2024 NFL Draft Sets Records in Several Areas

The 2024 NFL Draft has officially set several records. Anyone who was watching the opening day of the event on ESPN or attended knows that the numbers were totally out of control. This year is a very special one for the NFL Draft, and that's partly because it's taking place in Detroit. The Detroit Lions became America's sweetheart team last year when they made it to the NFC championship game for the first time in 30 years. So, it appears America is happy to be in Detroit for the big event. 2024 NFL Draft Sets Records First up, there was the attendance record. Officials expected 300,000 to 400,000 attendees for the draft throughout the full weekend. But, it's going to be more than that. More than 275,000 people attended day one of the 2024 NFL Draft, breaking a new record for day-one attendance. About halfway through night one of the draft on Thursday (April 25), NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced that Detroit had set the all-time attendance record for the first day of the draft. Way to go, Motor City. The negative, of course, was that some people weren't able to be in the main draft area. Earlier in the afternoon, alerts went out from the NFL stating that there was a surge in attendees. Then, around 6:30 p.m., NFL Draft officials had to stop general admission entry because of capacity limits. At first, they just paused entry. But, just a few minutes later, they actually stopped entry until noon Friday (April 26). That said, if you're heading to the draft for day two or three, you should get there early to ensure a spot. When it comes to records, it wasn't just the numbers, either. A record 23 offensive players were picked in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, including the first 14 selections off the board. Both of those are records, according to ESPN. Previously, the high for offensive players picked in a draft's first 32 selections was 19, which happened in 1968, 2004 and 2009, reports ESPN. The first day of the 2024 NFL Draft also marked the first time four quarterbacks were picked among the first eight picks. It was also the first time five quarterbacks were selected among the first 10 picks and six quarterbacks were selected among the first 12 picks. That's a lot of history being made and a lot of good quarterbacks that have new homes. Listen to my interview with Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff below. If you were at the draft, I'd love to hear from you. Reach out to me. [select-listicle listicle_id="723554" syndication_name="ranking-every-nfl-coach-hired-for-2024" description="no"]