How to watch the 2023 NFL draft

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The NFL knows how to throw a party. Short of the the big game (and the season start and the playoffs and the Pro Bowl), there is no bigger day in football than the draft.

The 2023 NFL Draft, which starts April 27 and runs through April 29, is primed to be the pro football celebration of the year. Thousands of fans will gather at Kansas City's iconic Union Station to watch Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, Jalen Carter and 256 other elite college football players fulfill their lifelong dream of going pro.

As for the rest of us, there's a great way to watch from home, and we have all the details.

Easy ways to watch the 2023 NFL Draft:

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What do I need to know about the 2023 NFL Draft?

NFL draft crowd — David Becker/Getty Image

In 1980, the NFL went big and began televising the draft. ESPN was just a year old and needed content, and NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle was skeptical anyone would tune in. By 2015, the event had become so popular that cities began jockeying to host the draft and related events. Since that year, the NFL Draft is hosted by a different city each year, with over 10 million people tuning in from home.

2023 NFL Draft schedule (all times ET)

Thursday, April 27: Round 1 (8 p.m.) (*)
Friday, April 28: Rounds 2-3 (7 p.m.)
Saturday, April 29: Rounds 4-7 (12 p.m.)

Asterisk? You bet. It wouldn't be football without an asterisk. This year, there are only 31 first-round picks instead of the customary 32. That's because the Miami Dolphins had to forfeit their 2023 first-round and 2024 third-round picks after an investigation revealed tampering when the Fins tried to woo former Saints coach Sean Payton and former Bucs QB Tom Brady.

How does draft day work?

Each team has representatives onsite who stay in constant contact with executives at the team's headquarters. Plans have likely been made weeks in advance with ideal draft picks, complete with contingency plans for when preferred players are drafted to other teams.

There are 259 players that will get drafted in seven rounds of the 2023 Draft. Throughout the draft, one team is always "on the clock," which means that team has a designated amount of time to secure their pick.

Teams have 10 minutes during the first round, seven minutes in the second round, five minutes in Rounds 3 and 4 and four minutes in the seventh round to make their choice. Runners go in between team officials and the league, informing NFL officials and team officials which player has been chosen. Once the league has been informed of a team's pick, the clock is reset and the next team is informed which player is no longer available.

Once the league has been informed of the team's pick, the player is called (with the cameras rolling, naturally) if he's not attending the draft in person, or the player takes the stage to shake NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's hand and grab an amazing photo op wearing his new NFL team merch. Cue the lump in your throat while watching an athlete's childhood dream come true.

How to watch the 2023 NFL Draft from home

Mac Jones — Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

The 2023 NFL Draft will be broadcast on ESPN, ABC and NFL Network.

The 2023 Draft will also be live-streamed through fuboTV (which you can try for free) . Fubo TV is the world's first sports-focused streaming platform.

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CBS Sports HQ, CBS Sports' 24/7 streaming network, will also provide coverage before, during and after the event.

2023 NFL Draft: Who has first round picks?

When it comes to the NFL Draft, a bad season equals a higher draft pick the following spring. Add in draft pick trades between teams throughout the season, and it can start to feel like you need a degree in math to keep track of which teams have the top picks. But don't worry: we've got you covered so you can save the math for trying to figure your kid's fifth-grade homework.

Here are the teams with first round picks in the 2023 draft.

Round 1 (via CBS Sports)

1) Carolina Panthers (from Chicago)
2) Houston Texans
3) Arizona Cardinals
4) Indianapolis Colts
5) Seattle Seahawks (from Denver)
6) Detroit Lions (from L.A. Rams)
7) Las Vegas Raiders
8) Atlanta Falcons
9) Chicago Bears (from Carolina)
10) Philadelphia Eagles (from New Orleans)
11) Tennessee Titans
12) Houston Texans (from Cleveland)
13) New York Jets
14) New England Patriots
15) Green Bay Packers
16) Washington Commanders
17) Pittsburgh Steelers
18) Detroit Lions
19) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
20) Seattle Seahawks
21) Los Angeles Chargers
22) Baltimore Ravens
23) Minnesota Vikings
24) Jacksonville Jaguars
25) New York Giants
26) Dallas Cowboys
27) Buffalo Bills
28) Cincinnati Bengals
29) New Orleans Saints (from San Francisco via Miami and Denver)
30) Philadelphia Eagles
31) Kansas City Chiefs

Watch the 2023 NFL draft on fubo TV.

What to expect from the draft

The NFL Draft is nothing if not dramatic. It seems like just yesterday Lamar Jackson laid his head down on the table during the 2018 draft, defeated, watching Baker Mayfield, Josh Allen and Josh Rosen get picked long before he was chosen at No. 32 (though, that seems to have worked out just fine for him).

There is always the question of who will become the No. 1 pick and which poor guy will be chosen last, forever labeled "Mr. Irrelevant." Last year's Mr. Irrelevant, Brock Purdy, was chosen last by the San Francisco 49ers. After both Niners QBs, Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo, were injured during the season, Purdy went on to become the first Mr. Irrelevant to start and win during the playoffs. Purdy is now 6-0 in career starts. Anything is possible when it comes to the draft.

Mock drafts and predictions

Since the Chicago Bears already have Justin Fields in place at quarterback, they traded down to No. 9, giving Carolina the No. 1 pick. The Panthers signed veteran QB Andy Dalton in free agency but will likely be looking to sign a potential franchise quarterback from this year's pool of stellar candidates.

Alabama's Bryce Young, Ohio State's C.J. Stroud and Kentucky's Will Levis are all widely projected to be chosen inside the top 10 picks, if not one at No. 1. Find more mock draft predictions on CBS.com.

Draft facts you'll want to know along the way

Five teams don't have first-round picks. They are the Rams, the Broncos, the Cleveland Browns, the Miami Dolphins and the San Francisco 49ers.
The Texans and the Raiders will have the most picks of any team, with 12 picks each. Following the Deshaun Watson trade to the Browns, the Texans have two top-12 picks and five in the top 74.
The Miami Dolphins have four picks, the least of any team in this year's draft.
Looking ahead: the 2024 NFL Draft will be held in the Motor City. The Lions are still looking to have a winning season, but Detroit won hosting rights for the 2024 NFL Draft.