Mercifully, the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft came to a close on Monday night after a frantic four hours of action. It started inconspicuously enough: Cam Newton, Von Miller, Marcell Dareus and A.J. Green came off the board in the first four picks, as expected. But as the No. 6 pick rolled around, the dominoes began to fall and the draft turn a turn for the wild.
The Atlanta Falcons fired the first shot of the 2011 NFL Draft, swooping in and making a big trade to grab Julio Jones. At No. 8, the Tennessee Titans surprised everyone, brushing aside Blaine Gabbert to draft Washington quarterback Jake Locker. Jacksonville made the second trade of the day, swapping with the Washington Redskins to jump up to No. 10 and grab Gabbert as quarterbacks were suddenly at a premium.
Christian Ponder became the fourth quarterback taken in the top-12 as the Minnesota Vikings grabbed him at No. 12 as the heir-apparent to Brett Favre. With the quarterbacks out of the way, a game of reaches and runs took place as teams snapped up offensive and defensive linemen at an astounding rate. In total, 20 linemen were taken, including a record 12 on the defensive side of the ball.
Here is the full list of picks from Thursday's first round.
| 1 | Carolina | Cam Newton (QB) Auburn |
| 2 | Denver | Von Miller (OLB) Texas A&M |
| 3 | Buffalo | Marcell Dareus (DT) Alabama |
| 4 | Cincinnati | A.J. Green (WR) Georgia |
| 5 | Arizona | Patrick Peterson (CB) LSU |
| 6 | Atlanta (T) | Julio Jones (WR) Alabama |
| 7 | San Francisco | Aldon Smith (DE) Missouri |
| 8 | Tennessee | Jake Locker (QB) Washington |
| 9 | Dallas | Tyron Smith (OT) USC |
| 10 | Jacksonville (T) | Blaine Gabbert (QB) Missouri |
| 11 | Houston | J.J. Watt (DE) Wisconsin |
| 12 | Minnesota | Christian Ponder (QB) Florida St |
| 13 | Detroit | Nick Fairley (DT) Auburn |
| 14 | St. Louis | Robert Quinn (DE) UNC |
| 15 | Miami | Mike Pouncey (C) Florida |
| 16 | Washington (T | Ryan Kerrigan (DE) Purdue |
| 17 | New England | Nate Solder (OT) Colorado |
| 18 | San Diego | Corey Liuget (DT) Illinois |
| 19 | NY Giants | Prince Amukamara (CB) Nebraska |
| 20 | Tampa Bay | Adrian Clayborn (DE) Iowa |
| 21 | Cleveland (T) | Phil Taylor (DT) Baylor |
| 22 | Indianapolis | Anthony Castonzo (OT) BC |
| 23 | Philadelphia | Danny Watkins (OG) Baylor |
| 24 | New Orleans | Cameron Jordan (DE) California |
| 25 | Seattle | James Carpenter (OG) Alabama |
| 26 | Kansas City (T | Jonathan Baldwin (WR) Pittsburgh |
| 27 | Baltimore | Jimmy Smith (CB) Colorado |
| 28 | New Orleans (T) | Mark Ingram (RB) Alabama |
| 29 | Chicago | Gabe Carimi (OT) Wisconsin |
| 30 | NY Jets | Muhammad Wilkerson (DE) Temple |
| 31 | Pittsburgh | Cameron Heyward (DE) Ohio St |
| 32 | Green Bay | Derek Sherrod (OT) Miss St |
We’ll be covering the latest news and rumors throughout the entire process in our 2011 NFL Draft StoryStream. Stay with us for more on the draft as it becomes available. Check out our 2011 NFL mock draft StoryStream and our Jake Locker StoryStream for even more predictions and projections.