The 2022-23 college football season was exhilarating with many historic feats and stars performing their best. In this article, I will present my mock draft of the upcoming NFL Draft and what college stars will be placed on each NFL team picking in the first round. However, first, it is important to discuss the history of the draft and how it draws millions of people to the select site of the draft every year. 

The first-ever NFL Draft was hosted in Philadelphia at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and consisted of nine representatives from each NFL franchise at the time to draft players out of college for their teams. In the end, 81 players were drafted in nine rounds and all of the teams selected nine players out of the whole. The Philadelphia Eagles got the first pick in this draft and selected Jay Berwanger who won the Heisman Trophy in college. The Eagles didn’t benefit from this draft at all though as each one of their nine picks didn’t even play a regular seaxson game for them. 

Throughout NFL Draft history there have been many players who shined in college but did not live up to expectations in the professional leagues. These “draft busts” often end up as free agents or out of the league within a few years. One of the worst busts ever was quarterback Ryan Leaf. Leaf was considered as good as Peyton Manning (Hall of Fame quarterback) before the draft and when the Indianapolis Colts took Manning first, the Chargers jumped at the chance to draft Leaf. Leaf had a horrible rookie season with a 2-15 touchdown to interception ratio and missed the entire next season with a shoulder injury. The Chargers then realized that Manning was flourishing and the gap between them just kept getting larger. Now, there aren’t many draft busts as teams are very selective in who they pick, but there is a big one every once in a while when the team makes a huge mistake. 

Now the moment you have all been waiting for: my mock draft for the 2023 NFL Draft. What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with my picks?