The first round has come and gone in the 2024 NFL Draft, and more players will be chosen Friday and Saturday to round out draft classes for all 32 teams. Even undrafted free agents will find a home in hopes they can make a roster after training camp. 

Yes, this is a time to celebrate the realization of a dream come true. But the transition from college to the NFL is one of the hardest to make in sports, no matter your draft stock. 

For Arizona Cardinals star quarterback Kyler Murray, expectations were sky-high when he was selected first overall in the 2019 Draft. It’s the position USC’s Caleb Williams finds himself in with the Chicago Bears.

Whether a player is a quarterback, wide receiver, offensive lineman or any other position, teams expect their draft picks to succeed. Speaking with Fox News Digital, Murray offered some advice for those incoming rookies looking to make an immediate impact based on his own experience getting acclimated to the league. 

“As far as the league goes, the off-the-field stuff and being in the professional building. Carrying yourself the right way at all times. Obviously, as quarterbacks, we naturally already have that ingrained in us,” Murray said, while discussing his new partnership with Recover 180. 

“That adjustment, the schedule and all that stuff, for me, the biggest thing was just college and the NFL were completely different in that way. 

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“If you’re not self-motivated, I feel like the NFL can eat you up. You’re not being spoon-fed, you’re not being babied anymore. It’s not all on you. But if you wake up on Sunday, and you’re not in the team hotel, the camaraderie and everything is different. You’re playing with guys who are 10 years older than you. They got families. You’re not hanging out all the time. It’s just a lot different.”

Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown agrees with Murray, though he says it’s easier for guys drafted in the first round to have more of a sense of security considering the millions they’re making on rookie deals. 

St. Brown was drafted in the fourth round of the 2021 draft out of USC, and he went viral because he can name every wide receiver taken before him that year. Fox News Digital asked if he can still do so after playing three years in the league.

“Does a brown bear poop in the woods?” he responded.

The motivation of proving to 31 teams they got it wrong leaving him on the draft board led to St. Brown signing a four-year, $120 million contract extension with $77 million guaranteed.

No matter how motivation comes, it goes a long way, especially for those who will be taken on the second and third days of the draft. 

Amon-Ra St. Brown (14) of the Detroit Lions celebrates after a play against the San Francisco 49ers during the first half of the NFC championship at Levi’s Stadium Jan. 28, 2024, in Santa Clara, Calif. (Cooper Neill/Getty Images)

“When you get drafted later, or even go undrafted, you might not even last up until training camp,” St. Brown said. “You might get cut after training camp. You might make it six weeks into the league, then they decide to cut you. So, it’s a different mentality. 

“But having that self-motivation is everything because now you have money – all you ever wanted was to go to the NFL. But, for some guys, they don’t just want to go to the NFL. They want to stay in the NFL. They want to do great things, whether that’s win Super Bowls, make it to the playoffs, Pro Bowls, whatever it is. Some guys have different motivation, I think, and that’s the guys who really make it in this league. They have greater aspirations than just making it to the NFL.”

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle also wants these players to remember it doesn’t matter where you’re drafted. He was a fifth-round pick in 2017, and he’s now one of the best tight ends in the game with a contract extension already on the books. 

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“The only thing that really matters is how you show up and what you do every single day,” he said. “As long as you’re consistent, as long as you’re your best self every single day and you put your best self on tape, you’re respectful in the building, you got a chance to go out there and achieve your dream.”

Like any professional sport, overnight success is rare. Players may not realize their full potential until years later. St. Brown used Carolina Panthers receiver Adam Thielen as an example, pointing out how it took him two years before he took off with the Minnesota Vikings in 2016. And Thielen was an undrafted free agent out of Minnesota St. 

There are many more examples of late-round or undrafted players finding their way years after breaking into the league, but the point still remains the same today. St. Brown elaborated. 

George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers celebrates after a touchdown catch during the third quarter against the Dallas Cowboys at Levi’s Stadium Oct. 8, 2023, in Santa Clara, Calif. (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

“The cream always rises to the top,” he said. “It means no matter where you get picked, whether it’s the first pick of the draft or the last pick — like [49ers quarterback] Brock Purdy — or anywhere in between or undrafted, I think, at the end of the day, the best players will always come to light. Whether that’s in a year, whether that’s in two years. Some guys’ processes are different.”

