The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual draft of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft began on Thursday, April 28 with the first round, and ended on Saturday, April 30. The Tennessee Titans, 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 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 Linebackers
31 Wide receivers
32 Cornerbacks
22 Defensive tackles
20 Offensive tackles
19 Running backs
19 Safeties
18 Defensive ends
15 Quarterbacks
13 Offensive guards
11 Tight ends
8 Centers
3 Fullbacks
3 Punters
1 Long snapper
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 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
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.