It’s that time of year again when NFL dreams are made and broken.

The NFL’s 32 teams will take it in turns to select from the best college players in the US, with the picks announced on a giant stage in Kansas City, Missouri.

A crowd of 300,000 is expected and there is extra intrigue around the early picks of this year’s draft, which begins on Thursday (01:00 BST, Friday).

That is because the Carolina Panthers have traded up to gain the first pick while one of the top prospects has described himself as an “alien” of a player.

After months of speculation, NFL fans will now discover which young stars will, hopefully, become the futures of their franchise.

Can last season’s strugglers emulate Bengals & Jaguars?

The draft system is one of the key methods by which the NFL remains arguably the most competitive league in world sport.

The previous season’s worst teams choose first, giving them a chance to redress the competitive balance across the league.

Strugglers can swiftly become championship contenders, as the Cincinnati Bengals and Jacksonville Jaguars have shown in the past two years.

The Bengals took quarterback Joe Burrow and receiver Ja’Marr Chase early in the 2020 and 2021 drafts, and the pair led a surprise Super Bowl run in 2022.

The Jaguars have had the first pick in the past two drafts, selecting quarterback Trevor Lawrence and then defensive end Travon Walker, and last season reached the play-offs for the first time in five years.

The Houston Texans have the best chance of using this year’s draft to inspire an instant turnaround as they have the second and 12th picks, and the joint-most overall (12) after last year’s Deshaun Watson trade.

Who will be the first draft pick?

Although the Chicago Bears had last season’s worst record (3-14), they are happy to continue with young quarterback Justin Fields and the brightest prospects in this year’s draft are QBs.

After going through three starting quarterbacks last season, the Carolina Panthers therefore agreed to give Chicago several draft picks plus DJ Moore, an established NFL receiver, for the first pick.

As many as four QBs could be among the first 10 picks, with Alabama’s Bryce Young favourite to be first off the board. Seen as a natural leader, he was awarded the Heisman Trophy for best college player in 2021.

However, there are some ‘red flags’ over his slender build. At 5ft 10in, he has a similar stature to Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, picked first in 2019.

But Young brushed off those concerns at last month’s NFL scouting combine, saying: “I’ve been this size, respectfully, my whole life. I know who I am. I know what I can do.”

Carolina are the first team to trade for the first pick since the Los Angeles Rams in 2016, with quarterback Jared Goff going on to lead LA to the Super Bowl in his third season. The Panthers would probably be happy with that kind of impact from their new man.

‘Alien’ Richardson among top prospects

A prototypical passer standing 6ft 3in tall, Ohio State’s CJ Stroud was expected to be the first overall pick.

That was until he had the lowest score in a cognitive test at the combine and supposed “character issues” came to light.

A 6ft 4in quarterback who can do backflips, Anthony Richardson loves dancing so much he once injured his knee while busting some moves at Florida’s team hotel.

After being graded as the most athletic QB tested at the combine for more than 30 years, he is not short on confidence.

“As a player, I’m not human, I’m an alien,” he said. “I don’t think I can be compared to anybody. As a person, I’m normal – just a fun-loving guy who likes to make people smile.”

Kentucky’s Will Levis, who says he has a “cannon” of an arm and wants to be the “greatest of all time”, is the other quarterback among the 17 players who will be in the green room, waiting to stride out on stage and embrace NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

For those teams with defensive needs, Will Anderson Jr and Tyree Wilson are seen as the leading pass rushers.

Union Station takes centre stage

Kansas City is still buzzing from the Chiefs winning Super Bowl 57 in February and now the city is set to stage the biggest draft event yet.

The NFL has constructed its largest draft theatre structure – about the same size as a football field – in front of Union Station, using the building’s facade as a backdrop.

The theatre looks out on to the lawns outside the National World War I Museum and Memorial, which will be packed with fans, with two IMAX-size screens flanking the theatre and a further 10 screens outside.

The event is free to attend and is expected to bring in more than $100m (£80.6m), with the entire draft site set to be the biggest event site in NFL history, having a footprint of about 3.1 million sq ft.

Who will be Mr Irrelevant?

The Texans are set to select this year’s ‘Mr Irrelevant’, the nickname given to the last man picked in the draft.

Each year that player is feted at ‘Irrelevant Week’, a string of events to “celebrate football’s underdog”, before they embark on an NFL career which tends to be, well, irrelevant.

That changed last season as injuries saw Brock Purdy – the 262nd pick of last year’s draft – become the San Francisco 49ers’ starting quarterback in December.

The rookie ended up leading his side to within one win of the Super Bowl, reminding us that even players chosen late in the draft can become NFL stars – Tom Brady was the 199th pick in 2000 before winning a record seven Super Bowls.

Purdy’s surprise success also means the spotlight will shine on this year’s Mr Irrelevant a little longer than just Irrelevant Week.