| 2020 NFL draft | |
| Date: | April 23–25, 2020 |
| Location: | ESPN studio complex, Bristol, Connecticut (draft emanated from Bronxville, New York via video conference call) |
| Network: | ABC, ESPN, NFL Network, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Radio |
| League: | National Football League |
| First: | Joe Burrow, QB, Cincinnati Bengals |
| Mr Irrelevant: | Tae Crowder, LB, New York Giants |
| Fewnum: | 4 |
| Fewest: | New Orleans Saints |
| Mostnum: | 15 |
| Most: | Minnesota Vikings |
| Overall: | 255 |
| Rounds: | 7 |
| Prev: | 2019 |
| Next: | 2021 |
The 2020 NFL draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. 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, before all public events related to it were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, all team selections took place via videoconferencing with league commissioner Roger Goodell broadcasting picks from his home.
The Washington Redskins later changed their team name to the Washington Football Team just two months after this draft, making it the final draft where players were selected under the Redskins moniker.
This draft is noteworthy for producing one of the stronger quarterback classes in NFL history, with 5 playoff starters, spearheaded by No. 1 overall pick Joe Burrow, followed by Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert, Jordan Love and Jalen Hurts, along with the undrafted Tyler Huntley.
The host city was chosen among finalists Denver, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Nashville, and Cleveland/Canton in May 2018 during the NFL Spring League Meeting,[1] when Nashville was chosen to host the 2019 draft. However, the host city for 2020 was deferred. After Denver withdrew, citing scheduling conflicts,[2] Las Vegas was chosen as the original host on December 12, 2018, coinciding with the Las Vegas Raiders' arrival in the city.[3] Plans were announced for a main stage near the Caesars Forum convention center and a "red carpet" stage for arrivals on a floating platform in front of the Bellagio resort, with players being transported to and from the stage by boat.[4] However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NFL announced on March 16 that it had canceled all public festivities associated with the event.[5]
Instead, the draft was held remotely, with team coaches and GMs convening via Microsoft Teams due to all team facilities also being closed.[6] [7] NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced the picks for rounds 1–3 from his home in Bronxville, New York, with the rest of the rounds being announced by Dave Gardi.[8] [9] During the event Goodell announced that Las Vegas would host the 2022 NFL draft.[10]
The following is the breakdown of the 255 players selected by position:
|
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 2020 draft.
Round one
Round two
Round three
Round four
Round five
Round six
Round seven
Coverage of all three days of the draft aired on ABC, ESPN, NFL Network, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN Radio. ESPN and NFL Network aired shared coverage of all three days hosted by Trey Wingo from ESPN's studios in Bristol, which was simulcast by ABC for the third day. Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, and Maria Taylor, all from College GameDay, hosted ABC's telecasts for the first two days.[11] Jennifer Hudson was announced to perform as part of a Draft Preshow on the first day, followed by Kelly Clarkson on the second day and OneRepublic on the third.[12]
ESPN Deportes provided Spanish language coverage of the draft with Monday Night Football voices Eduardo Varela and Pablo Viruega. ESPN Radio's coverage featured host Dari Nowkhah from ESPN's SEC Network, former general manager Mike Tannenbaum, ESPN New York's Bart Scott (Thursday/Friday), NFL Draft analyst Jim Nagy (Saturday) and reporter Ian Fitzsimmons with updates from Marc Kestecher.[13] [14]
| Conference | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 | Round 7 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NCAA Division I FBS football conferences | ||||||||
| American | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 17 |
| ACC | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 27 |
| Big 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 21 |
| Big Ten | 5 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 9 | 48 |
| C-USA | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| Ind. (FBS) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 |
| MAC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| MW | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| Pac-12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 32 |
| SEC | 15 | 10 | 15 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 63 |
| Sun Belt | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| NCAA Division I FCS football conferences | ||||||||
| CAA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| MVFC | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| OVC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Pioneer | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Non-Division I NCAA football conferences | ||||||||
| MIAA (DII) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| MIAC (DIII) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| SAC (DII) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Selections | Colleges |
|---|---|
| 14 | LSU |
| 10 | Michigan, Ohio State |
| 9 | Alabama |
| 7 | Clemson, Florida, Georgia, Utah |
| 6 | Auburn, Notre Dame |
| 5 | Iowa, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Penn State, TCU |
| 4 | Baylor, Miami (FL), Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Temple, Wisconsin |
| 3 | Boise State, California, Colorado, Louisiana, Memphis, Oregon State, Texas, UCLA |
| 2 | |
| Position | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 | Round 7 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Center | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 9 | |
| Cornerback | 6 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 27 | |
| Defensive end | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 17 | |
| Defensive tackle | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 18 | |
| Guard | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 18 | |
| Nose Tackle | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| Kicker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
| Linebacker | 4 | 2 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 39 | |
| Long snapper | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Offensive tackle | 6 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 20 | |
| Punter | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Quarterback | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 13 | |
| Running back | 1 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 19 | |
| Safety | 0 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 21 | |
| Tight end | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 12 | |
| Wide receiver | 6 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 34 |
| Position | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 | Round 7 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offense | 18 | 16 | 19 | 23 | 15 | 18 | 15 | 124 | |
| Defense | 14 | 16 | 23 | 17 | 17 | 14 | 24 | 125 | |
| Special teams | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
Trade references
General references