As of Monday morning, one of the worst teams in the league still had to play its Week 14 game, but the result won’t change the projected NFL draft order.
The New York Giants visit the Philadelphia Eagles on “Monday Night Football,” but win, lose or draw, the Giants won’t disrupt the current draft order. In fact, every other team in the top eight picks lost in Week 14 except for the Atlanta Falcons, who moved back from pick No. 5 to No. 8 this week with a win.
The Washington Redskins will remain third in the draft order even if the Giants win, because if the Giants join the tie at 3-10, they still beat Washington on the strength of schedule tiebreaker.
The lower a team’s strength of schedule, the higher a team’s draft pick is in the case of a tie — the logic being that Team A achieving the same record as Team B against an easier schedule makes Team A the worse team, deserving of the better selection.
The Redskins and Dolphins are tied at 3-10 after Week 14, but Washington wins the tiebreaker with a .483 strength of schedule only marginally softer than Miami’s .490.
The Bengals and Giants remain Nos. 1 and 2. When the Giants visit Washington in Week 16, the No. 2 overall pick could be on the line.
Here’s how the top 10 shakes out as of Dec. 9:
1. Cincinnati Bengals (1-12)
2. New York Giants (2-10, .456 strength of schedule, playing PHI on Monday)
3. Washington Redskins (3-10, .483 SOS)
4. Miami Dolphins (3-10, .490 SOS)
5. Detroit Lions (3-9-1, .498 SOS)
6. Arizona Cardinals (3-9-1, .553 SOS)
7. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-9, .481 SOS)
8. Atlanta Falcons (4-9, .553 SOS)
9. New York Jets (5-8, .466 SOS)
10. Los Angeles Chargers (5-8, .512 SOS)
• Adam Zielonka can be reached at azielonka@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.