After Sunday night's Seattle Seahawks victory over the St. Louis Rams, the first twenty spots in the draft have been settled. Had the Seahawks lost, they would have had the eighth overall pick, but the win now secures them the 21st pick at the very least. The Rams will draft 14th overall.
The top five picks are the Carolina Panthers, the Denver Broncos, the Buffalo Bills, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Arizona Cardinals. The Broncos, Bills, and Bengals all finished with a 4-12 record, but by having the lowest strength of schedule among the three teams the Broncos took the second pick (.516 to Buffalo's .578 and Cincinnati's .582).
Picks 21-32 will be settled through the playoffs, which will have the two Super Bowl teams picking No. 31 and No. 32. Imagine the 7-9 Seahawks winning the Super Bowl and selecting No. 32 overall. Those fans who wanted the Seahawks to lose in order to get the higher draft pick will probably forget all about that.
The current NFL Draft order (via Mocking the Draft):
| 1. Carolina - 2-14 (.574) |
| 2. Denver - 4-12 (.516) |
| 3. Buffalo - 4-12 (.578) |
| 4. Cincinnati - 4-12 (.582) |
| 5. Arizona - 5-11 (.465) |
| 6. Cleveland - 5-11 (.570) |
| 7. San Francisco - 6-10 (.488) |
| 8. Tennessee - 6-10 (.508) |
| 9. Dallas - 6-10 (.512) |
| 10. Washington - 6-10 (.516) |
| 11. Houston - 6-10 (.523) |
| 12. Minnesota - 6-10 (.539) |
| 13. Detroit - 6-10 (.543) |
| 14. St. Louis - 7-9 (.449) |
| 15. Miami - 7-9 (.539) |
| 16. Jacksonville - 8-8 (.453) |
| 17. New England (via Oakland) - 8-8 (.469) |
| 18. San Diego - 9-7 (.457) |
| 19. New York Giants - 10-6 (.453) |
| 20. Tampa Bay - 10-6 (.477) |
| * 21. Seattle - 7-9 (.484) |
| * 22. Kansas City - 10-6 (.414) |
| * 23. Indianapolis - 10-6 (.473) |
| * 24. Philadelphia - 10-6 (.492) |
| * 25. Green Bay - 10-6 (.520) |
| * 26. New Orleans - 11-5 (.469) |
| * 27. Chicago - 11-5 (.473) |
| * 28. New York Jets - 11-5 (.492) |
| * 29. Baltimore - 12-4 (.484) |
| * 30. Pittsburgh - 12-4 (.500) |
| * 31. Atlanta - 13-3 (.484) |
| * 32. New England - 14-2 (.504) |