The 2016 NFL draft is slowly approaching and with it news as to who the top prospects are for each professional team. The 2016 draft is slated for April 28 to 30. The low-performing teams from the previous season have first pick at the best college athletes. The current college athletes will attend what is called a combine, a test of agility, speed, and strength to determine a player’s’ capabilities.

The first draft was held at Ritz Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia. Ninety names were written on a blackboard as each team carefully selected athletes based on suggestions from team executives and media analysis of college games. The meeting was a closed door draft as no media sources covered the first selections; although, inside sources and coaches gave us live updates on the picks. Overall the the first draft was unsuccessful as only 24 of the 81 athletes selected agreed to play in the NFL that year. Most college athletes turned down the offer to play for the national league because of their future career in studies of becoming a doctor or businessman.

Nowadays the draft has grown from its the first meeting over 80 years ago, advancing in technology, scouting, and live media coverage on the NFL network and NBC. The draft is now split up in order of success. Teams with the worst record who did not make playoffs will be in the top 20 draft selection first picks, then wildcard teams, divisional, conference champions, Super Bowl runner ups and finally the Super Bowl champions. Each team has 5 minutes to draft a player before the next team has a chance to draft their top prospect. There are only 8 rounds of selection for the 32 teams to pick from, as only 256 players get selected to play in the professional league. If a player is selected first from the team, they will receive a jersey with their name and the number one for first round pick for the team.

A NFL combine is held annually at Lucas oil Stadium in Indianapolis to test the physical ability of each athlete. Coaches, general managers, and scouts attend the showcase evaluating the performance of the athletes to find out if they can contribute to the team. Athletes attend the showcase by invitation only as not just any college football player may partake in this competition showcase.

Each team is only required to offer their new players a certain salary. On average, an American NFL rookie makes $500,000 per year and if they have a successful first year, the team will decide whether or not to extend the player and their salary cap to millions like other veterans in the game. In the NFL, $500,000 is the “minimum wage” of other gross net worths.
Top prospects for the NFL 2016 season include major key aspects such as defensive end Joey Bosa, who has 26 sacks and 51 tackles overall his junior year. Laremy Tunsil is a tackle with tremendous reliability in the pass blocking situation, only allowing two sack his past 28 games. Florida State cornerback Jalen Ramsey has made the top 5 list with his explosive speed and agility as  wide receiver, a quarterback’s worst nightmare. Jared Goff, a quarterback for UCLA, has had a great year completing 977 of 1,569 passes, a total of 12,200 yards and 96 touchdowns. Running Back Heisman winner Derek Henry’s incredible speed, size and power dubs him reliable and desirable player. This new blood is electrifying the air of the upcoming draft and who knows, there may be another Peyton Manning among their ranks.