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Many more than 32 NFL hopefuls will huddle around the TV with their friends and families Thursday, checking and re-checking their phones to make sure their ring volume is at the max.
Many more than 32 might make outstanding NFL football players.
But only 32 will hear their names.
Others will bag up the party plates and cart leftovers to the fridge while their guests trickle out. "You aren't going to last five picks in the second," they'll be told. And for another day, at least, it won't help a bit.
As dreams come true and dreams die over the next 72 hours, at least four Utes will wait with bated breath: Eric Rowe, Nate Orchard, Jeremiah Poutasi and Dres Anderson.
A half-dozen others, like Kaelin Clay, will await the frenzy of free agent signings at the conclusion of the seventh round Saturday, hoping to follow in the footsteps of 2014 undrafted Chargers signee Tenny Palepoi.
For the rest of us, there's much more to life than football.
But it's much more exciting if you pretend there's not.
Coverage is on ESPN and NFL Network. Tune in for Round 1 at 6 p.m. MT Thursday, Rounds 2-3 at 5 p.m. MT Friday and Rounds 4-7 at 11 a.m. Saturday.
And check back at sltrib.com, where we'll scramble to bring you their reactions as soon as possible.
Here are a few tidbits on NFL Draft Eve:
Cornerback/safety Eric Rowe • Nelson Rowe guesses that despite the many first-round projections, his son will be chosen early in the second round.
That's just fine by him.
Until the end of Eric's junior season — his last at free safety — the Rowes figured Eric would work in the corporate world for a few years, then return to school for a graduate degree.
Nelson, a chief accounting officer at a Houston energy company, and Denise, a real estate investor, had been pleased enough that Rowe's athletic ability was earning him a no-cost business degree.
Then the agents started weighing in. He could be a fourth-rounder, they told them. During the second half of Rowe's senior season, when he played cornerback, "things really started picking up," Nelson said. One agent called Rowe's grandmother in Indianapolis.
When Rowe excelled by every measure at the NFL Combine, "that kind of put a nail in it," Nelson said.
Both parents emphasized the importance of interviewing well, and Denise sent him slacks, dress shoes and a button-down shirt to wear in Indy.
"So when you go to talk to the team, you look like the guys on the other side of the table," Nelson said. "... Put all that together and you've got a pretty safe pick."
Contrary to this author's earlier bloviating, the Rowes won't hold a big get-together Thursday. Eric's sister will fly in from Purdue, and that's the extent of his invitations.
"He's certainly not one to try to get the limelight, or anything like that," Nelson said. "He pretty much tries to let his performance on the field or in the classroom do the talking."
Projections • NFL.com has Rowe going in the second round to the Houston Texans. CBSSports.com sees him as a first- or second-rounder.
Defensive end/outside linebacker Nate Orchard • The emotional leader of the 2014 Utes did as much as any player to positively affect his draft stock on the field, with 18.5 sacks in 13 games and Senior Bowl MVP honors.
The two things that negatively affect him, he can't do much about: 1. He is 6'3, 250 — small for an NFL defensive end. 2. His 4.8 40-yard dash did not rank among the leaders at his position.
Agent Kenny Zuckerman tells The Tribune that for teams that play a 3-4 defense, Orchard looks like a potential everydown outside linebacker.
For teams that play a 4-3, he might even play two out of three downs as three-technique pass-rusher, because of the prevalence of passing offenses in the league.
Or he might develop into a strongside linebacker, as former Ute and fellow Zuckerman client Koa Misi played with the Dolphins. (Misi played middle linebacker last season.)
"He's not just a straight-ahead, linear pass rusher," Zuckerman said. "He can play in reverse."
And as for the size, Zuckerman said a team told him Wednesday that Orchard is stronger at 250 than another prospect they were evaluating at 273.
"He's got violent hands. He's quick off the snap. He really has a good sense of setting up the tackle and playing his kind of game. Once he gets into a rhythm, he's unstoppable."
Projections • NFL.com has Orchard going in the third round to the Dallas Cowboys. CBSSports.com sees him as a second- or third-rounder.
Wide receiver Dres Anderson • The Tribune hasn't been able to catch up with Anderson since the conclusion of his private pro day this month, but Zuckerman (who represents both Orchard and Anderson) said that Anderson may have regained ground on the ratings he'd earned before a knee injury ended his senior season seven games early.
Interestingly, CBS Sports reports his 40 time at 4.54 — slower than the 4.35 to 4.43 range scouts recited to Anderson after the workout — but still sees him as a third- or fourth-round pick.
Said Zuckerman: "He's about 95 percent, so he'll be 100 percent by OTAs."
Projections • NFL.com has Anderson going in the seventh round to the Minnesota Vikings. CBSSports.com sees him as a third- or fourth-rounder.
Offensive guard/tackle Jeremiah Poutasi • Like Orchard and Rowe, there is considerable debate about what position Poutasi will play in the NFL.
"Some teams have me at guard, and some teams have me at right tackle," said Poutasi, who played both tackle spots at the U. and would be a mammoth interior lineman (6'5, 335).
"I feel like I'd be a good tackle," he said. "I feel like I'd be a great guard."
Poutasi said he has no regrets about declaring early and calls the draft buildup "a long and exciting process."
He's visited San Francisco, Philadelphia, Carolina, Indianapolis and Oakland, and trained in Irvine, Calif., but now he's back in hometown Las Vegas.
After months of dieting and core training, Poutasi has turned his focus — at least in part — to another big life event on the horizon: his July 4 wedding.
Even on draft day, he said, there's wedding work to be done.
"I'm not going to be sitting on the couch."
That should make at least one future teammate happy.
Projections • NFL.com has Poutasi going in the sixth round to the Green Bay Packers. CBSSports.com sees him as a fourth- or fifth-rounder.
Wide receiver Kaelin Clay • Few foresee that Kaelin Clay will be drafted this week, but he's already been living the life of a professional.
Clay has worked out with 15 NFL teams in the last three months. Some want him to do return drills, and some run him through wideout work. Some ask him to run plays he ran in college, others give him plays to memorize and test him on them later.
"You want to look the right way, speak the right way, you don't want to act a fool," he said. "When they put you in all those situations — run you in formations and against different defenses — you start to feel more like an NFL athlete."
Clay spent much of the offseason in Utah training and preparing for his next step, but he returned to his hometown of Long Beach, Calif., this week. During the draft, he said, he'll be with those who helped "sacrifice" so he could realize some long-held dreams.
At 5-foot-10 and 195 pounds, Clay is shorter than the prototypical receiver, but he believes his workouts have helped teams see that he has potential to be more than an ace returner.
"A lot of people identified me as a special teams player, and I think I can be a pretty good one," he said. "But I think I proved I can be a receiver, and I can run the routes and do some of the little things it takes to be a complete receiver."
— Matthew Piper and Kyle Goon
Twitter: @matthew_piper
Twitter: @kylegoon