GREEN BAY — The fun of the NFL draft is seeing how close predictions come to reality. For Green Bay Packers’ fans, last year’s gap between prediction and reality was vast.

Will this year be the same? We’ll know soon enough.

The 2021 NFL Draft begins at 7 p.m. from Cleveland beginning Thursday, April 29 on ESPN, ABC, ESPN Deportes and ESPN Radio.

In the Green Bay market, the draft will be broadcast over the air on WBAY-TV.

The first round will take place on Thursday with rounds two and three airing on Friday. The last four rounds will air on Saturday.

This year’s Round 1 pick is at 29 for the Packers, but General Manager Brian Gutekunst has been afraid to trade for a player he likes.

In any case, fans this year are anxious.

The team’s first three picks a year ago included a quarterback, running back and tight end, none of which were featured significantly during the season.

Instead, Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Jones and Robert Tonyan carried the load at those three positions, while the newcomers were left to wait their turn.

In effect, the top players on last years NFC runnerup team were essentially the same as the prior year.

So in many ways the needs that many analysts highlighted a year ago remain the same — wide receiver, linebacker and more help on the line.

Here’s the rest of the Packers’ picks heading into draft day:

• Round 2, pick 62
• Rond 3, pick 92
• Round 4, pick 135, pick 142
• Round 5, pick 173, pick 178
• Round 6, pick 214, pick 220
• round 7, pick, 256