The 2020 NFL draft was the 85th annual meeting of

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the

2020 NFL season The 2020 NFL season was the 101st season of the National Football League (NFL). The regular season started with the NFL Kickoff Game on September 10, in which defending Super Bowl LIV champion Kansas City defeated Houston. The playoffs were ...

. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The draft concluded with rounds 4–7 on April 25. The NFL originally planned to hold the event live in

Paradise, Nevada Paradise is an Unincorporated towns in Nevada, unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, United States, adjacent to the city of Las Vegas. It was formed on December 8, 1950. Its population was 191,238 at the ...

, before all public events related to it were canceled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Instead, all team selections took place via

videoconferencing Videotelephony (also known as videoconferencing or video calling) is the use of audio signal, audio and video for simultaneous two-way communication. Today, videotelephony is widespread. There are many terms to refer to videotelephony. ''Vide ...

with league commissioner

Roger Goodell Roger Stokoe Goodell (born February 19, 1959) is an American businessman who has served as the National Football League Commissioner, commissioner of the National Football League (NFL) since 2006. Goodell began his NFL career in 1982 as an admi ...

broadcasting picks from his home. The

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

retired their name two months after the 2020 draft, making it the final draft where players were selected under the Redskins branding. The draft is noteworthy for producing five playoff starters at the

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

position:

Joe Burrow Joseph Lee Burrow (born December 10, 1996) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes football, O ...

Tua Tagovailoa Tuanigamanuolepola Donny Tagovailoa ( ; born March 2, 1998) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide ...

Justin Herbert Justin Patrick Herbert (born March 10, 1998) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Oregon Ducks football, Orego ...

Jordan Love Jordan Alexander Love (born November 2, 1998) is an American professional football quarterback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Utah State Aggies, where he was named to the seco ...

, and

Jalen Hurts Jalen Alexander Hurts (born August 7, 1998) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). Hurts began his college football career with the Alabama Crims ...

. Burrow became the first to reach a Super Bowl in

Super Bowl LVI Super Bowl LVI was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2021 NFL season, 2021 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2021 Los Angeles Rams season, Los Angeles ...

, while Hurts became the first Super Bowl–winner of the group in

Super Bowl LIX Super Bowl LIX was an American football championship game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2024 NFL season, 2024 season. In a rematch of Super Bowl LVII two years prior, the National Football Conf ...

Format

The host city was chosen among finalists

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, and

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative divisions * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and entertainment * Canton (band), an It ...

in May 2018 during the NFL Spring League Meeting, when Nashville was chosen to host the 2019 draft. However, the host city for 2020 was deferred. After Denver withdrew, citing scheduling conflicts, Las Vegas was chosen as the original host on December 12, 2018, coinciding with the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West ...

arrival Arrival(s) or The Arrival(s) may refer to: Film * ''The Arrival'' (1991 film), an American science fiction horror film * ''The Arrival'' (1996 film), an American-Mexican science fiction horror film * ''Arrival'' (film), a 2016 American science ...

in the city. Plans were announced for a main stage near the

Caesars Forum Caesars Forum is a convention center located in Paradise, Nevada, east of the Las Vegas Strip. It is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment. Development of the project began around early 2017, and construction started in July 2018. The facil ...

convention center and a "

red carpet A red carpet is traditionally used to mark the route taken by heads of state on ceremonial and formal occasions, and has in recent decades been extended to use by Very Important Person, VIPs and celebrity, celebrities at formal events. History ...

" stage for arrivals on a floating platform in front of the Bellagio resort, with players being transported to and from the stage by boat. However, due to the

, the NFL announced on March 16 that it had canceled all public festivities associated with the event. Instead, the draft was held remotely, with team coaches and GMs convening via

Microsoft Teams Microsoft Teams is a team collaboration platform developed by Microsoft as part of the Microsoft 365 suite. It offers features such as workspace chat, video conferencing, file storage, and integration with both Microsoft and third-party applicat ...

due to all team facilities also being closed. NFL commissioner

announced the picks for rounds 1–3 from his home in

Bronxville, New York Bronxville is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States, located approximately north of Midtown Manhattan. It is part of the Adminis ...

, with the rest of the rounds being announced by

Dave Gardi Joseph T. Gardi (March 2, 1939 – June 2, 2010) was an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Hofstra University for 16 seasons, from 1990 to 2005, compiling a record of 119–62–2.

. During the event Goodell announced that Las Vegas would host the

2022 NFL draft The 2022 NFL draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual NFL draft, draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, Paradise next to Las Vegas. The first round ...

Player selections

The following is the breakdown of the 255 players selected by

position Position often refers to: * Position (geometry), the spatial location (rather than orientation) of an entity * Position, a job or occupation Position may also refer to: Games and recreation * Position (poker), location relative to the dealer * ...

