Well it wasn’t as good as just a few short weeks ago when the San Francisco 49ers were so bad the New England Patriots owned the second overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. But even after the Niners went on a bit of a run the last four or five weeks of the season they still finished 5-11 and good for the 7th spot in the first round. It’s a pick that now belongs to New England courtesy of an earlier trade between the clubs.
Not counting any trades being made prior to the draft here is the draft order for the first ten picks.
- Miami Dolphins
- St. Louis Rams
- Atlanta Falcons*
- Oakland Raiders*
- Kansas City Chiefs*
- New York Jets
- New England Patriots via San Francisco 49ers
- Baltimore Ravens
- Cincinnati Bengals
- New Orleans Saints
* – Atlanta, Oakland and Kansas City along with the New York Jets finished tied for 3rd. The Falcons, Chiefs and Raiders had the same strength-of-schedule, creating the three-way tie. Since Kansas City finished third in the AFC West and the Raiders fourth, the tie between them was broken on the basis of the Chiefs’ 3-11 record in common games while the Raiders were 2-12). That means that the Raiders will draft ahead of the Chiefs.
The Falcons and Raiders will flip a coin for the third position; if Atlanta wins, the Falcons will draft third, the Raiders fourth and the Chiefs fifth. If the Raiders win the coin flip, they will draft third, and the Falcons and Chiefs will flip a coin to determine the fourth and fifth positions.
The Jets had a tougher strength of schedule than the three other teams tied with 4-12 records and will pick sixth.
