6] The draft is one of the most notable events in American sports, with live broadcasts of it produced by ESPN, Fox and ABC.[7]
Through the 2024 NFL draft, 89 players have been selected first overall, with the most recent being Caleb Williams. The Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Rams have each made the most first overall selections in history with seven. Of the first overall draft picks, 43 have been selected to a Pro Bowl and 14 have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
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Key
| K | Kicker | NT | Nose tackle | C | Center |
| LB | Linebacker | FB | Fullback | DB | Defensive back |
| P | Punter | HB | Halfback | DE | Defensive end |
| QB | Quarterback | WR/E | Wide receiver/End | DT | Defensive tackle |
| G | Guard | T | Offensive tackle | TE | Tight end |
| * | Selected to a Pro Bowl/All-Star Game | ||||
| ‡ | Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame (all were also selected to a Pro Bowl) | ||||
| § | Denotes an expansion team | ||||
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- The Baltimore Ravens, Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks are the only teams that have never had the first overall pick.
- Nine teams have made the playoffs in the same season in which they made the first overall selection in the draft. They were the 1968 Minnesota Vikings, 1978 Houston Oilers, 1982 New England Patriots, 1991 Dallas Cowboys, 2004 San Diego Chargers, 2008 Miami Dolphins, 2012 Indianapolis Colts, 2013 Kansas City Chiefs, and the 2022 Jacksonville Jaguars.
- No team has ever gone from the first overall pick to a Super Bowl win in the same season. The Minnesota Vikings lost Super Bowl IV the year after they had the first overall pick, the Dallas Cowboys lost Super Bowl X the year after they had the first overall pick, the New England Patriots lost Super Bowl XX the year after they had the first overall pick, and the Cincinnati Bengals lost Super Bowl LVI the year after they had the first overall pick.
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The Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Rams have each held the first overall pick a total of seven times, the most of any NFL team. This includes the Colts' time in Baltimore and the Rams' time in Cleveland and St. Louis. The Boston Yanks are the only defunct franchise to have held a first overall pick.[81]
- Notes: (*) indicates the team selected first overall in their inaugural season.
USC has the most first overall picks with 6. Notre Dame, Oklahoma, and Georgia are tied for second-most first overall picks with 5 each. Only two schools have had first overall picks in consecutive years: USC, with Ron Yary (1968) and O. J. Simpson (1969), and Oklahoma, with Baker Mayfield (2018) and Kyler Murray (2019).[111]
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- List of second overall NFL draft picks
- Mr. Irrelevant – title given to the final pick in the draft
- Because of the NFL–AFL merger agreement, the history of the AFL is officially recognized by the NFL and therefore this list includes the common draft for the years 1967, 1968, and 1969.
- Pick received from New Orleans Saints.[29]
- Pick received from New York Giants.[29]
- Pick received from Houston Oilers.[29]
- Pick received from Baltimore Colts.[29]
- Pick received from Tampa Bay Buccaneers.[29]
- Tom Cousineau chose to sign with the CFL team Montreal Alouettes over the Buffalo Bills.
- College seniors who had already signed with the USFL or CFL were not eligible for the regular draft. Instead the NFL held a three-round special draft on June 5, 1984. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Steve Young first overall in that draft.
- Pick received from Tampa Bay Buccaneers.[29]
- Bo Jackson did not sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and chose to enter the 1987 NFL draft the following year.
- The Cleveland Browns – via the Buffalo Bills originally – possessed the number one overall pick but because they selected Bernie Kosar in the 1985 supplemental draft, the pick was subsequently given to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
- Pick received from Atlanta Falcons.[29]
- The Dallas Cowboys originally possessed the number one overall pick but because they selected Steve Walsh in the 1989 supplemental draft, the pick was given to the Indianapolis Colts who originally held the second overall pick.
- Pick received from New England Patriots.[29]
- Pick received from Carolina Panthers.[29]
- Pick received from New York Jets.[29]
- Pick received from San Diego Chargers.[29]
- Pick received from Tennessee Titans.[29]
- Pick received from the Chicago Bears.[29]
- Pick received from the Carolina Panthers. [80]
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