The 2024 NFL draft was held the weekend of April 25 in Detroit, Michigan; and dreams came true for 257 young athletes.  Let’s take a look at the top 10 picks. 

With the first pick in the 2024 NFL draft, the Chicago Bears grabbed Quarterback Caleb Williams, a 2022 Heisman Trophy winner from  University of Southern California. According to Yahoo Sports, Williams made $10 million from NIL deals back when he was at USC, and now he has signed a rookie multimillion dollar deal worth $38 million throughout four years and got a signing bonus of $24.8 million. 

The second pick of the 2024 NFL draft was also a quarterback–Jayden Daniels, taken by the Washington Commanders.  Daniels came from LSU and was the 2023 Heisman Trophy winner.   Number five on the LSU Tigers, Daniels is the only player in FBS history to record over 350 passing and 200 rushing yards in the same game (against the Florida Gators in 2023.)

Sticking with the QB trend, Drake Maye was taken at pick three by the New England Patriots.  A quarterback out of North Carolina, Maye set a record for the NCAA with a 72% pass completion rate and 50 touchdowns.  

The Arizona Cardinals took Marvin Harrison with the fourth pick.  A 6’ 3” wide receiver, Harrison led Ohio State in receiving yards and impressed at the combine with a 4.3 40-yard dash.  According to The Columbus Dispatch, “In three seasons, Harrison brought in 155 catches, including 77 receptions in 2022 and 67 catches in 2023.” According to Ohio State’s website,  Harrison won the 2023 Fred Biletnikoff award after recording 1,211 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Pick five by the Los Angeles Chargers was Joe Alt, an offensive lineman from Notre Dame.  At 6’8” and 322 pounds, Alt earned two All-American honors. He only allowed five total pressures and one sack.  NFL analyst Lance Zierlein said, “Alt has quick hands and outstanding arm extension, promoting his ability to sustain blocks and redirect pass-rushers. He’s a good technician who carries himself with confidence from snap to snap.”

The sixth pick in the 2024 NFL draft was Malik Nabers, a wide receiver out of LSU who was selected by the New York Giants. The reason that the Giants want to select Nabers was because they were struggling in the wide receiver spot, and according to 247Sports, Nabers is considered by many to be the second-best wide receiver in the draft. According to CBS Sports, he has “reliable hands” because he only had five drops over 128 targets last year and four drops over 100 targets in 2022.

With the 7th pick, the Tennessee Titans decided they wanted JC Latham out of Alabama State University. Latham had a lot of defensive accomplishments such as allowing only two sacks in nearly 1,000 snaps as a pass blocker, according to Tennessean.com.

Michael Phenix Jr., a quarterback out of Washington, got picked by the Atlanta Falcons at pick number eight.  Phenix completed 1,067-of-1,685 pass attempts (63.3 percent) for 13,741 yards, according to the Falcons site.

The 9th pick was Rome Odunze, picked by the Chicago Bears, who were in need of a wide receiver. Odunze,a wide receiver out of Washington, had 121 receptions for 2,699 yards.  His career also saw 31 touchdowns according to the chicagobears.com.

JJ McCarthy rounded out the top 10.  Another quarterback pick, this one out of Michigan State, was chosen by the Minnesota Vikings–a pot of need because they reportedly traded their other QB Kirk cousins. McCarthy won a CFP national championship with  a total of 6,226 passing yards in his career with Michigan.