How the NFL Draft works

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The NFL Draft is an involved process, with each team scrambling for the best players.

Here's a look at how it all works.

On Thursday night, the first night of the draft, 32 up-and-coming athletes will earn their ticket to the pros.

Once the draft gets underway, one team will always be "on the clock."

For the first round, each team gets 10 minutes to submit its selection.

The team can go over, but that clears the way for the next team to pick before them.

The order is determined by last season's performance, from worst to best.

On Night One, the Philadelphia Eagles will pick 14th.

They were supposed to pick 12th, but they traded away that pick to Cleveland in exchange for the opportunity to sign Carson Wentz.

But the Eagles re-gained a first round pick when they sent quarterback Sam Bradford to the Minnesota Vikings.

The actual pick will be submitted at "Selection Square," which this year is headquartered at the Franklin Institute.

Once a player's name is written down on a card at Selection Square, it becomes a team's official pick, and the draft clock resets.

If one of the prospects backstage is chosen, the NFL makes sure that player has his new jersey and hat right away.

Each prospect at the draft has his last name written in every team's font, so the name can be screened onto a jersey immediately.

That jersey is then handed to the commissioner by a season ticket holder who has been handpicked by the team.

As the rounds go on, each team gets less time.

By the end of the draft on Saturday, 253 new players will be picked for the NFL.

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