The 2020 edition was forced to be virtual for the first time, leading to views of head coaches in living rooms with their kids and raw excitement from draftees sitting at their home being taken into the NFL. It probably gave the league plenty of ideas of how to spice up the proceedings in 2021 with COVID-19 not totally out of the way.
The 2021 NFL Draft is slated to take place in Cleveland for the first time ever, but finalization of location likely won't come until closer to the end of April draft start. There will also be a first on the television side for the 2021 NFL Draft — it will be broadcast exclusively by NFL Network.
Here's everything you need to know about the 2021 NFL Draft, including the time, location, television schedule, draft order and the latest mock draft from Sporting News.
MOCK DRAFT 2021:
Justin Fields falls to Falcons after Jets skip QB; Packers, Bills fill holes on offense
When is the NFL Draft in 2021?
Date: Thursday, April 29 (Round 1) | Friday, April 30 (Rounds 2-3) | Saturday, May 1 (Rounds 4-7)
Start time: 8 p.m. ET (Thursday) | 7 p.m. ET (Friday) | Noon ET (Saturday)
TV channel: NFL Network
Live stream: NFL app
As the NFL has done for a while now, the draft will be split into three distinct days. Only the first round will take place on Thursday, April 29. The second and third rounds will take place on Friday night, and then the final four rounds of the draft will be conducted Saturday.
After the 2020 NFL Draft was conducted in a heavily virtual manner due to COVID-19, it hasn't yet been determined exactly how much of the draft will take place in the host city in 2021.
Where is the 2021 NFL Draft?
The 2021 NFL Draft is slated to take place in Cleveland, Ohio. That decision was made on May 22, 2019, at the league's annual spring meeting.
More specifics about Cleveland's hosting have yet to be totally announced in 2021 with the COVID-19 pandemic still hovering over the heads of decision-makers. Depending on the effectiveness of vaccines leading up to the draft, there could be a central hub in Cleveland while many of the draftees remain virtual, but that remains to be seen.
Below are the previous locations of the NFL Draft.
Draft Location City
1936 Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia
1937 Hotel Lincoln New York
1938 Hotel Sherman Chicago
1939 Hotel New Yorker New York
1940 Schroeder Hotel Milwaukee
1941 Willard Hotel Washington, D.C.
1942-44 Palmer House Chicago
1945-47 Hotel Commodore New York
1948 Hotel Fort Pitt Pittsburgh
1949-50 Bellevue-Stratford Hotel Philadelphia
1951 Blackstone Hotel Chicago
1952 Hotel Statler New York
1953-54 Bellevue-Stratford Hotel Philadelphia
1955 Warwick Hotel New York
1956 Bellevue-Stratford Hotel (Rounds 1-3) Philadelphia
Ambassador Hotel (Rounds 4-30) Los Angeles
1957 Warwick Hotel (Rounds 1-4) Philadelphia
Bellevue-Stratford Hotel (Rounds 5-30) Philadelphia
1958-61 Warwick Hotel Philadelphia
1962-64 Sheraton Hotel Chicago
1965-66 Summit Hotel New York
1967 Hotel Gotham New York
1968-71 Belmont Plaza Hotel New York
1972 Essex House New York
1973-74 Americana Hotel New York
1975 Hilton Hotel New York
1976-78 Roosevelt Hotel New York
1979 Waldorf New York
1980-83 Sheraton Hotel New York
1984-85 Omni Park Central Hotel New York
1986-94 Marriott Marquis New York
1995-04 Theatre at Madison Square Garden New York
2005 Jacob Javits Convention Center New York
2006-14 Radio City Music Hall New York
2015-16 Auditorium Theatre at Roosevelt University Chicago
2017 Benjamin Franklin Parkway Philadelphia
2018 AT&T Stadium Dallas
2019 Lower Broadway Nashville
2020 Caesar's Palace Hotel (held virtually) Las Vegas
What time does the NFL Draft start?
The NFL could still choose to deviate from its past standard times for health and safety reasons, but the 2021 NFL Draft will likely start at the same times the drafts in recent years have.
That means prime time slots for each of the first three rounds. The first round on Thursday, April 29, gets going at 8 p.m. ET. Things start an hour earlier the next day to fit in both the second and third rounds. And Saturday's four rounds get underway at Noon ET.
