If you don’t know already the NFL Draft is where the top college players are picked by teams, much like you would take it in turns to pick teams in the playground at school. The team picking first has the worst results in the previous season, so the idea is to keep the league balanced and competitive.
There are seven rounds in total and in theory, each team gets one pick per round. However, picks are often traded for existing players or future picks so it can get quite compilated.
As well as the number one overall pick, the hot news is who the 49ers will choose with their traded-up third overall pick. It’s likely between quarterbacks Mac Jones, Trey Lance and Justin Fields.
When is the NFL Draft 2021?
This year’s draft takes place on 29 April in Cleveland, although it goes over many days to cover all the different rounds. And the time difference between the US and the UK means it is technically 30 April in Blighty.
Here are the UK dates and start times for each round:
Round 1: 30 April – 1am Rounds 2-3: 1 May – 12am, midnight Rounds 4-7: 1 May – 5pm
And here are the first 10 picks:
Jacksonville Jaguars New York Jets San Francisco 49ers (via trade) Atlanta Falcons Cincinnati Bengals Miami Dolphins (via trade) Detroit Lions Carolina Panthers Denver Broncos Dallas Cowboys
Where to watch NFL Draft 2021 in the UK
There are a few ways to watch the NFL Draft on TV or stream it on various devices. The most obvious is to watch on Sky Sports and there’s plenty of build-up coverage as well as the live picks on the dedicated Sky Sports NFL channel.
Some of the coverage will also be shown on Sky Sports Main Event. It will mirror the NFL channel on draft day from 11pm.
If you’ve got Sky Q with Sky Sports as part of your package, then you’re all set. You can watch on the TV or via the Sky Go app. However, all is not lost if you’re not a current Sky customer.
You can watch Sky Sports via Sky Now (previously called Now TV) with a range of Memberships (previously called Passes) starting at £9.98 for 24 hours access. If you plan to watch all the draft rounds and other sports such as the Premier League and Formula 1, then £33.99 for a month might be better value.
A third option comes in the form of the official NFL Game Pass, and like Sky Now, is available on a range of devices.
This is better value than Sky Now if you’re not going to use that to watch other sports as it’s currently £7.99 for a Pro subscription which lasts until 31 July. This gives you live and on-demand access to the NFL Draft 2021 as well as various other benefits such as the entire 2020 season on-demand.
Tech Advisor’s Reviews Editor, Chris has been reviewing all kinds of tech for over 10 years and specialises in audio. He also covers a range of topics including home entertainment, phones, laptops, tablets and more.
