Driven by the drama of who the secretive Browns would take with the No. 1 overall pick, the NFL Draft posted its best TV ratings since Johnny Manziel left college four years ago.
The combined overnight TV rating for Round 1 coverage across ESPN, ESPN2, Fox Sports and NFL Network Thursday night was 8.4, just behind the combined 8.7 for the first round of the 2014 draft, when Jadeveon Clowney went No. 1 to the Texans and "Johnny Football" plummeted to the Browns at No. 22.
But it's significantly higher than the 6.7, 6.3 and 6.5 combined ratings on ESPN/NFL Network the past three years, according to Austin Karp of SportsBusiness Daily.
Round 1 drew a combined 11.2 million viewers, according to John Ourand of SBJ. That's up 22% from last year. It was the highest since the 12.4 million average viewers for the Manziel Draft in 2014.
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The first round of the three-day event always draws the strongest TV ratings. Unlike previous NFL Drafts, the top 10 teams didn't send out any smoke signals on who they were picking until Commissioner Roger Goodell called Baker Mayfield name with the overall No. 1 to the Browns.
Slight update: adding in ESPN2 last night, overnight for NFL Draft first round goes to 8.4 https://t.co/QoPzhG8svS
— Austin Karp (@AustinKarp) April 27, 2018
The combined 11.214 million NFL Draft viewers is up 22% from last year. Highest NFL Draft since the Johnny Manziel Draft in 2014 (12.373 million). https://t.co/R4KQ0yR6Py
— John Ourand (@Ourand_SBJ) April 27, 2018
With top players such as Mayfield, Saquon Barkley (No. 2 to Giants), Sam Darnold (No. 3 to Jets), Bradley Chubb (No. 5 to Broncos) and Josh Allen (No. 7 to Bills) up for grabs, the suspense reached a fever pitch.
Even NFL Network's draft guru Mike Mayock said he'd never seen anything like the somewhat comical secrecy surrounding the 2018 NFL Draft.
"Why? Why? I just can't figure out why?" Mayock asked. "Let me tell you something: I know [Browns GM] John Dorsey. He doesn’t even talk to his wife."
Coverage of Rounds 2-3 kicks off Friday night on ESPN, Fox and NFL Network (7 p.m. ET).