: * 38

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

s * 35

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

s * 27

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 * 20

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

s * 20

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

s * 20

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 offensive guards * 18

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 American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

s * 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 formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

s * 13

s * 12

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

s * 9 centers * 3

placekicker In gridiron football, the placekicker (PK), or simply kicker (K), is the player responsible for attempts at scoring Field goal (football), field goals and extra points. In most cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist ...

s * 2 punters * 1

long snapper In gridiron football, the long snapper (or deep snapper) is a Center (gridiron football), center on American football positions#Special teams, special teams whose duty is to Snap (gridiron football), snap the football over a longer distance, ty ...

* 1

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

Notable undrafted players

Trades within the draft

(PD) indicates trades completed prior to the start of the draft (i.e. Pre-Draft), while (D) denotes trades which took place during the 2020 draft. Round one Round two Round three Round four Round five Round six Round seven

Forfeited picks

Notes

Media coverage

Coverage of all three days of the draft aired on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

NFL Network NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League NTP and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and N ...

ESPN Deportes ESPN Deportes (, ) is an American multinational Spanish-language pay television sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the ...

, and

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternatively branded platform-agnostically as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the banner "SportsRadio ESPN". The netw ...

. ESPN and NFL Network aired shared coverage of all three days hosted by

Trey Wingo Hal Chapman "Trey" Wingo III (; born September 19, 1963) is an American former co-host of ESPN '' Golic and Wingo'', '' SportsCenter'', and '' NFL Live''. He has previously served as host of the Women's NCAA basketball tournament. Early life W ...

from ESPN's studios in Bristol, which was simulcast by ABC for the third day.

Rece Davis William Laurece Davis (born ) is an American sports television journalist for ESPN/ESPN on ABC, ABC. Davis works as an anchor on ''SportsCenter'' and serves as host of various other programs on the network, including ''College GameDay (football ...

Jesse Palmer Jesse James Palmer (born October 5, 1978) is a Canadian television personality, sports commentator, and former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons in the early 2000s. Palmer played ...

, and Maria Taylor, all from '' College GameDay'', hosted ABC's telecasts for the first two days.

Jennifer Hudson Jennifer Kate Hudson (born September 12, 1981), also known by her nickname J.Hud, is an American singer, actress, producer, and talk show host. Having received List of awards and nominations received by Jennifer Hudson, numerous accolades for ...

was announced to perform as part of a Draft Preshow on the first day, followed by

Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne (born Kelly Brianne Clarkson, April 24, 1982), known professionally as Kelly Clarkson, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Rising to fame after winning the American Idol season 1, first season of ''Ameri ...

on the second day and

OneRepublic OneRepublic is an American pop rock band from Colorado Springs, Colorado, formed in 2002. The lineup currently consists of Ryan Tedder (lead vocals, piano), Zach Filkins (guitar, viola), Drew Brown (musician), Drew Brown (guitar), Brent Kutzle ( ...

on the third. ESPN Deportes provided Spanish language coverage of the draft with ''Monday Night Football'' voices

Eduardo Varela Eduardo Varela is a Mexican journalist who works as commentator for ESPN Deportes and ESPN Latin America. Born in Mexico City, Varela graduated with a degree in journalism from the Carlos Septién García School of Journalism, Mexico's top unive ...

and Pablo Viruega. ESPN Radio's coverage featured host

Dari Nowkhah Darius Behzad "Dari" Nowkhah (born June 23, 1976) is the lead anchor at SEC Network, an American sports television network (he was chosen as a head anchor when it began airing in August 21, 2014). Nowkhah hosts extensive college football and col ...

from ESPN's

SEC Network SEC Network (SECN) is an American multinational sports network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst Communications (which hold ...

, former general manager

Mike Tannenbaum Mike Tannenbaum (born February 14, 1969) is an American professional football analyst and former executive. He served as the executive vice president of football operations for the Miami Dolphins from 2015 to 2018. Prior to that, he served as th ...

, ESPN New York's

Bart Scott Bartholomew Edward Scott (born August 18, 1980) is an American sports analyst and former professional football player. Scott was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons. After playing college football for the South ...

(Thursday/Friday), NFL Draft analyst Jim Nagy (Saturday) and reporter Ian Fitzsimmons with updates from

Marc Kestecher Marc David Kestecher (born March 22, 1968) is an American Sports commentator, play-by-play announcer radio Sportscaster, sports and News presenter, news anchor. Early life and education He was raised in Guilderland, New York and graduated from S ...

Summary

Selections by NCAA conference

Colleges with multiple draft selections

Selections by position

References

Trade references General references {{2020 NFL season by team NFL draft

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 v ...

NFL Draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

Events in Hartford County, Connecticut

Bristol, Connecticut American football in Connecticut