Murray said he was more prepared than others considering he knew he was a potential first overall selection. 

He thanked his coach at Oklahoma, Lincoln Riley, and for sitting behind Baker Mayfield, who went No. 1 overall to the Cleveland Browns the year Murray won the Heisman Trophy.

But while discipline and following rules are paramount to rookie success in year one, Murray doesn’t want players walking on eggshells either. If players get too tight, mistakes are made. 

“I would tell all rookies, ‘Be yourself,’” Murray explained. “And what I mean by that is don’t be the guy coming in – you want to be humble, and you want to be observant of everything and be listening to everybody. But, at the same time, you understand what got you here, who you are as a player, who you are as a person. Be that guy because that’s the guy who got you drafted. 

Kyler Murray of the Arizona Cardinals looks to pass during the first quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field Dec. 31, 2023, in Philadelphia. (Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

“I see far too often guys come into the league, and they’re too wide-eyed and too hesitant to make plays. What got you here is why you got drafted and what these people want. Don’t lose the swag, continue to be you and go play your game.”

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It’s a colossal climb the Lakers are on, trouble lurking at every step.

One bad dribble, and Denver runs the other direction, creating an open three. One missed assignment, and Aaron Gordon cuts baseline for a dunk. One whiffed box out and the Nuggets get a second, and sometimes, a third chance.

One missed shot, and the margins get tighter, the chances get smaller, the ending gets closer.

One more tough night and the season will be done.

Boos started to fill Crypto.com Arena by the fourth quarter of Game 3 on Thursday, this time coming after a mistake on a screen led to an open Denver dunk. Reality had set in — one that probably should’ve been realized sooner.

The fact that the Lakers have been close to beating the Nuggets in the last 11 games has been no consolation. In fact, it probably makes it worse.

The climb they face has been too steep, too slippery and, again, too hard for this team to conquer.

Denver, like it always seems to do, was always there to gleefully capitalize on every Lakers mistake, every execution error. The Nuggets’ 112-105 win, even more so than their previous wins of the series, felt like relatively light work, with the Lakers dispatched relatively early in the second half.

The Lakers now trail Denver 3-0 in the best-of-seven playoff series — no team in NBA history has ever come back from that deficit.

“Our focus and our [mentality] right now is just trying to get one. Trying to get a game and then go from there,” Anthony Davis said. “Try to get a game on Saturday, Game 4. And go from there. However many straight [we lost], we can’t focus on that. Our focus is trying to [get] better from tonight, learn from our mistakes and try to get a win on Saturday. We can’t do anything about it. It’s in the past.”

The past, though, keeps showing up and the Lakers are playing in ways like it’s absolutely mattered — the team trying to climb out of a hole that started to be dug last season when Denver began its now 11-game winning streak against them.

The Nuggets outscored the Lakers by 12 in the third quarter, the game logs looking like they could’ve been Xeroxed from any of the previous 11 meetings between the teams.

In the series, Denver has been 31 points better in the third quarter. They’ve outscored the Lakers by 20 total points in the series.

“Our third quarter’s been atrocious,” Austin Reaves said.

The second-half problems — Denver has outscored the Lakers by 42 after halftime — have been a weapon used to criticize coach Darvin Ham and the Lakers’ inability to find the right adjustments.

But there was no adjusting to be done Thursday other than an easy one to spot — play better.

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1. Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon finger rolls his shot to score over Lakers forward LeBron James in the fourth quarter. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 2. Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell sits on the bench during the final moments of Game 3. 3. Lakers forward Taurean Prince, bottom, scrambles for a loose ball in front of (from left) Lakers forward Anthony Davis, Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Lakers guard Austin Reaves. 4. Lakers teammates LeBron James, left, and Spencer Dinwiddie argue a call with a referee. 5. Lakers star LeBron James, left, looks over at Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and a referee during the fourth quarter of Game 3 on Thursday at Crypto.com Arena.

“I think Denver’s just beating us, to be honest,” Reaves said. “You can talk about adjustments, you can talk about this and that, but at the end of the day, we got to go put our best foot forward in basketball games. You can talk about all the, everything else outside the talks of everything, but at the end of the day, you got to man up and go win games.”

Still, in addition to the late-game boos, some fans chanted “Fire Darvin Ham” as the Lakers stumbled in the fourth, the frustration extending beyond the benches into the stands.

