The first day & round of the 2016 NFL draft stood out for two reasons: The Ohio State Buckeyes having five players going in the first round, including three in the top 10; and Laremy Tunsil dropping to #13 with his Twitter & Instagram accounts getting hacked, followed by him pretty much admitted to getting paid by Ole Miss.
Before all the trades that changed the entire draft order, the Ole Miss left tackle was projected to be the number one pick. However, the whole quarterback chase dropped him a bit, and still, he was never going to be #13, ending up playing for the Miami Dolphins, who possibly got a big steal here. A video of Tunsil taking a bong hit appeared on his Twitter account just before the draft, meaning it got hacked. His account was shortly after deleted. His Instagram account posted a request from him to one of the Ole Miss coaches to pay his mom’s electric bill. Those were removed as well.
In a press conference after getting picked, Tunsil answered questions from reporters, including about getting paid by Ole Miss coaches and the school itself. While at first he denied it, he later said he did take money from a coach (I’d have to say Yeah). Then he was ushered off by some “fixer” and Tunsil was never heard from again. Ole Miss have been under investigation for recruiting violations since January and Tunsil himself was suspended last season for receiving improper payments in some form. While it won’t affect Tunsil’s NFL career, it could really hurt the Rebels, shedding a new angle on all their recruiting success in the last few years.
The number one and number two draft picks were quarterbacks, just like in 2012. Jared Goff of California will play for the Los Angeles Rams while Carson Wentz of North Dakota State goes to the Philadelphia Eagles, hoping that his FCS experience won’t be too much of a problem to fix. The Rams traded for the number one pick from Tennessee, the Eagles moved up to the number two spots by trading with the Cleveland Browns.
One more quarterback was taken in the first round – Paxton Lynch of Memphis, by the Denver Broncos. The Broncos lost Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler during the offseason, and it was quite clear they weren’t going to head into the season with Mark Sanchez alone. Their trade attempts haven’t been successful, so the draft was their answer, although Lynch joining them doesn’t mean they won’t add one more veteran quarterback to the mix.
Joey Bosa was the first pass rusher off the board, unsurprisingly, going to the San Diego Chargers at number three. His Ohio State teammate, Ezekiel Elliott, a running back, went fourth overall, going to the Dallas Cowboys. It seems like this was a Jerry Jones decision, while most of the Cowboys hivemind wanted Jalen Ramsey. The Florida State cornerback went to the Jacksonville Jaguars at fifth overall, followed by the Baltimore Ravens picking Ronnie Stanley of Notre Dame, the first offensive tackle coming off the board.
The top 10 was completed by DeForest Bunker of Oregon going to the San Francisco 49ers and help the defensive line, Jack Conklin of Michigan State joining the Tennessee Titans to help protect Marcus Mariota, linebacker Leonard Floyd of Georgia going to the Chicago Bears and Eli Apple of Ohio State, a cornerback, picked by the New York Giants at 10. Sheldon Rankins of Louisville was the first defensive tackle off the board, going at #12 to the New Orleans Saints. Karl Joseph of West Virginia was the first safety picked, going #14 to the Oakland Raiders. Corey Coleman of Baylor went at number 15 to the Cleveland Browns, the first wide receiver off the board. Ryan Kelly, the Alabama center, went 18 overall to the Indianapolis Colts.
Four schools had more than one player picked in the draft: Ohio State with five players, Ole Miss with three players, Notre Dame and Florida with two each. The SEC was the most represented conference with 8 players selected in the first round, followed by the Big Ten with six.
First Round Selections
| Round | Pick | Team | Player | Position | School | Conference | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Los Angeles Rams | Jared Goff | QB | California | Pac-12 | ||
| 1 | 2 | Philadelphia Eagles | Carson Wentz | QB | North Dakota State | MVFC | ||
| 1 | 3 | San Diego Chargers | Joey Bosa | DE | Ohio State | Big Ten | ||
| 1 | 4 | Dallas Cowboys | Ezekiel Elliott | RB | Ohio State | Big Ten | ||
| 1 | 5 | Jacksonville Jaguars | Jalen Ramsey | CB | Florida State | ACC | ||
| 1 | 6 | Baltimore Ravens | Ronnie Stanley | OT | Notre Dame | Indepedent | ||
| 1 | 7 | San Francisco 49ers | DeForest Buckner | DE | Oregon | Pac-12 | ||
| 1 | 8 | Tennessee Titans | Jack Conklin | OT | Michigan State | Big Ten | ||
| 1 | 9 | Chicago Bears | Leonard Floyd | OLB | Georgia | SEC | ||
| 1 | 10 | New York Giants | Eli Apple | CB | Ohio State | Big Ten | ||
| 1 | 11 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Vernon Hargreaves | CB | Florida | SEC | ||
| 1 | 12 | New Orleans Saints | Sheldon Rankins | DT | Louisville | ACC | ||
| 1 | 13 | Miami Dolphins | Laremy Tunsil | OT | Ole Miss | SEC | ||
| 1 | 14 | Oakland Raiders | Karl Joseph | S | West Virginia | Big 12 | ||
| 1 | 15 | Cleveland Browns | Corey Coleman | WR | Baylor | Big 12 | ||
| 1 | 16 | Detroit Lions | Taylor Decker | OT | Ohio State | Big Ten | ||
| 1 | 17 | Atlanta Falcons | Keanu Neal | S | Florida | SEC | ||
| 1 | 18 | Indianapolis Colts | Ryan Kelly | C | Alabama | SEC | ||
| 1 | 19 | Buffalo Bills | Shaq Lawson | DE | Clemson | ACC | ||
| 1 | 20 | New York Jets | Darron Lee | OLB | Ohio State | Big Ten | ||
| 1 | 21 | Houston Texans | Will Fuller | WR | Notre Dame | Indepedent | ||
| 1 | 22 | Washington Redskins | Josh Doctson | WR | TCU | Big 12 | ||
| 1 | 23 | Minnesota Vikings | Laquon Treadwell | WR | Ole Miss | SEC | ||
| 1 | 24 | Cincinnati Bengals | William Jackson | CB | Houston | The American | ||
| 1 | 25 | Pittsburgh Steelers | Artie Burns | CB | Miami (FL) | ACC | ||
| 1 | 26 | Denver Broncos | Paxton Lynch | QB | Memphis | The American | ||
| 1 | 27 | Green Bay Packers | Kenny Clark | DT | UCLA | Pac-12 | ||
| 1 | 28 | San Francisco 49ers | Joshua Garnett | G | Stanford | Pac-12 | ||
| 1 | – | New England Patriots | Selection forfeited as punishment for the team’s involvement in Deflategate. | |||||
| 1 | 29 | Arizona Cardinals | Robert Nkemdiche | DT | Ole Miss | SEC | ||
| 1 | 30 | Carolina Panthers | Vernon Butler | DT | Louisiana Tech | C-USA | ||
| 1 | 31 | Seattle Seahawks | Germain Ifedi | OT | Texas A&M | SEC | ||