NFL Draft 2023 live Round 1 pick by pick tracker and trade analysis ...

Alabama's Bryce Young.

I've absolutely hated The Discourse around his height, frame and weight, because I've actually watched him play. A lot. Against elite college competition and defensive fronts filled with future NFL talent. He's single-handedly won important games, and makes the hard plays — scrambles, deep balls — look easy. He's a stud. He's a magician. He's special, and I'd want to build a franchise around a special player. He's been a terrific representative of Alabama on and off the field, and he'll do the same as a pro.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Nicole Auerbach·

Senior Writer, CFB

The 2023 NFL Draft is hours away. The build-up has been wild enough — Chicago trading out of No. 1, the Saints dealing Sean Payton to Denver, Aaron Rodgers being traded to the Jets and Lamar Jackson potentially finding a new home as well.

What else is in store between now and the draft’s conclusion on Saturday? The Athletic’s Nick Baumgardner, Scott Dochterman and Chris Burke tackle a few pressing questions.

The Athletic NFL Staff

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2023 NFL Draft roundtable: How many top-10 trades? Where do the QBs land?

Mark Kaboly·

Senior Writer, Steelers

Ryan Poles was driving everyone nuts.

The Bears general manager couldn’t sit still in his office at Halas Hall.

It was Friday, March 10, and some of the team’s top decision-makers — assistant GM Ian Cunningham, senior vice president/general counsel Cliff Stein and director of football administration Matt Feinstein — had gathered with Poles at the team’s home base in Lake Forest, Ill.

“I was pacing back and forth, just all over the place,” Poles said. “I just wanted to get it done.”

“It” would be the trade that shook up the NFL Draft, the trade that would alter the futures of the two organizations involved — and maybe those that weren’t.

In Charlotte, GM Scott Fitterer was in his office with head coach Frank Reich, assistant GM Dan Morgan, VP of football administration Samir Suleiman and president Kristi Coleman, waiting to see if the Panthers secured the No. 1 pick for the first time since 2011 — the year they drafted an Auburn quarterback named Cam Newton.

When the trade was finalized — just before happy hour in the East — Carolina had put itself in position to find a franchise quarterback. But the celebration was brief: The Panthers had to call their best offensive player and tell him he was being dealt to Chicago.

In conversations with The Athletic at the NFL owners’ meetings, Poles and Fitterer explained how the blockbuster deal came to fruition.

The Athletic NFL Staff

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How the Bears and Panthers swung the blockbuster trade for the NFL Draft’s No. 1 pick

Welcome to Flowery Branch, Ga., where it might be Bijan Robinson Day.

While most of the NFL Draft buzz will center today around who drafts which quarterback where, there’s a second tier of compelling questions that includes whether the Atlanta Falcons might use the No. 8 pick on the dynamic Texas running back.

A team that already has dedicated significant future resources to an offensive guard (Chris Lindstrom) and a safety (Jessie Bates III) and a linebacker (Kaden Elliss) would have to answer some questions about the positional value of selecting a running back in the top 10. On the other hand, the Falcons’ run-heavy offense would get an immediate turbo-charge from the player The Athletic draft analyst Dane Brugler ranks the fifth-best prospect in this draft and says has “a unique mix of elusiveness, vision and power.”

Atlanta is willing to trade down from the No. 8 pick and has made that clear to several of the teams below it in the first round, going so far as to set up the basic framework of potential deals. Moving to the middle of the first round and adding a mid-round pick might be the perfect outcome for the Falcons today.

Josh Kendall·

Staff Writer, Falcons

The 2023 NFL Draft is almost upon us, but a marquee trade already happened — and at a historically early date.

Last week, the Chicago Bears traded the No. 1 pick to the Carolina Panthers, team and league sources confirmed to The Athletic. In return for the top pick in the draft, Chicago received Carolina’s No. 9 and No. 61 picks in 2023, a first-rounder in 2024, a second-round pick in 2025, along with wide receiver D.J. Moore, per team and league sources.

The deal marked the earliest the No. 1 pick has been dealt since at least 1978, and only the third time it’s been moved this century. Teams have now traded the No. 1 pick 13 times before draft night since 1967. Sometimes, it has benefitted the franchise moving up, but in other cases, the team trading the No. 1 pick has been better off.

The Athletic has you covered on five of the most memorable NFL Draft trades involving the No. 1 pick.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Lukas Weese·

Associate Editor, News

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Which NFL Draft No. 1 pick trades worked out best? Reliving 5 most memorable

The greatest marriage in live television renews its vows this coming week when the two most popular sports combine to produce three days of drama, heartwarming stories and half-baked takes destined for Twitter infamy.

