The 2017 NFL Draft has finally arrived! The draft kicks off Thursday evening at 5 p.m. PT, and we get to see how the San Francisco 49ers rebuilding process continues under general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan. The 49ers currently have 10 draft picks, with nine regular picks and one compensatory pick.
This marks the first draft for Lynch in any formal role, and the first for Shanahan as a head coach with considerable say in how the roster will be shaped. The next three days will tell us a whole lot about the kind of philosophy the new brain trust have in mind.
Once again, the NFL Draft will feature two options for televised coverage. ESPN and NFL Network are back for another year of coverage. ESPN will feature a big change, with Trey Wingo taking over for Chris Berman on day one. He’ll be joined by Mel Kiper, Todd McShay, and host others. NFL Network is anchored by Rich Eisen, and features plenty of Mike Mayock.
Niners Nation site decorum rules for the next three days
Since this is three days of live news, site decorum is off. I'll just shut off this morning and it will remain off through Sunday. One thing related to site decorum though is this: no tipping of picks in the comments. ESPN and NFL Network media will not be tweeting picks ahead of the commissioner's announcements, but I believe Jason LaCanfora and Jay Glazer will. Do not post those tweets in here.
Here is a full rundown of the broadcast schedule for the next three days. The entire draft can be streamed online at NFL.com/Live.
Round 1: Thursday, April 27
5:00 PM PT, ESPN/NFL Network
The first round kicks off at 5 p.m. PT, televised on both ESPN and NFL Network. Teams will have 10 minutes on the clock for each pick in the first round.
Rounds 2, 3 - Friday, April 28
4:00 PM PT, ESPN2/NFL Network
Everything gets going an hour earlier on Friday so the league can fit two rounds of the draft into primetime. The second round will have 7 minutes per pick, and the third round 5 minutes. The one exception to this is the three compensatory picks after the third round, which get 4 minutes each). ESPN's coverage switches to ESPN2 on Friday.
Rounds 4-7 - Saturday, April 29
9:00 AM PT, ESPN/NFL Network
The draft wraps up on Saturday with the final four rounds. Picks in rounds four through six are five minutes each, while the seventh round and all compensatory picks are four minutes apiece. ESPN has the coverage instead of ESPN2.
49ers draft picks
1. First round: Own - No. 2
2. Second round: Own - No. 2 (34 overall)
3. Third round: Own - No. 2 (66 overall)
4. Fourth round: Own - No. 2 (109 overall)
5. Fourth round: Comp pick - No. 37 (143 overall)
6. Fifth round: Own - No. 2 (146 overall)
7. Fifth round: Washington (Derek Carrier trade) - No. 17 (161 overall)
8. Sixth round: Baltimore Ravens - No. 14 (198 overall)
9. Sixth round: Denver Broncos (Vernon Davis trade) - No. 18 (202 overall)
10. Seventh round: Cleveland Browns (Andy Lee trade) - No. 1 (219 overall)
Players Attending Draft
The NFL has extended invitations to numerous players to attend the draft in Chicago. Here's the list of players who will be in attendance, as announced by the NFL.
QB: Deshone Kizer (Notre Dame), Mitchell Trubisky (North Carolina), Deshaun Watson (Clemson)
RB: Leonard Fournette (LSU)
WR: Corey Davis (Western Michigan), John Ross (Washington)
OT: Garrett Bolles (Utah), Ryan Ramczyk (Wisconsin), Cam Robinson (Alabama)
DT: Jonathan Allen (Alabama), Malik McDowell (Michigan State)
DE: Derek Barnett (Tennessee), Takkarist McKinley (UCLA), Solomon Thomas (Stanford)
LB: Haason Reddick (Temple)
CB: Chidobe Awuzie (Colorado), Adoree’ Jackson (USC), Kevin King (Washington), Marshon Lattimore (Ohio State), Tre’Davious White (LSU)
S: Jamal Adams (LSU)