|
How the NFL Draft Order is Decided
|
|
|
NFL Draft Fundamentals: Determining Order of Selection in the NFL Draft
In order of events:
- The team with the lowest winning percentage/record at the end of the season drafts first
- The remaining teams are placed in order of lowest winning percentage/record to highest
- The Super Bowl winner drafts last: 32nd (Super Bowl winner drafts last regardless of record/winning %)
- The Super Bowl loser drafts next to last: 31st (Loser of Super Bowl drafts next to last regardless of record/winning %)
- Strength of Schedule (SOS) is the first tie-breaker for teams with the same winning percentage/record
*Teams with a weaker strength of schedule draft first. The league (NFL) considers teams with lower
records earned against weaker SOS the lower draft selection.
- Divisional and Conference records are the next step in the tie-breaking procedure
*Teams with lower Divisional and Conference records draft first
- As a last resort, a coin flip is used to determine the order of selection for teams with the same winning percentage/record
- If a playoff and non-playoff team end the season with the same winning percentage/record, the non-playoff team drafts before the playoff
team regardless of SOS
- Team making the playoffs draft according to their playoff success. Example: If a Wild-card team at 9-7 wins the Super Bowl, that team shall
draft 32nd, regardless of their record.
|
|
|
|
