The NFL Draft is one of the most celebrated events in the sports calendar year. It is arguably the biggest among all the major sports in the US. To give an approximate figure, almost 54.4 million viewers tuned in for the 2023 NFL draft across three days, according to Sports Pro Media.
The 2024 NFL Draft is nearing. Teams are excited as this draft class has a lot of superstar potential in them. The fans are anticipating their favorite teams to pick the best of the lot and hit the lottery.
The stakes are high here because the decisions taken here will impact the direction of the franchise in the future. So as we gear up for the draft, it is important to understand how the teams get the picks and positions to make the selection.
The 2024 NFL draft begins on 25 April 2024 and ends on 27 April 2024. Here is everything you need to know.
What is the NFL Draft order?
NFL Draft order is the sequence in which the NFL teams make their selection during the NFL draft. Every NFL team is assigned a particular position before the start of the draft. And the teams will have to follow that order for making their picks.
Read more about NFL Draft Ticker Prices.
How is the NFL draft order determined?
The process of determining the NFL Draft order is quite simple. The performance of a team in the previous NFL season will dictate which position a team is assigned during the draft.
What this means is that the teams with the poorest win-loss record, will be getting the first selection. And the best team in the NFL, that is, the Super Bowl champions, will be getting the last selection.
The NFL Draft order is determined in the reverse order of the previous season’s standings.
The first 18 picks, from 1-18, will be the teams that had a bad record and did not qualify for the NFL playoffs. These teams will be assigned the position based on their overall standings.
Now this will beg the question of - what happens to the other 14 teams that make the playoffs? How is the order determined for them? This is where we are headed next.
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How is the NFL Draft order determined for the playoff teams?
As we just mentioned, the first 18 selections will belong to the teams that miss the NFL playoffs. There are 12 teams that qualify for the postseason in the NFL. So how is the draft order determined for these teams?
The process for the teams that make the playoffs remain the same. Picks 19 through pick 24 will belong to the teams that are eliminated in the wild card round of the NFL playoffs.
Among the teams that got eliminated in the wild card round, the one with the worst regular season record will pick first among the four teams, i.e. 21st. And the one with the better record will pick last, that is, 24th.
This same process is repeated for all the teams getting eliminated from the playoffs.
Next up, the teams that lose in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs will pick from 25 through 28. The two teams that are eliminated from the AFC and NFC championship games will be given the 29th and 30th pick.
Finally, the team that loses in the Super Bowl will be given the 31st pick and the team that eventually wins the Super Bowl will be given the 32nd pick.
Read more about NFL Draft Rounds.
What happens to draft order if there is a tie?
Whenever the regular season records tie, how does the draft order get affected?
In such cases, the draft order is based on the comparison of the teams’ strength of schedules. The teams who have lower strength of schedule, that is, opponents with a lower winning percentage, will pick first over the teams who have faced harder teams.
If the teams tie in this process as well, then the division and conference record of the teams is taken as a parameter. If the tie still exists, then seven tie breakers are taken into consideration to determine the NFL draft order.
These tie breakers include:
Head-to-head
Win-loss-tie percentage
Strength of victories
Points scored vs. points allowed
Net points per game
Total net touchdowns
Coin toss
Read more about NFL Playoff Predictor.
FAQs
Q. What happens to draft order if there are trades?
A. Teams negotiate during the draft when they’re not on the clock. If the trade does happen, the team moves up or down the orders based on their move.
A. Teams negotiate during the draft when they’re not on the clock. If the trade does happen, the team moves up or down the orders based on their move.
Q. Does the NFL Draft order stay the same every year?
A. No. The NFL draft order is not the same every year. This is because every team performs differently from the previous NFL season. And this will influence the order.
A. No. The NFL draft order is not the same every year. This is because every team performs differently from the previous NFL season. And this will influence the order.
Q. What determines the order of the NFL Draft?
A. The performance of a team in the previous season determines the NFL draft order. The teams are assigned the sequence based on the reverse order of their standing from the previous season.
A. The performance of a team in the previous season determines the NFL draft order. The teams are assigned the sequence based on the reverse order of their standing from the previous season.
Q. How do the team know whom to pick?
A. The teams do deep research on the player. They attend the games, analyze their attitudes and look at how they perform during the NFL combine and pro days to determine if the player fits their requirement or not. Apart from this, teams have different analysts to analyze the player based on various criterias.
A. The teams do deep research on the player. They attend the games, analyze their attitudes and look at how they perform during the NFL combine and pro days to determine if the player fits their requirement or not. Apart from this, teams have different analysts to analyze the player based on various criterias.
Q. When is the 2024 NFL Draft?
A. The 2024 NFL Draft is from 25 April through 27 April. This edition of the draft will take place in Detroit. The area surrounding the Hart Plaza and Campus Martius will be the primary location for the three-day event.
A. The 2024 NFL Draft is from 25 April through 27 April. This edition of the draft will take place in Detroit. The area surrounding the Hart Plaza and Campus Martius will be the primary location for the three-day event.
