The wait is finally over. The Cincinnati Bengals are on the clock! The 2020 NFL Draft will begin Thursday night with the first round, despite the obvious issues presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the first time, the NFL will conduct an all-virtual draft. What could go wrong? The Cincinnati Bengals are on the clock first, with the Washington Redskins, Detroit Lions, New York Giants, and Miami Dolphins rounding out the top five. Of course, all of that is subject to change once the draft begins.

With the 2020 NFL Draft today, this will be the first sporting event since the whole COVID-19 shutdown of sports. With a month plus off from sports, this will be a great thing to distract us all from all that’s going in the world.

The draft couldn’t have come at a more perfect time, the Michael Jordan 10-part 20-hour documentary premiered last weekend after it was previously supposed to air in June. It drew more than six million people to watch the first two episodes. So with the draft being the only thing on TV tonight, this should be the most-watched NFL Draft of all time.

One of the biggest stories of the draft will be how many QBs go in the first round. For the first time in a while, only one QB could be picked in the top 10. That will be Joe Burrow out of LSU. The National Champ was a nobody last September, but he may have produced the greatest college season in NCAA history and is now the consensus #1 pick. Peyton Manning even gave him some advice and even said he’d LOVE him to break his rookie record of 28 INTs.

Then you either have Alambama’s Tug Tungavolia or Oregon’s Justin Herbert going two and three off the QB board. Tua could be the second QB taken in the draft, but time will tell how far he’s slid because of injury concerns. Coming into the season he was the consensus #1 pick and that changed real quick after dislocated his hip. Herbert, on the other hand, has had some great standout performances at the Rose and Senior Bowls to go with his many physical traits that have skyrocketed his draft stock and could sneak his way into the top five.

To round out the top five QBs in the draft, we have Utah State’s Jordan Love and Washington Jacob Eason. Love’s production fell off a cliff in comparison to his 2018 campaign (32TDs 6INTs), but scouts are falling in love with his size and athletic upside and that could see him drafted in the middle portion of the first round. Last but not least, Eason could be the dark horse of the whole draft. Eason is one of the draft’s best pure throwers in this class and a team with an aging veteran quarterback could jump on him and get a steal within the first two rounds.

In other rumors going around, the word is that Miami wants to trade up to the third pick without giving up their fifth pick. Miami has three first-round picks (5, 18, 26) and they need to rebuild their whole team. Rumor has it they want to jump the NY Giants who are four and take the best LT in the draft at three and then with their fifth pick, take a franchise QB. If the Fins are able to pull this trade-off and hold two picks inside the top five, it will change their fortunes for the future.

This NFL Draft will have a lot of stories after tonight and that is a good thing. Finally, a chance for us in the sports world to disconnect and focus on what we love to most.

And with the first pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Cincinnati Bengals select: