The 2015 NFL Draft is finally within sight. Over three days in late April and early May, the NFL's future stars will take the stage in Chicago, Illinois as they find out the teams they will play for to begin their careers.
As has been the case for the better part of the last decade, fans will have two options for draft coverage on television: ESPN and the NFL Network. The four-letter network will continue to feature Chris Berman, Mel Kiper, and company on its draft telecasts (full details here), while Mike Mayock gets top billing over on the league's channel.
We have compiled the broadcast schedules for you here to get you ready for the event.
Round One: Thursday, April 30th
7:00 PM Central
The first round begins at 7 and will of course be televised on both ESPN and NFL Network. Time on the clock for each pick will be ten minutes. But as one would expect both networks will have coverage leading up to the first round much of the day. Here's what you can expect if you want nothing but NFL coverage all day long:
ESPN
1:30 PM to 2:30 - NFL Insiders
2:30 to 3:30 - NFL Live
6:00 - SportsCenter Special: Draft Countdown
NFL Network
9:00 AM to 12 noon - Path to the Draft
12 noon to 5:00 PM - NFL Draft Kickoff
5:00 to 6:30 - NFL Draft Gold Carpet
6:30 to 7:00 - NFL Draft Kickoff
Rounds Two and Three - Friday, May 1st
6:00 PM Central
Everything gets going an hour earlier on Friday so the league can fit two rounds of the draft into Prime Time. The second round will have seven minutes per pick, and the third round five minutes (with the exception of the three compensatory picks after the third round, which get four minutes each). ESPN's pre-draft coverage is scaled back by an hour (no Draft Countdown show), while the NFL Network is, of course, all draft analysis:
ESPN
1:30 PM to 2:30 - NFL Insiders
2:30 to 3:30 - NFL Live
NOTE: Friday's draft coverage will be televised on ESPN2.
NFL Network
9:00 AM to 12 noon - Path to the Draft
12 noon to 6:00 PM - NFL Draft Kickoff
Rounds Four through Seven - Saturday, May 2nd
11:00 AM Central
On Saturday, the draft wraps up with the final four rounds. ESPN is showing just the draft itself, as it has other non-NFL-specific programming (read: lots and lots of SportsCenter) planned for the morning. Picks in rounds four through six are five minutes each, while the seventh round and all compensatory picks are four minutes apiece.
NFL Network
9:00 AM to 12 noon - Path to the Draft
Players Attending Draft
The NFL has extended invitations to numerous players to attend the draft in Chicago, and 28 players accepted. Here's the list of players who will be in attendance, as announced by NFL.com.
RB Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin
RB Todd Gurley, Georgia
WR DeVante Parker, Louisville
WR Breshad Perriman, Central Florida
WR Devin Smith, Ohio State
WR Jaelen Strong, Arizona State
WR Kevin White, West Virginia
OL La'el Collins, LSU
OL Cameron Erving, Florida State
OL D.J. Humphries, Florida
OL Cedric Ogbuehi, Texas A&M
OL Andrus Peat, Stanford
OL Brandon Scherff, Iowa
OL Donovan Smith, Penn State
OL Laken Tomlinson, Duke
S Landon Collins, Alabama
CB Kevin Johnson, Wake Forest
CB Byron Jones, Connecticut
CB Trae Waynes, Michigan State
LB Benardrick McKinney
LB/DE Vic Beasley, Clemson
LB/DE Alvin "Bud" Dupree, Kentucky
LB/DE Dante Fowler, Jr., Florida
LB/DE Randy Gregory, Nebraska
LB/DE Shane Ray, Missouri
DL Arik Armstead, Oregon
DL Danny Shelton, Washington
DL Leonard Williams, USC
PICK NO. 1 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
PICK NO. 2 Tennessee Titans
PICK NO. 3 Jacksonville Jaguars
PICK NO. 4 Oakland Raiders
PICK NO. 5 Washington Redskins
PICK NO. 6 New York Jets
PICK NO. 7 Chicago Bears
PICK NO. 8 Atlanta Falcons
PICK NO. 9 New York Giants
PICK NO. 10 St. Louis Rams
PICK NO. 11 Minnesota Vikings
PICK NO. 12 Cleveland Browns
PICK NO. 13 New Orleans Saints
PICK NO. 14 Miami Dolphins
PICK NO. 15 San Francisco 49ers
PICK NO. 16 Houston Texans
PICK NO. 17 San Diego Chargers
PICK NO. 18 Kansas City Chiefs
PICK NO. 19 Cleveland Browns
PICK NO. 20 Philadelphia Eagles
PICK NO. 21 Cincinnati Bengals
PICK NO. 22 Pittsburgh Steelers
PICK NO. 23 Detroit Lions
PICK NO. 24 Arizona Cardinals
PICK NO. 25 Carolina Panthers
PICK NO. 26 Baltimore Ravens
PICK NO. 27 Dallas Cowboys
PICK NO. 28 Denver Broncos
PICK NO. 29 Indianapolis Colts
PICK NO. 30 Green Bay Packers
PICK NO. 31 New Orleans Saints
PICK NO. 32 New England Patriots
