The first spherical of the 2021 N.F.L. draft proceeded on Thursday evening in keeping with the league’s strict hierarchy: quarterbacks got here first, adopted by those that catch passes from them and shield them, with the defenders tasked with stopping them citing the rear.

And simply so as to add some further drama to the proceedings, a member of the league’s quarterback aristocracy did his greatest to upstage the newcomers.

Quarterbacks went 1-2-3.

For the first time since 1999, quarterbacks have been chosen with the prime three picks: Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence by the Jacksonville Jaguars at No. 1, Brigham Young’s Zach Wilson by the Jets at No. 2, and North Dakota State’s Trey Lance by the San Francisco 49ers at No. 3.

The Lawrence and Wilson alternatives have been forgone conclusions weeks in the past. San Francisco’s selection of Lance over Alabama’s Mac Jones or Ohio State’s Justin Fields, on the different hand, had been a intently guarded secret.

Lance led the Bison to the Football Championship Subdivision nationwide championship in 2019, throwing 28 touchdowns and nil interceptions towards a a lot decrease caliber of competitors than Fields or Jones confronted in their Power 5 conferences. He performed just one recreation in 2020 due to coronavirus-related postponements and cancellations earlier than declaring for the draft. A coach of Kyle Shanahan’s perception, nevertheless, can little doubt precisely consider a small-program prospect with restricted taking part in time.

Lance will change Jimmy Garoppolo, the small-program prospect with restricted taking part in time whom Shanahan’s 49ers traded for in 2017, lavishly overpaid and finally grew disenchanted with.

Fields, who led the Buckeyes to consecutive College Football Playoff appearances, dropped to the Chicago Bears, who traded as much as draft him with the 11th decide. He is anticipated to rapidly supplant Andy Dalton and Nick Foles, the N.F.L.’s variations of Art Garfunkel and John Oates.

The New England Patriots later chosen Jones with the 15th general decide. Jones led the Crimson Tide to the nationwide championship in 2020 beneath almost supreme situations; 5 of his school teammates have been chosen amongst the draft’s first 24 picks. Now he joins one the most profitable American sports activities franchises of the 21st century. Some guys have all the luck.

Tim Couch, Donovan McNabb and Akili Smith have been the final quarterbacks to be chosen with the top-three alternatives in an N.F.L. draft. Only McNabb had a noteworthy profession, which is a reminder that prime quarterback prospects often find yourself at the mercy of perennially dysfunctional franchises like the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns. Or, in this 12 months’s case, the Jaguars and the Jets.

Receivers nice and small have been embraced.

After the quarterbacks got here a run of go catchers.

The Atlanta Falcons chosen tight finish Kyle Pitts, who caught 12 landing passes in eight video games for Florida final 12 months, at No. 4. The highest-drafted tight finish in historical past, Pitts is anticipated to revolutionize the method N.F.L. offenses use tight ends, simply as Kellen Winslow, Tony Gonzalez, Rob Gronkowski, George Kittle, Travis Kelce and plenty of others revolutionized the place over the final 50 years. Apparently, the tight finish place has undergone as many revolutions as 19th century Italy.

The Cincinnati Bengals chosen Louisiana State huge receiver Ja’Marr Chase with the fifth decide, reuniting him with Joe Burrow, Chase’s school quarterback and the prime decide in final 12 months’s draft. If the Bengals rework into an L.S.U. alumni crew, it should at the very least give them an id for the first time since Boomer Esiason left in 1993.

The speedy Alabama huge receiver Jaylen Waddle joined the Miami Dolphins with the subsequent decide, No. 6 over all, leaping forward of more-accomplished teammate DeVonta Smith, who was chosen by the Philadelphia Eagles with the 10th decide.

Smith is nicknamed Slim Reaper, which feels like the world’s solely Eminem/Iron Maiden tribute band however refers as a substitute to the proven fact that Smith reportedly weighs round 166 kilos, a couple of Waffle House breakfasts shy of the minimal N.F.L. threshold. Smith ought to have carried the 45-pound Heisman Trophy he gained final season onto a scale with him to place evaluators extra relaxed.

Like Chase, Waddle and Smith might be reunited with their school quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa (in Miami) and Jalen Hurts (in Philadelphia). But it’s not likely noteworthy when that form of factor occurs to Alabama gamers.

By the time N.F.L. groups bought round to drafting some defenders, their greatest selections turned out to be cornerbacks with well-known fathers.

The Carolina Panthers chosen Jaycee Horn (South Carolina) with the eighth decide. Horn’s father, Joe Horn, was a standout huge receiver greatest recognized for utilizing a cellphone as a prop in a landing celebration towards the Giants in 2003. Horn used a flip cellphone, retroactively making the gag a “dad joke.”

Patrick Surtain II (Alabama) joined the Denver Broncos with the ninth decide. His father performed for the nice Miami Dolphins defenses of the early 2000s, which aren’t nicely remembered principally as a result of their offenses have been dreadful.

Other second-generation cornerbacks might be drafted in later rounds, together with Florida State’s Asante Samuel Jr., whose dad allowed an Eli Manning interception to bounce off his palms in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLII, making him the solely New England Patriots participant eligible for the Giants’ Ring of Honor.

Leaping ahead and buying and selling again.

The Jets traded as much as the 14th decide from the 23rd decide (acquired from the Seattle Seahawks in final 12 months’s Jamal Adams deal) to pick out Southern Cal offensive lineman Alijah Vera-Tucker, who will present some insurance coverage towards Wilson’s enduring too many early-career hits the method the final umpteen Jets quarterback prospects did.

As for the Giants, General Manager Dave Gettleman opted to commerce down in the first spherical for the first time in his lengthy profession, sliding down from the 11th decide to web an additional first-round decide in 2022, plus change. In their adjusted spot at No. 20, the Giants chosen the Florida all-purpose rusher-receiver Kadarius Toney.

Gettleman said last week that he had at all times been amenable to buying and selling down, however the worth was by no means proper. “I don’t want to get fleeced,” he stated.

No N.F.L. persona sounds extra like a crotchety uncle haggling at a used automobile dealership than Gettleman, however he seems to have struck a shrewd deal this time.

Rodgers, grudges and Green Bay.

A report by ESPN’s Adam Schefter {that a} disgruntled Aaron Rodgers doesn’t need to return to the Green Bay Packers despatched shock waves throughout the league in the hours earlier than the draft. Rodgers, the reigning most useful participant and a current “Jeopardy!” visitor host, was not-so-secretly miffed when the Packers drafted his potential alternative, Jordan Love, in final 12 months’s first spherical and by different organizational selections.

The Packers might have chosen a large receiver with the 29th decide, which might have been the draft-day equal of a diamond brooch and a tearful apology. Instead, they selected Georgia cornerback Eric Stokes.

While the Rodgers scenario continues to be creating, few groups have the assets to commerce for him. And if Rodgers chooses to retire, “Jeopardy!” could be higher off hiring LeVar Burton.