Will a Canadian get picked in the first round of the NFL draft?

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The biggest off-season spectacle in North American sports takes place on Thursday night as Pittsburgh hosts the first round of the NFL draft. As always, we can expect the made-for-primetime-TV event to deliver a few surprise choices, interesting trades and, yes, eye-catching outfits. 

There's absolutely zero drama surrounding the No. 1 overall pick, however. The quarterback-needy Las Vegas Raiders are a lock to select squeaky-clean Indiana University passer Fernando Mendoza, who won the Heisman Trophy and led the Hoosiers to their first-ever college football national championship.

After that, it gets more interesting, with the lowly Jets, Cardinals, Titans and Giants rounding out the top five. Top prospects include Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love, Texas Tech edge rusher David Bailey and Ohio State defensive teammates Sonny Styles, Arvell Reese and Caleb Downs. The top receivers are Ohio State's Carnell Tate, Arizona State's Jordyn Tyson and USC's Makai Lemon.

At least one Canadian has been drafted every year since 2011, including a record five in 2023, four in 2024 and two last year. But nearly all of them went in the second through seventh rounds, which take place on Friday and Saturday and are much lower-key. 

It's been a long time since a "true" Canadian got picked in the first round. Toronto-born receiver N'Keal Harry went 32nd overall to the New England Patriots in 2019, but he moved out of the country at a very young age and grew up in Arizona. For someone who was born and raised in Canada, you have to go back to 2011, when the Philadelphia Eagles chose