Six of the 25 players that took the NFL up on invitations to attend the draft in Chicago remain available at the end of the first round with UCLA linebacker Myles Jack headlining the group.
Jack was expected to be one of the first players off the board for much of the pre-draft process and it wasn’t hard to find people who thought he was the best player in this year’s class, but concerns about the health of his knee triggered a free fall on Thursday night.
Jack admitted Wednesday that he might need to have microfracture surgery and said he understood that the questions about his knee could trigger a drop in the draft. That drop will extend into the second day, where he’ll join Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith as defensive playmakers available for teams willing to roll the dice that things will work out medically.
Jack will have some company during his second night in the green room. Alabama linebacker Reggie Ragland also went unpicked and reportedly has a medical question mark of his own due to an enlarged aorta. A pair of Alabama defensive tackles -- Jarran Reed and A’Shawn Robinson -- will also be back for Round Two.
Clemson defensive end Kevin Dodd and Mississippi State defensive tackle Chris Jones round out the group of draft attendees that didn’t hear their names called in the first round. The Browns will be on the board with the No. 32 pick when the draft resumes on Friday night.