On the college football side, helping players live out their NFL dream is part of the process. It validates programs and becomes a live infomercial to boost recruitment. Along with joy, there’s also some anxiety associated with the NFL Draft. Former sixth-round pick wide receiver Marvin McNutt once called the draft’s final day “the best worst day of my life.”

There are enough stories to fill up the Kansas City Power & Light District on their own, let alone with the new memories emerging this week from the draft. Here are 10 college-related angles to examine as we delve into the agonies and oddities associated with draft week.

Scott Dochterman·

Staff Writer, Iowa

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NFL Draft oddities and agonies: College football streaks and storylines to watch

Bo Wulf·

Staff Writer, Eagles

The Athletic’s Consensus Big Board combines rankings from a wide range of draft experts to identify how the top prospects are viewed relative to the rest of this class. In theory, by the time we reach draft weekend, this set of rankings should help give us a handle on how picks could (or, at least, should) play out.

Version 6.0 of the 2023 NFL Draft Consensus Big Board will mark the final update ahead of the draft itself (although, keep your eyes peeled for a special mock draft next week). The latest top 100 from our draft expert, Dane Brugler, has been pulled directly from “The Beast” — Dane’s comprehensive draft guide which features more than 300 pages of player breakdowns, bios and rankings.

The updated board can be found here.

Nick Baumgardner·

Senior Writer, Detroit

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NFL Draft 2023 Consensus Big Board, 6.0: Hendon Hooker climbs toward the top 50

Radio City Music Hall is on my laptop screen, YouTube’s logo in the top left corner, and I’m transported back to the spring of 2006.

For a brief time, as Rich Eisen sets the scene for NFL Network’s first on-location broadcast of the NFL Draft, I’m more of a crazed teenage football fan than a writer for The Athletic. I’m thinking about wanting Reggie Bush to be the first overall pick, whether Matt Leinart or Vince Young will be the top quarterback taken, and what the hell the Eagles will do to erase the disgusting taste of a 6-10 finish in 2005.

“It was quite a big time for the network,” Eisen, NFL Network’s first on-air hire in 2003, told The Athletic earlier this month. “That was (when) we came out of the box — in Radio City Music Hall, in the set position underneath the mezzanine and across the orchestra from ESPN. I remember being on that set with Mike Mayock and Corey Chavous, looking to my left and seeing Chris Berman — the dean of the NFL Draft — and thinking to myself that we’ve arrived … but now we were joining the competitive battle.”

Read more here.

Diante Lee·

Staff Writer, NFL

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How NFL Network has grown its draft coverage to feed an insatiable audience

Ohio State WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

Smith-Njigba displayed an uncommon blend of speed, balance and route-running with the Buckeyes. When healthy in 2021, he paced an Ohio State WR room that included future first-round picks Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Jason Starrett·

Deputy Managing Editor, College Football

Scott Dochterman·

Staff Writer, Iowa

Jon Machota·

Staff Writer, Cowboys

There’s little consensus about how this draft will go past the top spot, where Atlanta division rival is widely expected to take Alabama quarterback Bryce Young (except on Reddit, but that’s another story). The Falcons are no exception. Here’s a final quick-hitter roundup of notable mock draft picks for Atlanta.

Our Dane Brugler: Bijan Robinson, running back Texas

Sports Illustrated’s Peter King: Bijan Robinson, running back, Texas

NFL Network’s Peter Schrager: Christian Gonzalez, cornerback, Oregon

The Ringer’s Danny Kelly: Bijan Robinson, running back, Texas

The good news for me is that I feel like I’ve done so many mock drafts recently that I could find one that makes me look right almost any direction the Falcons go. However, that hardly seems fair so I’m going to make my official, official pick the one I locked in last chronologically, which came in our staff-wide team beat writer mock draft.

Give me Devon Witherspoon, cornerback, Illinois. He doesn’t have the traits of Gonzalez, but he plays violently at the position, something that is important to Atlanta, and he’s not afraid to insert in the run game.

Tobias Bass·

Associate Editor, News

The side-by-side photo has been making the rounds since December. It aired on television during North Dakota State playoff games. It raced across the internet during Senior Bowl practices and the NFL Scouting Combine.

In one image, a redheaded boy with a bowl cut stands with arms clasped behind his back. He’s tall and wiry. He wears a No. 3 jersey and a tight-lipped grin. In the other image, a bearded giant with a glorious ginger mane beams at the camera. He’s missing the top two middle incisors but has the look of a man who would rather tell you the story of how those teeth got lost than worry about aesthetics.

“I see two completely different people,” said Cody Mauch, who happens to be both of the people.

