Pick-by-pick through Thursday night’s first round of the 88th NFL Draft:

No. 1, Carolina Panthers: Alabama quarterback Bryce Young

The Panthers made a trade with the Chicago Bears last month to move from No. 9 in the first round into the No. 1 choice to have their pick of quarterbacks to be the face of the franchise. They chose Bryce Young after starting with a list that also included Kentucky’s Will Levis, Florida’s Anthony Richardson and Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud.

Young is the second No. 1 pick from Alabama, following quarterback Harry Gilmer, who was the first player selected in the 1948 NFL Draft. Young joins five other Alabama quarterbacks who were selected in the first round:

· Harry Gilmer at No. 1 by the Washington Redskins in 1948

· Joe Namath at No. 12 by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1965

· Richard Todd at No. 6 by the New York Jets in 1976

· Tua Tagovailoa at No. 5 by the Miami Dolphins in 2020

· Mac Jones at No. 15 by the New England Patriots in 2021

The selection of Young gave Alabama sole possession of the record for consecutive first rounds with at least one pick at 15. The most recent first round without an Alabama player came in 2008. The Tide had been tied with Miami (Fla.) at 14 consecutive first rounds with a pick. Miami’s streak stretched from 1995 through 2008.

Young became the 22nd player from the SEC to be the No. 1 selection. The SEC has produced more No. 1 players than any other conference, with the Pac-12 (and its ancestral conferences) second with 16.

Carolina used three starting quarterbacks last season. Only one, the third-stringer, P.J. Walker, remains on the roster. In free agency, the Panthers added veteran quarterback Andy Dalton.

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No. 2, Houston Texans: Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud

Former Alabama All-American DeMeco Ryans will have the C.J. Stroud available at quarterback in his first season as an NFL head coach. Last season, Davis Mills started 15 games under center for the Texans, who posted a 3-13-1 record in 2022 and would have had the first pick except Houston defeated the Indianapolis Colts 32-21 in its regular-season finale on 2-point conversion pass with 50 seconds to play.

BEFORE THE DRAFT:

The clock has started officially for the Carolina Panthers to make the first selection in the 2023 NFL Draft. In the first round, teams have 10 minutes to make their selections. In the second round, the time to pick drops to seven minutes. In the third through sixth rounds, teams have five minutes to pick. In the seventh round, the pace picks up to four minutes per selection.

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The NFL’s 88th annual Selection Meeting, better known as the draft, will see the league’s 32 teams choose 259 players over the next three days in Kansas City, Missouri. The first round starts at 7 p.m. CDT Thursday, second- and third-round picks will be made beginning at 6 p.m. Friday and the fourth through seventh rounds will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday. ABC, ESPN and NFL Network are televising the draft.

Before the inevitable trading of picks starts, the Houston Texans and the Las Vegas Raiders have the most selections in this year’s draft with 12 apiece. The Miami Dolphins have the fewest with four.

The Carolina Panthers hold the first pick on Thursday night. Carolina traded with the Chicago Bears to move from No. 9 into the No. 1 position with the stated intention of selecting a quarterback.

That quarterback might be Alabama’s Bryce Young. If that’s the case, Young will be the second No. 1 pick from Alabama, following Harry Gilmer in 1948. He’d be the 22nd player from the SEC to go No. 1 and the 11th quarterback from the conference to be the first player picked. The previous time the Panthers possessed the No. 1 pick, they chose an SEC QB – Auburn’s Cam Newton in 2011.

Carolina’s selection will be followed by the 30 other picks in the first round on Thursday night. Normally, the first round would have 32 selections, but the Dolphins had to forfeit their pick – No. 21 — as punishment for violating the NFL’s tampering rules.

The order for the first round going into the draft:

· 1. Carolina Panthers

· 2. Houston Texans

· 3. Arizona Cardinals

· 4. Indianapolis Colts

· 5. Seattle Seahawks

· 6. Detroit Lions

· 7. Las Vegas Raiders

· 8. Atlanta Falcons

· 9. Chicago Bears

· 10. Philadelphia Eagles

· 11. Tennessee Titans

· 12. Houston Texans

· 13. Green Bay Packers

· 14. New England Patriots

· 15. New York Jets

· 16. Washington Commanders

· 17. Pittsburgh Steelers

· 18. Detroit Lions

· 19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

· 20. Seattle Seahawks

· 21. Los Angeles Chargers

· 22. Baltimore Ravens

· 23. Minnesota Vikings

· 24. Jacksonville Jaguars

· 25. New York Giants

· 26. Dallas Cowboys

· 27. Buffalo Bills

· 28. Cincinnati Bengals

· 29. New Orleans Saints

· 30. Philadelphia Eagles

· 31. Kansas City Chiefs

The Lions, Texans, Eagles and Seahawks hold two choices in the first round. The Dolphins, Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers do not have a first-round selection unless they can swing a trade on Thursday night.

At least one player from Alabama has been chosen in the first round in each of the past 14 drafts. That’s tied for the longest streak in NFL Draft history with Miami (Fla.) from 1995 through 2008.

The Crimson Tide will own that record by itself after Thursday night. In addition to Young, Alabama linebacker Will Anderson Jr. is a sure-fire first-rounder, and Tide defensive back Brian Branch and running back Jahmyr Gibbs also might land in the first 31 picks.

Other SEC players who are expected to be first-round picks include Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson and guard O’Cyrus Torrence, Georgia defensive lineman Jalen Carter, pass-rusher Nolan Smith and offensive tackle Broderick Jones, Kentucky quarterback Will Levis, South Carolina cornerback Cam Smith and Tennessee offensive tackle Darnell Wright.

Seventeen players are attending the draft on Thursday night, including Young, Anderson and Branch.

MORE NFL DRAFT:

· PANTHERS’ PICK COULD BE SEC’S 22ND NO. 1

· WHO WILL BE THE FIRST PICK FROM THE SEC?

· SEC AIMS AT PICKS RECORD

· 21 AND COUNTING FOR THE STATE IN THIS WEEK’S DRAFT

· ALABAMA ROOTS: 11 NFL DRAFT BARGAINS

· AL.COM MOCK DRAFT

· KIRBY SMART OUTPACING NICK SABAN IN PICK PRODUCTION

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.