2018 Elite Draft Picks Football provides first cards of NFL rookies

Over the past few months, the NFL’s next rookie card class has been thoroughly and collectively scrutinized by NFL personnel folks. All want to know who are the best fits for their respective franchises. Collectors want to know who fits best in their collections — and those collections will likely begin with Panini America’s 2018 Elite Draft Picks Football.

The first licensed college football product released in 2018, 2018 Elite Draft Picks Football arrived in hobby shops in early April. As a result, it is providing the first opportunity for collectors to acquire autographs of the top picks selected in late April, including former USC quarterback Sam Darnold.

Darnold’s autographs were returned to Panini America headquarters just as packout for the product was about to start with Darnold autographs inserted as redemptions.

Development and Production officials at Panini hurried to replace the Darnold redemptions with live autographs. In the end, all but 33 Darnold autographs for 2018 Elite Draft Picks Football will be live in the product. The 33 inserted as redemptions (simply because those redemptions turned out to be proverbial needles in a cardboard haystack) are in house and ready to be redeemed now.

On average, each hobby box of 2018 Elite Draft Picks Football (15 cards per pack, five packs per box, 16 boxes per case) will deliver five autographs, 30 base cards, 30 Draft Picks, two base parallels, two Draft Picks parallels, one insert parallel and five inserts.

Highlights of the product include:

• Hobby-exclusive College Ties, Elite Series, Primary Colors and Chain Reaction autograph inserts.

• Hobby-exclusive Passing The Torch Autographs featuring autographs from the legendary likes of Charles Woodson, Tim Tebow, Earl Campbell and more.

• The Elite-staple Aspirations and Status (die-cut) chases provide color-popping parallels featuring Purple, Red, Blue, Gold, Emerald and Teal versions.