NEW YORK — For nearly three years, Jadeveon Clowney couldn’t wait to get to the NFL, and the league was just as eager to add the player some called the best defensive prospect in a decade.
No surprise: Clowney is the Houston Texans’ man.
But Thursday’s first pick of the NFL draft didn’t come without some intrigue about how it would all turn out. There had been criticism of Clowney’s work ethic last season and questions about whether the Texans would hold or trade the No. 1 slot.
“I just been proving a lot of people wrong throughout my life,” Clowney said. “Growing up, I grew up hard. I always said I’m going to do something great. Hopefully, I’m going to be a Hall of Famer one day.”
Houston will take that.
Check out the entire first round results below.
| Pick | Team | Player | Position | School |
| 1 | Houston Texans | Jadeveon Clowney | DE | South Carolina |
| 2 | St. Louis Rams | Greg Robinson | OT | Auburn |
| 3 | Jacksonville Jaguars | Blake Bortles | QB | UCF |
| 4 | Buffalo Bills | Sammy Watkins | WR | Clemson |
| 5 | Oakland Raiders | Khalil Mack | OLB | Buffalo |
| 6 | Atlanta Falcons | Jake Matthews | OT | Texas A&M |
| 7 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Mike Evans | WR | Texas A&M |
| 8 | Cleveland Browns | Justin Gilbert | CB | Oklahoma State |
| 9 | Minnesota Vikings | Anthony Barr | OLB | UCLA |
| 10 | Detroit Lions | Eric Ebron | TE | North Carolina |
| 11 | Tennessee Titans | Taylor Lewan | OT | Michigan |
| 12 | New York Giants | Odell Beckham Jr. | WR | LSU |
| 13 | St. Louis Rams | Aaron Donald | DT | Pittsburgh |
| 14 | Chicago Bears | Kyle Fuller | CB | Virginia Tech |
| 15 | Pittsburgh  Steelers | Ryan Shazier | OLB | Ohio State |
| 16 | Dallas Cowboys | Zack Martin | OL | Notre Dame |
| 17 | Baltimore Ravens | C.J. Mosley | ILB | Alabama |
| 18 | New York Jets | Calvin Pryor | S | Louisville |
| 19 | Miami Dolphins | Ja’wuan James | OT | Tennessee |
| 20 | New Orleans Saints | Brandin Cooks | WR | Oregon State |
| 21 | Green Bay Packers | Ha Ha Clinton-Dix | S | Alabama |
| 22 | Cleveland Browns | Johnny Manziel | QB | Texas A&M |
| 23 | Kansas City Chiefs | Dee Ford | DE | Auburn |
| 24 | Cincinnati Bengals | Darqueze Dennard | CB | Michigan State |
| 25 | San Diego Chargers | Jason Verrett | CB | TCU |
| 26 | Philadelphia Eagles | Marcus Smith | OLB | Louisville |
| 27 | Arizona Cardinals | Deone Bucannon | S | Washington State |
| 28 | Carolina Panthers | Kelvin Benjamin | WR | Florida State |
| 29 | New England Patriots | Dominique Easley | DT | Florida |
| 30 | San Francisco 49ers | Jimmie Ward | S | Northern Illinois |
| 31 | Denver Broncos | Bradley Roby | CB | Ohio State |
| 32 | Minnesota Vikings | Teddy Bridgewater | QB | Louisville |
