Top NFL Draft prospects will be featured throughout ESPN’s coverage

Content producer Jeremy Anderson, production coordinator Jess Kraus and art director Lucas Nickerson embarked on a five-week journey spanning seven cities to get production elements ready for ESPN’s 2016 NFL Draft telecast (beginning tonight, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Under the direction of producer Bryan Ryder, this trio is responsible for ESPN’s opening tease and the many on-air draft promos that will air leading up to and throughout the three-day telecast. The three-minute open features six top draft prospects – DeForest Buckner (Oregon), Jared Goff (Cal), Myles Jack (UCLA), Jalen Ramsey (Florida State), Laremy Tunsil (Ole Miss) and Carson Wentz (North Dakota State), as well as actor Ezra Knight (who voices the open) and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

ESPN travelled to the hometowns, college towns and other destinations to capture video of the players in settings that capture their backgrounds and personalities.

Front Row offers a sneak peak of Thursday’s primetime telecast and some insight on the various shoots from Kraus, Anderson and Nickerson.

DeForest Buckner, University of Oregon

March 12 – Eugene, Ore.
Anderson: “About 25 minutes outside of Eugene, Ore., is where we shot DeForest. It was at a privately owned tree farm. We weren’t trying to play off his name. It was more about highlighting that he was from Oregon in this natural setting. It rained the night before but we ended up getting some really nice shots at this location of him holding the axe.”

Jared Goff, UC Berkeley (Cal)

March 14 – Berkeley & San Francisco, at Golden Gate Bridge
Kraus: “Jared identified the Marin Headlands as a must-see. We typically lay out the schedule and shoot locations for our subjects, but once he told us that was where we could find his favorite view of San Francisco, there was no question that’s where we had to go.”

Carson Wentz, North Dakota State University

March 21 – Fargo & Jamestown, N.D.
Kraus: “When Carson found out we’d be spending part of the day on a Bison ranch 100 miles east of Fargo, he suggested that he bring his dog, Henley. I acted as dog wrangler while they filmed on the plains, because Henley scared the bison…I’ve definitely had worse responsibilities!”

Myles Jack, UCLA

March 24 – Los Angeles, Calif., UCLA practice field
Anderson: “With Myles coming off knee surgery, we wanted to show him working out at the UCLA practice field preparing for draft. Despite the injury, he looked big, fast, strong and explosive to us. In addition to having him do some work at the team field, we also brought him to the beach to do similar workouts.”

Ezra Knight, lead voice-over actor, on film set.

April 1 – Atlanta, Ga.
Nickerson: “We custom designed a set at a soundstage in Atlanta. We built it in about a day and a half and was completely custom. The area resembled a NFL Draft war room with a giant LED wall that was 12 feet tall and 40 feet wide, flowing with data that was designed by the in-house team of Kynna Randall, Richard Harrington and David Seo. We also had a six-foot white NFL shield flanked by AFC helmets on one side and NFC on the other. Ezra has voiced our draft spots for the past four or five years, and he is a professional actor, so it was nice to be able to get him in front of the camera and play the role of our GM. He has a powerful presence poised at the end of a 30-foot table we had made for the shoot. Warren Wolcott (post editor) crushed it in the edit room with all of this footage.”

Laremy Tunsil, University of Mississippi (Ole Miss)

April 8 – Oxford, Miss. and Memphis, Tenn.
Kraus: “For Laremy’s shoot, we worked with a harbor and fleeting company in Memphis to bring Lucas and Jeremy’s creative vision to life. It helped that the owners were college football fans – we were given full control over two tug boats, a barge and about 10 crew members to get the perfect shot.”

Jalen Ramsey, Florida State University

April 10 – Nashville, Tenn.
Nickerson: “We wanted to highlight Jalen’s bravado by pairing him with a Ferrari. We also went to the Barbour3 in his hometown of Brentwood, Tenn. A lot of [Tennessee] Titans and Nashville Predators players get their hair cut there. We filmed him and his tailor in the area adjacent to Barbour3 so it proved to be a great location to show off some of his ‘flash’.”