The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) franchises to select newly eligible

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the

Auditorium Theatre The Auditorium Theatre is a music and performance venue located inside the Auditorium Building at 50 Ida B. Wells Drive in Chicago, Illinois. Inspired by the Richardsonian Romanesque Style of architect Henry Hobson Richardson, the building was ...

and Grant Park in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. The draft began on Thursday, April 28 with the first round, and ended on Saturday, April 30. The

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their hom ...

, the team with the fewest wins in the NFL for the 2015 season, traded the right to the top pick in the draft to the Los Angeles Rams, the first time the top pick was traded before the draft since 2001 when the San Diego Chargers traded their first pick to the Atlanta Falcons.

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

became the second school to have three players drafted in the top ten and to have five players drafted in the first round.

Early entrants

Ninety-six underclassmen announced their intention to enter the 2016 NFL Draft as underclassmen, which primarily include juniors and redshirt sophomores who are forgoing future years of college eligibility. In order to be eligible to enter the draft, players must be at least 3 years removed from high school. The deadline for underclassmen to declare for the draft was January 18, 2016.

Overview

The following is the breakdown of the 253 players selected by position: * 36

Linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

s * 31 Wide receivers * 32

Cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

s * 22 Defensive tackles * 20 Offensive tackles * 19

Running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

s * 19

Safeties Safety is the condition of being protected against harmful conditions or events, or the control of hazards to reduce risk. Safety may also refer to: Places * Safety Island, Antarctica Government * The Internet Stopping Adults Facilitating t ...

* 18

Defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

s * 15

Quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

s * 13 Offensive guards * 11

Tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

s * 8 Centers * 3 Fullbacks * 3 Punters * 1

Long snapper In American football, the long snapper (or deep snapper) is a center on special teams whose duty is to snap the football over a longer distance, typically around 15 yards during punts, and 7–8 yards during field goals and extra point att ...

* 1 Placekicker

Player selections

Notable undrafted players

Trades

In the explanations below, (PD) indicates trades completed prior to the start of the draft (i.e. Pre-Draft), while (D) denotes trades that took place during the 2016 draft. ;Round one ;Round two ;Round three ;Round four ;Round five ;Round six ;Round seven

Forfeited picks

Supplemental draft

The 2016

supplemental draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

was held on July 14, 2016. For each player selected in the supplemental draft, the team forfeits its pick in that round in the draft of the following season. This year, six players were eligible for selection: * Eddie D'Antuono - LS -

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...

* Ra'Zahn Howard - DL - Purdue * Jalen Overstreet - RB - Sam Houston State * Tee Shepard - CB - Ole Miss * Rashaun Simonise - WR - Calgary * Cameron Walton - DE - Concordia No players were selected.

Summary

Selections by college athletic conference

Schools with multiple draft selections

Selections by position

Notes

References

;Trade references ;General references

External links

Official Site
{{2016 NFL season by team National Football League Draft 2010s in Chicago 2016 in Illinois

Draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

American football in Chicago 2016 in sports in Illinois