The top of this year’s N.F.L. draft did not have the allure of a franchise-changing quarterback. Instead, Round 1 on Thursday night in Las Vegas belonged to players known for stopping those passers and to clubs trying to maneuver around the draft board.
Edge rushers went No. 1 and No. 2 overall, with Georgia’s Travon Walker going first to the Jacksonville Jaguars, followed by Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson to the Detroit Lions.
Walker, a centerpiece of the Georgia defense that delivered the university a national championship in January, was one of five Bulldogs defensive players selected in the first round, setting a record for a single school’s defensive unit. He was also the first non-quarterback to go No. 1 overall since 2017, when the Cleveland Browns selected edge rusher Myles Garrett.
The night was also defined by trades, including a big move by the Philadelphia Eagles to acquire wide receiver A.J. Brown, a 2020 Pro Bowler, from the Tennessee Titans.
Brown missed four games last season because of injuries, but he was Tennessee’s leading receiver with 869 yards and five touchdowns in a season that ended with a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in the divisional round of the A.F.C. playoffs. Tennessee used the No. 18 pick from the Eagles to select another wideout, Treylon Burks of Arkansas, while also banking a third-round selection in the trade.
There were nine trades total during the first round, including an unlikely swap between the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions, divisional rivals in the N.F.C. North.
Before Thursday, a quarterback had been taken within the top three picks of every draft since 2014.
The Steelers took the only quarterback of Round 1, selecting Kenny Pickett of Pittsburgh at No. 20. It is the latest that the first quarterback has been taken in the first round since 1997, when the 49ers chose Jim Druckenmiller with the 26th pick.
Round 2 starts Friday at 7 p.m. Eastern, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be on the clock with pick No. 33.