Thursday wasn’t even Nikola Jokic’s night to rip the heart out of the Lakers. Foul trouble zapped some of his aggressiveness (his “off” night yielded 24 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists). And the Lakers again defended Jamal Murray fairly well, holding him to 22 points on eight-of-21 shooting.

But the Lakers lost on every other margin, Gordon owning the glass and Michael Porter Jr. hitting big shot after big shot.

The Lakers, like they have throughout the series, won the first minutes by playing with more energy, more pace and more force. They scored the first eight points — three coming on consecutive dunks — to prove that Murray’s winning shot on a buzzer-beater Monday hadn’t done permanent damage.

LeBron James and Anthony Davis led the push — the Lakers’ stars looking unstoppable as they attacked the Nuggets’ interior defense.

But just like in their series opener, the Lakers’ outside shots kept missing.

Rui Hachimura’s corner three with 5:24 left in the first quarter was the only Lakers’ basket from three until Taurean Prince hit a corner three with eight minutes left in the game.

By then, the Lakers were down double figures and more than 33 minutes of game time had vanished.

D’Angelo Russell struggled again, going scoreless on 0-for-7 shooting in his 24 minutes.

Russell, who projected confidence after shooting six for 20 in Game 1, declined to speak to the media Thursday.

“It’s unfortunate, man,” Ham said. “He had some good looks that he just didn’t knock down. It’s as simple as that. Similar to Game 1. He was able to bounce back in Game 2 and I expect him to bounce back in Game 4.”

Davis and James combined for 59 points on 60.4% shooting. The rest of the team made only 38.3%, with that number dropping to 30% if you remove Reaves and his eight-for-17 game.

The Lakers, again, looked like a team cracking under Denver’s pressure, the rims tightening and the ball squirting loose more and more as the stakes grew higher.

“This is the postseason. We’ve been — me and this guy have been playing together for six years. We’ve been to the mountaintop,” James said as he sat next to Davis after the game. “We’ve been close to the mountaintop. We’ve played a lot of games. We know what it takes to win. We know what it takes to win a championship and how damn-near perfect you gotta be. That’s not like something that’s so crazy to obtain. I’ve been a part of it four times where you have to have the most perfect basketball to win.”

This team hasn’t gotten close enough to perfect for the Lakers to look like a group relying more on hope than anything else.

Too many things that “can’t happen” against the Nuggets continued to happen against the Nuggets, like Russell’s struggles.

Reaves missed layups, his legs heavy from chasing Murray. Hachimura, after getting in the action early, completely faded on offense as he tried to limit Gordon and Jokic.

And Russell, a key to the Lakers’ season, spent the final minutes on the bench as Ham searched for anything from someone else.

Again, there was nothing to be found, a climb so dizzying and so treacherous, the ending is all but assured.

The Atlanta Falcons shook things up.

The Falcons, who signed Kirk Cousins to a four-year deal earlier this offseason, selected Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. in the draft’s first stunner Thursday night.

Cousins is 35 years old and coming off an Achilles tear, so maybe this is a security blanket. But Cousins did sign for $180 million with $100 million guaranteed.

It’s a stunner considering just about every expert had Penix as the fifth quarterback being taken. Instead, he was the fourth, and Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy remains available.

Last season, Washington’s reign over the Pac-12 continued. Penix threw for 4,903 yards with 36 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. His efforts with a high-octane offense led to a national championship appearance, though Michigan defeated Washington. 

Washington Huskies quarterback Michael Penix Jr. throws an interception during the CFP national championship game against the Michigan Wolverines Jan. 8, 2024, at NRG Stadium in Houston.  (David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

That performance probably hurt his stock. He completed 27 of his 51 passes for 255 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

Michael Penix Jr. of the Washington Huskies celebrates after a 37-31 victory against the Texas Longhorns in the CFP semifinal Sugar Bowl at Caesars Superdome Jan. 1, 2024, in New Orleans. (Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

Penix, who will soon turn 24, also has an injury history before even taking an NFL snap. 

He’s torn his right ACL twice, once in 2018 and once in 2020 with Indiana, and he had a clavicle fracture in 2019 and an A/C joint separation in 2021.

Fox News’ Scott Thompson contributed to this report.

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