2021 NFL Draft: Start time, channels, streaming and more

In just about 24 hours or so, the 2021 NFL Draft will officially be underway from Cleveland and Canton, Ohio. After last year’s weird virtual draft, things look to be slightly more normal this year, and I think that we can all agree that this is a very good thing.

The NFL Draft is pretty much the biggest offseason event we have, as we spend three days looking to see who the newest members of the Minnesota Vikings will be and how they will fit in with the purple. A lot of us are going to be at home watching, but in the event that you’re not sure about how to follow along with all of the action, let’s make sure you’re caught up.

Event: The 2021 National Football League Draft

Start Time: The ceremonial booing of Roger Goodell. . .I mean, come on, we’re not doing away with tradition. . .is scheduled to take place shortly after 7:00 PM Central.

Television Coverage: As always, several networks will be broadcasting the Draft. We know that both ESPN and the NFL Network have dueling coverage, and there will also be live coverage on your local ABC affiliate as well. If I remember correctly, last year’s ABC broadcast was a bit more focused on some of the players’ stories, while ESPN and NFL Network offered more traditional coverage. I’m not 100% sure if that will be the case this year.

Radio Coverage: If you’re not able to watch things on TV, you’ll be able to hear everything about the Draft on SiriusXM NFL Radio, Channel 88. If you don’t have satellite radio, you’ll have to spin your local dials for stations in your area that are airing it.

Streaming Coverage: There will be several places for you to catch the Draft if you wish to stream it as well. You can get coverage through FuboTV as well as through the NFL app or the ESPN app. I’m assuming that ESPN.com and/or NFL.com will be streaming things in some way as well.

So when will the Vikings pick? In the first round of the NFL Draft, teams are allotted 10 minutes to make their selection. Assuming that the ceremonial booing of Roger Goodell (and whatever actual speech he makes) takes a few minutes, the Jacksonville Jaguars will likely be on the clock at around 7:05 PM Central. If every team takes their full ten minute allotment, which is a rarity, a little more than two hours would pass before the Vikings would get on the clock at #14.

That means that the Vikings should be on the clock no later than 9:15 PM Central. However, you’re probably going to want to tune in a little bit earlier than that. You’re not gonna watch just one pick, though. . .are you?

How is The Daily Norseman covering the Draft? The same way we do every year. . .better than everyone else.

We will have our Open Thread for Round 1 up and running approximately 30 minutes before things get started, right around 6:30 PM Central time. We will have an Open Thread for each round throughout the course of the weekend, and more if the moderators decide that there’s enough action to warrant it.

We will also have picks up and ready as soon as we have them. Selections that are made on Days 2 and 3 are going to take a little bit longer to post, simply because there’s such a huge range of players that can be taken (as opposed to the fairly narrow scope that we get from Day 1), and so it will take a little more time to get them posted. But you can be assured that they’ll be posted quickly, along with opportunities for you to make a snap grade on each pick.

Oh, and we are going to have coverage on Night 1 that’s LIVE LIVE ALL THE WAY LIVE! Yours truly is going to be joining Drew and Ted for live coverage of the entire first round on the Vikings Report with Drew and Ted. The main page for their show is right here, and we’ll be embedding the video in the Open Thread for the first round as well.

Also, our friends at Climbing the Pocket are going to be live and kicking all weekend as well, with tons of great guests and more thoughts on the Vikings draft. So, be sure to keep an eye on them as well. Find them on YouTube at this link, and we’ll see about getting their videos embedded into the Open Threads for the second and third days of the 2021 NFL Draft.

That should be everything that you need in order to follow along with all of the action on Thursday night. We hope that you’re all going to be here, because if you want the best coverage of the Minnesota Vikings’ 2021 NFL Draft, you’re going to find anywhere, this is the place that you need to be.