New York, NY – With their first No. 1 pick in franchise history, the Kansas City Chiefs selected Central Michigan offensive tackle Eric Fisher to begin the 2013 NFL Draft.
Fisher is just the fourth offensive lineman (all tackles) to be selected first overall and the first since Jake Long was taken by the Miami Dolphins with the top pick in 2008.
The 6-foot-7, 306-pound left tackle will be called on to protect the blind side of newly-acquired quarterback Alex Smith, whom the Chiefs obtained from the San Francisco 49ers in the offseason.
Branden Albert, Kansas City's current left tackle, has been the subject of trade rumors in the weeks leading up to the draft, though the former first- round pick of the Chiefs has yet to find a new landing spot.
Fisher is the first Chippewa to be selected first overall and just the second player from Central Michigan to be drafted in the first round. He follows in the footsteps of 49ers' offensive tackle Joe Staley, who was drafted No. 28 overall in the 2007 NFL Draft.
For the first time in the Super Bowl era, two offensive linemen were taken with the top-two picks, as the Jacksonville Jaguars selected Texas A&M tackle Luke Joeckel second overall.
"I definitely was competing for that number one pick, but going to Jacksonville, going to the Jaguars, I'm so excited right now," Joeckel said. "That's all that matters."
Joeckel, a 6-foot-6, 306-pound left tackle, was the 2012 Outland Trophy winner as the top interior lineman in college football during his junior season with the Aggies while protecting Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel's blind side.
Oakland was slated to make the No. 3 pick, but the Raiders struck a deal with the Miami Dolphins, who traded up nine spots to grab defensive end Dion Jordan from the University of Oregon.
Oakland received Miami's first-round selection (No. 12 overall) and second- round pick (No. 42 overall) in the deal.
Philadelphia then selected athletic left tackle Lane Johnson from Oklahoma with the No. 4 pick before Detroit grabbed defensive end Ezekiel Ansah from BYU.
The 6-foot-5, 271 pound Ansah was born in Ghana and didn't start playing football until 2010, but racked up 60 tackles and 4 1/2 sacks for the Cougars in 2012.
Another athletic pass rusher came off the board at No. 6, as the Cleveland Browns selected defensive end Barkevious Mingo out of LSU.
Arizona shored up the interior of its offensive line by drafting North Carolina guard Jonathan Cooper with the seventh pick, while the St. Louis Rams traded up eight spots with the Buffalo Bills to grab speedy wide receiver Tavon Austin from West Virginia at No. 8.
"It means a lot," Austin said of the Rams trading up to get him. "It means they wanted me."
Buffalo also gave up a third-round pick in the deal, but acquired the Rams' first-round pick (16 overall) along with selections in the second, third and seventh rounds.
The Jets wasted little time finding their replacement for four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Darrelle Revis, who was traded to Tampa Bay earlier this week for the 13th overall pick, as they selected Alabama cornerback Dee Milliner at No. 9.
"I know the questions are going to come because Revis left, and whoever -- not just me, whoever would have came in was going to get asked the same thing," Milliner said. "I can't focus on replacing somebody because, if you focus on that, you're going to mess up on other things."
Another member of the Crimson Tide's 2012 national championship team went next, as the Tennessee Titans selected offensive guard Chance Warmack with the No. 10 pick.
San Diego kept the run of Alabama players going by selecting offensive tackle D.J. Fluker at No. 11 before Oakland used the first-round pick it exchanged with Miami to select cornerback D.J. Hayden from the University of Houston.
The Jets added another piece to the defensive side of the ball with the pick they received in the Revis deal, as they grabbed defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson from Missouri with the 13th selection.
Utah defensive tackle Star Lotulelei went next to the Carolina Panthers at No. 14, while the New Orleans Saints selected safety Kenny Vaccaro from Texas with the 15th pick.
The Bills then made the surprise pick of the draft at No. 16 when they drafted Florida State quarterback E.J. Manuel over West Virginia's Geno Smith, who went the entire night without hearing his name called, despite being tabbed by most experts as the top signal-caller in the draft.
Pittsburgh picked Georgia linebacker Jarvis Jones at No. 17 before the San Francisco 49ers traded up 13 spots with Dallas to scoop up defensive back Eric Reid from LSU.
San Francisco swapped first-round picks with the Cowboys to get Reid, while also giving up a third-round pick (74th overall) in the deal.
The Giants then selected offensive tackle Justin Pugh from Syracuse before the Bears grabbed Oregon offensive guard Kyle Long, whose father, Howie, is a Hall-of-Famer and brother Chris, is a defensive end for the Rams.
The Bengals got Notre Dame tight end Tyler Eifert next at No. 21, while the Atlanta Falcons traded up eight spots to snag cornerback Desmond Trufant from the University of Washington.
St. Louis also gave up a conditional seventh-round pick in 2015 in the deal, while receiving the Falcons' first-round pick (30th overall), along with selections in the third and sixth rounds.
Sharrif Floyd's freefall finally stopped at No. 23, when the Minnesota Vikings selected the defensive tackle out of the University of Florida.
After Florida State defensive end Bjoern Werner went to Indianapolis, Minnesota added another piece to its defense by grabbing one of Werner's teammates, cornerback Xavier Rhodes, with the 25th pick.
Green Bay took UCLA defensive end Datone Jones next before wideout DeAndre Hopkins became the second receiver drafted after the Houston Texans chose him with the 27th selection.
Denver then drafted UNC defensive tackle Sylvester Williams at No. 28 before the Vikings traded four picks -- a second, third, fourth and seventh -- to the New England Patriots to snag Tennessee wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson.
St. Louis selected Georgia linebacker Alec Ogletree with the pick they got from Atlanta, while Dallas, which swapped first-round picks with San Francisco, picked center Travis Frederick from Wisconsin.
The defending champion Baltimore Ravens then wrapped up the first round by selecting Florida safety Matt Elam with the 32nd pick.
WVU's Smith and highly-scrutinized linebacker Manti Te'o of Notre Dame remained on the board at the conclusion of the first round, which did not feature a running back for the first time in 50 years.
The Jaguars will be on the clock when the second round commences on Friday.
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