All of the waiting, all of the rumors, all of the mock drafts — it ends Thursday night.
The NFL's first round will be held at the Dallas Cowboys' home field, AT&T Stadium, and Boise State linebacker Leighton Vander Esch's name will likely be called. He would therefore become the fifth first-round pick in school history.
Vander Esch intrigues the NFL for plenty of reasons. His 6-foot-4, 255-pound frame is ideal, but so is the fact he ran a 4.65-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine and was in the top five among linebackers in the vertical jump, broad jump, three-cone drill and 20-yard shuttle.