Day Rounds Start time
Thursday Round 1 8 p.m. ET
Friday Rounds 2-3 7 p.m. ET
Saturday Rounds 4-7 Noon ET
As the draft goes on, teams get different lengths of time to make their selections. The first round provides 10 minutes to teams to pick, and that drops to seven minutes for rounds two and three. Rounds four through six have five minute pick times, and it's four minutes for the seventh and final round.
NFL Draft TV schedule
The 2021 NFL Draft will be shown exclusively on NFL Network. That's a change from last year, when ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC were all involved in the draft coverage.
Most cable and satellite providers offer NFL Network as part of their base package, as do most streaming services.
Round Day Start time TV channels
Round 1 Thursday 8 p.m. ET NFL Network
Rounds 2-3 Friday 7 p.m. ET NFL Network
Rounds 4-7 Saturday 12 p.m. ET NFL Network
MORE: What channel is NFL Network?
NFL Draft pick order 2020
Pick No. Team Record
1. Jacksonville Jaguars 1-15
2. New York Jets 2-14
3. Miami Dolphins (via Texans, 4-12)
4. Atlanta Falcons 4-12
5. Cincinnati Bengals 4-11-1
6. Philadelphia Eagles 4-11-1
7. Detroit Lions 5-11
8. Carolina Panthers 5-11
9. Denver Broncos 5-11
10. Dallas Cowboys 6-10
11. New York Giants 6-10
12. San Francisco 49ers 6-10
13. Los Angeles Chargers 7-9
14. Minnesota Vikings 7-9
15. New England Patriots 7-9
16. Arizona Cardinals 8-8
17. Las Vegas Raiders 8-8
18. Miami Dolphins 10-6
19. Washington Football Team 7-9
20. Chicago Bears 8-8
21. Indianapolis Colts 11-5
22. Tennessee Titans 11-5
23. New York Jets (via Seahawks, 12-4)
24. Pittsburgh Steelers 12-4
25. Jacksonville Jaguars (via Rams, 10-6)
26. Cleveland Browns 11-5
27. Baltimore Ravens 11-5
28. New Orleans Saints 12-4
29. Green Bay Packers 13-3
30. Buffalo Bills 13-3
(The teams slotted in Pick Nos. 31-32 are in the Super Bowl.)
SN's latest mock draft
Pick Team Player, position, college
1. Jacksonville Jaguars Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson
2. New York Jets Devonta Smith, WR, Alabama
3. Miami Dolphins Penei Sewell, OT, Oregon
4. Atlanta Falcons Justin Fields, QB, Ohio State
5. Cincinnati Bengals Ja'Marr Chase, WR, LSU
6. Philadelphia Eagles Patrick Surtain II, CB, Alabama
7. Detroit Lions Micah Parsons, ILB, Penn State
8. Carolina Panthers Zach Wilson, QB, BYU
9. Denver Broncos Kwity Paye, EDGE, Michigan
10. Dallas Cowboys Caleb Farley, CB, Virginia Tech
11. New York Giants Jaylen Waddle, WR, Alabama
12. San Francisco 49ers Trey Lance, QB, North Dakota State
13. Los Angeles Chargers Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech
14. Minnesota Vikings Gregory Rousseau, EDGE, Miami
15. New England Patriots Kyle Pitts, TE, Florida
16. Arizona Cardinals Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, USC
17. Las Vegas Raiders Christian Barmore, DT, Alabama
18. Miami Dolphins Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, LB, Notre Dame
19. Washington Football Team Mac Jones, QB, Alabama
20. Chicago Bears Rashawn Slater, OT, Northwestern
21. Indianapolis Colts Jalen Mayfield, OT, Michigan
22. Tennessee Titans Joseph Ossai, EDGE, Texas
23. New York Jets Jaycee Horn, CB, South Carolina
24. Pittsburgh Steelers Kyle Trask, QB, Florida
25. Jacksonville Jaguars Rashod Bateman, WR, Minnesota
26. Cleveland Browns Azeez Ojulari, OLB, Georgia
27. Baltimore Ravens Terrace Marshall Jr., WR, LSU
28. New Orleans Saints Zaven Collins, OLB, Tulsa
29. Green Bay Packers Kadarius Toney, WR, Florida
30. Buffalo Bills Wyatt Davis, G, Ohio State
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