NFL Draft 2015 Live Stream: Start Time, Schedule and More for First Round

The NFL's regular season ended on Dec. 28, 2014. The Super Bowl was held Feb. 1, 2015. I highlight these two dates so that I can then point to today's date: April 30, 2015.

Today, four months after the Buccaneers clinched the No. 1 overall pick and nearly three after the Patriots locked up pick No. 32, the NFL draft will finally get underway. Of the four major professional sports, none takes as long between the conclusion of its season and its draft as the NFL.

The NBA will host its draft within two weeks of the conclusion of the Finals; same goes for the NHL. Major League Baseball holds its draft smack dab in the middle of the regular season.

Time (ET)	TV Info	Stream
8 p.m.	NFL Network and ESPN	NFL.com and WatchESPN

You would think this waiting game would halt the NFL's momentum, that the deluge of mock drafts would eventually cause a glazing-over effect, with fans and teams ready to just get it over with by the time the months-long hiatus comes to a halt.

Nope.

The NFL draft remains by far the most popular among the four sporting pillars, blasting previous ratings records on a nearly annual basis. Putting the first round on in prime time has been an ingenious stroke, turning what was once an arduous Day 1 process into a nearly perfect spectacle. Draft parties—once small hangouts with a few friends—have become their own cottage industry. Mock drafting has never been easier or more popular than in the digital age. 

"The mock draft puts fans in the war room," Grantland's Bryan Curtis wrote last year. "It’s an offshoot of what Slate's Neal Pollack once called the "cult of the general manager." At some point, post-Moneyball, we stopped dreaming of being Josh Donaldson and started dreaming of being Billy Beane. Or, in NFL draft terms, Les Snead > Robert Quinn."

By the time Thursday night comes, most fans will not be tired of the deluge of players and storylines flying across their screens. They'll have had the time to absorb it all. In many bars across the country, you'll be hearing the same discussions with similar talking points to those by the people doing this professionally.

Can Jameis Winston be a franchise leader? Should the Tennessee Titans select Marcus Mariota or pull the trigger on a blockbuster trade? How far will Shane Ray and Randy Gregory fall after their recent drug-related incidents?

While the long build can be a bit cumbersome for media types, it allows for fully formed fan opinions. Jets fans even have the time to order and receive their own custom-made Mariota jerseys:

Of course, the beauty of the NFL draft—and all drafts in general, for that matter—is simple: No one has any idea what in blue heavens is going to happen. I have no idea. Mel Kiper Jr. has no idea, nor does Todd McShay, nor Adam Schefter, nor anyone.

The absolute best mock drafts tend to get a ton wrong. It's the nature of the beast. By their very design, mock drafts are an impossible concept—akin to filling out a perfect NCAA tournament bracket. Circumstances change, players fall through no fault of their own and teams outright lie at times to ensure their players are still hanging on the board.

That's the true beauty of the NFL draft: It gives you enough time to make you think you know everything and within 10 minutes shatters your expectations. It's akin to being that guy who read the Game of Thrones books, only for David Benioff and D.B. Weiss to flip everything in their own vision. You think you're getting a Red Wedding only to wind up with a...Wedding. Or a Redder Wedding.

Nothing will be sacred Thursday night. 

A case in point: the Mariota fiasco. At least a handful of teams will have their futures altered by the decision of one team. The Titans, by all accounts, will either select the Oregon signal-caller or deal the pick.

Cleveland, Philadelphia, St. Louis and San Diego all have variable levels of interest. Each franchise comes with its own interesting storyline about what adding Mariota would mean. The Browns would be signaling the end of the Johnny Manziel era after 35 pass attempts. The Eagles would be taking the latest ride on the Chip Kelly roller coaster. The Rams would be attempting to save their hides, as Jeff Fisher and Les Snead could each enter 2015 on the hot seat.

Frank Franklin II/Associated Press

And then there are the Chargers. No team has a more variable course than San Diego. Adding Mariota would mean subtracting Philip Rivers, a decade-long stalwart who is well on his way to shattering every Dan Fouts-set franchise record. Rivers will in all likelihood either wind up spending his entire career with San Diego or be a Titan by Thursday night; that's how much this pick means.

From there, we'll get a ripple effect that will shape the entire first round. Will a team leapfrog Oakland and trade up to No. 3 to select Amari Cooper or Kevin White? Will Washington see all the defensive players sliding down the board and pick up future picks? Assuming he does not trade for Mariota, how will Kelly make our heads spin this time?

I can keep asking questions for another six paragraphs. That's kind of the point. No matter how long the wait, how much knowledge fans and experts cobble together, nothing will be decided until Thursday night.

Now let's sit back, take a deep breath and watch it happen.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter