2016 NFL draft

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.

Ninety-six underclassmen announced their intention to enter the 2016 NFL draft as underclassmen, which primarily includes 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.

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

Quarterbacks Jared Goff and Carson Wentz, taken as the top two picks in the draft, have made the Pro Bowl and helped both of their initial teams to Super Bowl appearances however both have since been traded.

Defensive tackles Kenny Clark (27th overall by Green Bay) and Chris Jones (37th overall by Kansas City) have been named to multiple Pro Bowls.

Michael Thomas (top, 47th pick overall by New Orleans) set the record for most receptions by a wide receiver in a single season in 2019, while Tyreek Hill (bottom, 165th selection overall by Kansas City) has been named to six Pro Bowls and the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team.

(PD) indicates trades completed prior to the start of the draft (i.e. Pre-Draft), while (D) denotes trades which took place during the 2016 draft.

Round one

Round two

Round three

Round four

Round five

Round six

Round seven

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.

Trade references

General references

• Official Site