2017 NFL Draft: Top 10 Picks

PHILADELPHIA, PA — It's the height of the playoffs in the NHL and NBA, and the major league baseball season has just started, yet sports fans are still excited for the NFL Draft. The draft has brought a festival atmosphere to Philadelphia, which held the first-ever draft, in 1936, and last hosted the event in 1961.

Update: Top 10 Picks

1. Cleveland: The Browns made defensive end Myles Garrett of Texas A&M the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 draft.

2. Chicago: In an unexpected move, the San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears swapped the Nos. 2 and 3 picks, and the Bears took quarterback Mitchell Trubisky of North Carolina.

3. San Francisco: Solomon Thomas, defensive tackle, Stanford

4. Jacksonville: Leonard Fournette, running back, LSU

5. Tennessee: Corey Davis, wide receiver, Western Michigan

6. New York Jets: Jamal Adams, safety, LSU

7. Los Angeles Chargers: Mike Williams, wide receiver, Clemson

8. Carolina: Christian McCaffrey, running back, Stanford

9. Cincinnati: John Ross, wide receiver, Washington

10. Kansas City (in trade with Buffalo): Patrick Mahomes, quarterback, Texas Tech

The NFL has descended on the Parkway, and the NFL Draft Theater, where the action actually takes place, has been constructed on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

“Philadelphia is a passionate football town and will serve as a tremendous backdrop for the Draft and provide a great atmosphere for our fans and incoming players,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement.

A live stream of the proceedings can be watched here on the ESPN App.

Activities

Calling it the NFL Draft Experience, a half-mile stretch of the Parkway has been converted into a massive, in-depth, family-friendly football festival, with interactive exhibits, games, virtual reality experiences, player autographs and much more.

It will be open from noon to 11 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Visitors to the camp can participate in games at "Combine Corner," where there are a series of mock football drills that scouts routinely use to judge potential draftees.

There will also be a scale model replica of an NFL locker room, a music stage, a Draft Tavern and exhibits from the NFL Museum.

Noah the Bald Eagle from the Elmwood Park Zoo, who makes routine appearances at Eagles home games, will be on hand at the event.

See here for a full lineup of activities.

Draft

The league's 32 teams will draft for seven rounds, with rounds 2-3 held on Friday and Rounds 4-7 wrapping things up on Saturday.

NFL.com draft analyst Chad Reuter had predicted the following top 5 picks:

1. Mitchel Trubisky, QB, University of North Carolina
2. Myles Garrett, DE, Texas A&M
3. Solomon Thomas, DE, Stanford
4. Leonard Fournette, RB, Louisiana State University
5. O.J. Howard, TE, University of Alabama

Like any year, trade rumors will abound throughout the entire draft process, much like when many became convinced that former Eagles coach Chip Kelly would manage to trade up for his former protege, Marcus Mariota, in 2015.

The draft will be televised nationally by ESPN, beginning at 8 p.m. Thursday, 7 p.m. Friday and noon on Saturday.

Traffic and Getting Around

The 22nd Street ramp on I-676 West will be shut down for several days. Closure began at midnight on Tuesday, April 25, and will continue through Monday, May 1.

SEPTA is offering special routes for the weekend.

Free parking for the event is available at the Wells Fargo Center and Citizens Bank Park, just a subway ride away from the Draft Village. Attendees should take the Broad Street Subway from AT&T Station to City Hall. The walk to the Village from City Hall is about seven minutes.

Visitors are urged to use the city's bike-sharing service, Indego, to help them get around. Organizers are also relying on taxis and Uber to assist in providing transportation.

The draft is the same weekend as the Penn Relays, the oldest and largest track and field relay meet in the world, so traffic in the city should be pretty severe throughout the weekend.

Image via NFL