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Throwback-type NFL draft could yield record first-round selections by SEC

Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / LSU wide receiver Justin Jefferson (2) makes a move to get past Georgia defensive back Eric Stokes during the SEC championship game on Dec. 7, 2019, at Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Jefferson is one of five former LSU players both CBS and NBC have projected as first-round draft picks.
Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / LSU wide receiver Justin Jefferson (2) makes a move to get past Georgia defensive back Eric Stokes during the SEC championship game on Dec. 7, 2019, at Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Jefferson is one of five former LSU players both CBS and NBC have projected as first-round draft picks. Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / LSU wide receiver Justin Jefferson (2) makes a move to get past Georgia defensive back Eric Stokes during the SEC championship game on Dec. 7, 2019, at Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Jefferson is one of five former LSU players both CBS and NBC have projected as first-round draft picks.

By David Paschall 7 min read

Buddy Nix laughed this week when asked what has filled his viewing void during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Gunsmoke!” he exclaimed.

The 80-year-old former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football coach is about to take a break from the classic Western drama series to fixate on an NFL draft that starts Thursday night and runs through Saturday afternoon. Nix guided the Mocs to the Division I-AA (now Football Championship Subdivision) playoffs during his first season in 1984 and to a win at Boise State in his final season in 1992 before spending the next quarter-century consumed by the NFL draft, serving as the general manager of the Buffalo Bills and the assistant GM of the San Diego Chargers.

This year’s draft was supposed to be overflowing with the glitz and glamour of the Las Vegas strip, but the coronavirus outbreak has relegated it to the ESPN studios in Bristol, Connecticut, and with league commissioner Roger Goodell announcing the selections from the basement of his residence in Bronxville, New York.

It’s a draft expected to have a throwback feel, and Nix is fine with that.