2016 NFL Mock Draft: Way too early edition
Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
The Miami Dolphins won their Week 17 contest against the New England Patriots. What does that do to their draft pick?
The Miami Dolphins finished the 2015 regular season with a dismal 6-10 record. They did come away with a Week 17 win over the New England Patriots, but in the long run, it was a bad year from start to end. Now, the team will begin their search for a new head coach, start looking at their own soon-to-be free agents, what free agents they may be able to sign this offseason, and start preparing for the Draft. How did the win over the New England Patriots impact Miami"s draft order?
The Tennessee Titans came into the weekend holding the top spot in the draft, and could pick no worse than second. They lost to the Indianapolis Colts, giving Tennessee a 3-13 record and officially putting them on the clock for next spring"s Draft. The Cleveland Browns started the day with the second overall pick, and, after a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, kept their same spot after Week 17 with a 3-13 record as well.
The 4-11 group coming into the week featured the San Diego Chargers, Dallas Cowboys, and San Francisco 49ers. Dallas lost to the Washington Redskins, falling to 4-12 on the year. The Chargers also lost, dropping to the Denver Broncos, and 49ers won their match-up against the St. Louis Rams.
The 5-10 group, which included the Dolphins, also saw the Jacksonville Jaguars and Baltimore Ravens start the week. Jacksonville and Baltimore both lost, falling to 5-11 for the year, while Miami moved up to 6-10.
The 6-9 group to start the week included the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New York Giants, New Orleans Saints, Philadelphia Eagles, Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears. The Buccaneers were dismantled by the Carolina Panthers, the Eagles beat the Giants, the Lions beat the Bears, and the Saints beat the Atlanta Falcons.
The teams that started Sunday 7-8 saw the Colts win, the Bills win, the Oakland Raiders lose to the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Rams lose to the 49ers. The Atlanta Falcons, the lone 8-7 team starting the day, fell to 8-8 with their loss to the Saints.
The Steelers started the day as the first team on the outside of the Playoffs, but worked their way into the last Wildcard spot, knocking the New York Jets out of the postseason. New York finished with a 10-6 record.
The NFL uses Strength of Schedule as the tie breaker when it comes to order teams for the Draft. The remaining 12 teams will all be ordered for the Draft based on where they finish in the Playoffs.
Remember that depending on the results of the Packers and Vikings game, there could be some small adjustments to the Draft order based on Strength of Schedule as well.
That makes the current draft order:
# Team Record SoS 1 Tennessee Titans 3-13 0.492 2 Cleveland Browns 3-13 0.531 3 San Diego Chargers 4-12 0.528 4 Dallas Cowboys 4-12 0.533 5 Jacksonville Jaguars 5-11 0.473 6 Baltimore Ravens 5-11 0.508 7 San Francisco 49ers 5-11 0.539 8 Miami Dolphins 6-10 0.469 9 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 6-10 0.484 10 New York Giants 6-10 0.498 11 Chicago Bears 6-10 0.548 12 New Orleans Saints 7-9 0.504 13 Philadelphia Eagles 7-9 0.508 14 Oakland Raiders 7-9 0.512 15 St. Louis Rams 7-9 0.528 16 Detroit Lions 7-9 0.536 17 Atlanta Falcons 8-8 0.478 18 Indianapolis Colts 8-8 0.500 19 Buffalo Bills 8-8 0.508 20 New York Jets 10-6 0.441The Playoff teams are are:
21 Washington Redskins 9-7 0.465 22 Houston Texans 9-7 0.496 23 Kansas City Chiefs 10-6 0.496 24 Pittsburgh Steelers 10-6 0.504 25 Seattle Seahawks 10-6 0.520 26 Minnesota Vikings 10-5* 0.498 27 Green Bay Packers 10-5* 0.519 28 New England Patriots 12-4 0.473 29 Cincinnati Bengals 12-4 0.477 30 Denver Broncos 12-4 0.500 31 Arizona Cardinals 13-3 0.476 32 Carolina Panthers 15-1 0.443Note: The Patriots forfeit their first round picks as part of the punishment from the Deflategate scandal.* Teams play on Sunday Night Football to end the NFL regular season.
Source: http://www.thephinsider.com/2016/1/3/10705530/2016-nfl-draft-order-week-17-win-moves-miami-down-in-the-draft-order