The first is a guy everyone back home in Hankinson, N.D., calls Tud. The nickname came from an uncle and started as Tuddles, but eventually everyone just shortened it. The second guy, the 6-foot-5, 302-pounder who started 39 consecutive games at offensive tackle for the most dominant program in the FCS, is going to be picked in the NFL Draft.

Read more here.

(Illustration by The Athletic; photos by North Dakota State Athletics)

Andy Staples·

Senior Writer, CFB

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How Cody Mauch became one of the NFL Draft’s most recognizable O-line prospects

Charlotte Carroll·

Staff Writer, Giants

When the NFL Draft begins tonight in Kansas City, hundreds of prospects will eagerly wait for their phones to ring and their names to be called as they take the next step in fulfilling lifelong dreams.

The universities attached to their names have plenty at stake, too. The more players a college has drafted, the more appealing it becomes to the next wave of high school football stars with similar ambitions.

Yet year after year, college coaches survey the recruiting landscape, match it against the NFL Draft numbers … and find analysis lacking. Do prospects really need to attend elite programs such as Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State and Clemson to develop into future picks, or would their chances of success be just as strong at any school with a quality coaching staff?

The Athletic dug into 11 years of data to find the answer. For three-, four- and five-star prospects, which schools had the highest percentage of prospects drafted?

The Athletic Staff

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3-Star U: Which schools are best (and worst) at developing NFL Draft talent?

Prospect X sits down at the upscale Italian restaurant. There’s no seating chart for this dinner, and he doesn’t know anybody that he’s eating with in this group of seven, so he takes the first available chair to avoid the awkward dance. He’s dressed nicely for the occasion: khaki jacket, jeans and a polo tucked into his belt. Tomorrow at the facility, he’ll wear khaki pants and one of only two button-down shirts he owns.

This NFL team is getting his very best.

An employee for the team sits down next to X. He looks important, but X figures anyone who works for an NFL team is doing a lot better than he is, so he doesn’t ask about his specific job title. X didn’t grow up an NFL fan and doesn’t follow the league closely, so he figures this person is probably an area scout and doesn’t worry about it any further.

X isn’t shy, so he asks the team employee questions about his life. “How cool was it to play at (employee’s big-time college program)?” X asks him. “Must be a lot cooler than (X’s smaller program).” The team employee laughs at this precocious straight shooter.

After dinner, X shakes the employee’s hand and returns to his hotel. The next day at the team facility, a different employee who organized the visit pulls him aside. “Hey, (team employee’s name) really liked you,” they said.

I spent the last two months searching for the most overlooked prospect in the 2023 NFL Draft after starting this project four years ago at Sports Illustrated (shout out to my former editor Gary Gramling for creating the concept). This year, after polling NFL scouts, tracking pro day workouts, watching tape and thinking like a general manager, I picked a player I believe is the draft’s best-kept secret: no combine invite, no all-star game appearance, but a legitimate shot to get drafted.

Read more here.

(Illustration by The Athletic)

Kalyn Kahler·

Staff Writer, NFL

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Meet Prospect X, the most overlooked player in the NFL Draft

Matthew Bergeron describes it as a “lottery ticket.”

It’s June 2018 and Bergeron is at the Dino Babers football camp at Syracuse University. The camp is designed for high school, CEGEP (general and vocational college), prep school and junior college student-athletes. Bergeron, and his teammates from Cégep de Thetford, are from Québec, Canada.

When athletes at Cégep de Thetford met the academic and athletic requirements, they were rewarded with an invite to an open tryout at Babers’ camp. Syracuse made the most sense, given its proximity to Québec and the number of Division I programs present. At the time, Bergeron had zero NCAA scholarship offers.

Bergeron and his teammates took a bus to Syracuse. Bergeron’s mother, Annie, drove six hours to Syracuse from the family home in Victoriaville, Québec, to offer support for her son.

For Bergeron, the camp was a chance to learn more about American football and compete with American high school prospects. Once Bergeron got on the field, he said he realized, “I’m just as good as these guys.”

As practice went on, Bergeron began to dominate. For all of his drills, Bergeron drew a crowd of curious coaches and scouts. Babers, Syracuse’s head coach, pulled Bergeron aside after practice. To this day, Babers remembers how much better Bergeron was than the other prospects. But he was also more raw as an athlete.

“You’ve just come out of nowhere,” Babers told Bergeron. “What’s your story?”

A few days later, Bergeron received a scholarship offer from Syracuse. He committed right away.

Almost five years later, Bergeron, 23, is on the precipice of being drafted into the NFL.

Read more here.

Lukas Weese·

Associate Editor, News

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Canadian multisport giant Matthew Bergeron is one of NFL Draft’s most intriguing prospects