Keylan Rutledge pancakes coming to Houston 🤘 pic.twitter.com/XPzOJUXsYe

After a full day of analyzing, predicting, judging, tubthumping, and finally, drafting, night one of the NFL Draft is over! Both Nickschwager and I attended the draft as members of the media for Battle Red Blog, and we spent the entire day producing as much draft content as we possibly could. This was both our first draft experience, and it’ll be one to remember, particularly because of the sheer size and immensity of the entire event.

CASA CHEIA EM PITTSBURGH PARA O NFL DRAFT!#NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/dAVTRnzoNr

Normally, approaching the north shore either instilled within me feelings of anticipation (for a baseball or football game) or relaxation (spending time with friends, and family there, or taking pictures of the waterfront), but this draft created a third emotion: overstimulation. Upon entering the…Draft Industrial Complex that is formerly known as the North Shore…your senses are bombarded from every direction. Music carried through jam-packed streets, full of football fans marching, conversing with one another, all in a direction towards the sports Mecca that has become the draft stage.

More than 300,000 people stood outside for hours to listen to some dude in a suit read names off an index card. The European mind simply cannot comprehend this. pic.twitter.com/f7tRsIEtda

Approaching the draft stage, similar to approaching the sun, was an equally painful experience as it was liberating. Every step closer elevated your body temperature, until eventually you felt like you were on fire and sweating from every pore of your body once you had made it to the stage. Finally, the moment had come for the Houston Texans to put their money where their mouth is and find the last piece to their Super Bowl puzzle. Who would it be? DT Kayden McDonald? OG Olaivavega Ioane? Maybe even…WR Makai Lemon? Well, before we even approached Houston’s eventual draft position of #26, Nick and I had media availability time with several of the players drafted earlier in round 1:

Some of the best shots I got last night of Bears S Dillon Thieneman, Rams QB Ty Simpson, and Saints Wr Jordyn Tyson pic.twitter.com/2jph43WCIb

The first to arrive was LB Arvell Reese, newly minted as the New York Giants’ next star on defense. As he sat down on the podium, a wave of arms, cameras, and smartphones surged from the floor to get a good shot of Reese, while he just sat there and absorbed the moment, knowing his life had just permanently changed. As simple as this moment may look here, it’s something that will stick with me for a long, long time. After all of the hype, the draft was here, and it was soberingly real.

Giants’ LB Arvell Reese’s entrance to the media room is…something that I can’t really describe, but will stick with me for a long time pic.twitter.com/9cmayluzwU

Next up came a flurry of stars, none of which I was remotely prepared for as I was still recovering from being starstruck by Reese. CB Mansoor Delane, LB Sonny Styles, and RB Jeremiyah Love all appeared, answered questions, and left in a flurry while I was barely keeping up with getting footage. The speed of the whole operation was certainly surprising to me, but the players themselves were candid, honest, and more willing to go into detail when answering questions than I expected. Love, for example, was deeply appreciative of the Arizona Cardinals drafting him, proud of his roots in Notre Dame, and described a sense of responsibility he felt to continue to improve the reputation of NFL running backs.

Cardinals’ RB Jeremiyah Love on what it means to be drafted 3rd overall: pic.twitter.com/d8SGNS0UqA

Commanders LB Sonny Styles on putting a good word in the building for his brother, Lorenzo Styles Jr.: pic.twitter.com/avpcGlJHnn

Soon afterwards, the Texans pick arrived, even a little earlier than expected since they traded their 28th overall, 69th overall, and 167th overall picks to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for the 26th overall and 91st overall picks. With the 26th overall pick, Houston selected Georgia Tech OG Keylan Rutledge. One of the most consistent and entertaining interior linemen of the draft class, “Big Red” fits into Houston’s new offensive line as potentially a new starting center. Battle Red Blog’s Michael Peterson would go on to say of Rutledge:

A tough and rugged guard who proved his worth going from a mid-major program to Power 4 and finishing his career as a First-Team All-American. Rutledge is scheme-independent but would thrive best in a zone-blocking scheme where he can combo with his center and tackle to throw defenders out of the club.

Unfortunately, he was not present at the NFL draft, but KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson was able to interview Rutledge virtually shortly after being drafted by the Texans, and he had this to say about potentially playing center:

#Texans first-round pick Keylan Rutledge said 'he's so comfortable at center' left guard or right guard. '100 percent confident I can do that' play center @KPRC2

#Texans first round pick Keylan 'Big Red' Rutledge @Keylan301 on knowing it was a strong possibility he would be drafted by Houston with how much interest they consistently displayed in him @KPRC2 https://t.co/0yfJX6wat6 pic.twitter.com/iLceQQMPTb

At the very end of the night, once many members of the media had clocked out for the night, the Chicago Bears first round pick, S Dillon Thieneman took the stage for questions. Finally, my chance to actually ask one of these guys a question had finally arrived…and I blew it. I had a folded up piece of paper filled with solid questions I had just written down before he arrived, and once I was handed the microphone, my mind completely went blank and all I could think to ask was, “How does it feel to be a Chicago Bear?” Disaster. Definitely my first time at the rodeo, but thankfully, Thieneman saved me with an introspective response on how the reality of it all hadn’t really settled within him yet:

Bears S Dillon Thieneman answering my question about how it feels to be a Chicago Bear. Totally panicked and forgot the question I actually wanted to ask, but Thieneman saved me in the end. Thank you Dillon pic.twitter.com/ATJRPyygQ9

Thank you so much to Dillon Thieneman for saving me in my time of need…