Championship Sunday has come and gone, and with it, we now know the matchup for Super Bowl LVI. The Rams’ win on Sunday guarantees that the Lions’ other first round pick will be in the bottom two, slightly devaluing it relative to if they had lost. Still, it is one of the bargaining chips they hold if they were to attempt to move up into the top spot, from their current position of second. As one of four teams with multiple picks in the opening round, Detroit will certainly be a squad to keep an eye on in April.
For non-playoff teams, the draft order is determined by the inverted 2021 standings, plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule. For playoff teams, the order is determined by their postseason outcome and regular season record.
Here is the updated order after this weekend’s results:
- Jacksonville Jaguars: 3-14
- Detroit Lions: 3-13-1
- Houston Texans: 4-13
- New York Jets: 4-13
- New York Giants: 4-13
- Carolina Panthers: 5-12
- New York Giants(via Bears)
- Atlanta Falcons: 7-10
- Denver Broncos: 7-10
- New York Jets (via Seahawks)
- Washington Football Team: 7-10
- Minnesota Vikings: 8-9
- Cleveland Browns: 8-9
- Baltimore Ravens: 8-9
- Philadelphia Eagles (via Dolphins)
- Philadelphia Eagles (via Colts)
- Los Angeles Chargers: 9-8
- New Orleans Saints: 9-8
- Philadelphia Eagles: 9-8
- Pittsburgh Steelers: 9-7-1
- New England Patriots: 10-7
- Las Vegas Raiders: 10-7
- Arizona Cardinals: 11-6
- Dallas Cowboys: 12-5
- Buffalo Bills: 11-6
- Tennessee Titans: 12-5
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 13-4
- Green Bay Packers: 13-4
- Miami Dolphins (via 49ers)
- Kansas City Chiefs: 12-5
- Cincinnati Bengals: 10-7*
- Detroit Lions (via Rams)
* = Remaining playoff teams
LA Rams going all in paid off and Detroit’s number 1 pick from them is the worst possible. Detroit will have the number 2nd overall, 32nd & 34th picks. Three of the top 34 players available isn’t bad but it could have been better. 32nd pick might be a QB so they can get the 5th year option.
While true, they did get other pick for him other than this one. They’ll get the rams first round in 2023 as well and also got a 2021 3rd rounder that they used on a dude who got hurt and barely played. Rams were always going to be good in 22 so the fact that the pick is at the tail end of the draft isn’t too surprising other than it’s one of the last 2 picks. However it was going to be in 24-30 range likely when they made the trade to begin with.
He is a free agent after next season and wasn’t going to resign in Detroit anyway and the lions weren’t competing this year nor next year so they still did a good job getting that much value for him. However they need to be able to hit on these picks….and not waste them like taking a QB in the first round this year when there are zero worth doing that in this draft. Roll with Goff again and get your QB in 23.
The Jets should have fired Robert Saleh.
Why?
NE either needs to trade for multiple picks to get faster LBs on defense and go out in FA and sign two stud receivers. They do that and they’ll be contenders again. Oh and I expect Junno Smith to have a bounce back season.
I’d love for them to sign Chris Godwin. AJ Green is another receiver I’d love to see them sign.