NFL Draft Order: Who Gets To Choose Between Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston?
With the NFL regular season over, the playoff picture is starting to take shape. Same goes for the NFL Draft order. Which teams succeeded in their tanking endevaors? Which didn't lose enough and didn't put themselves in a position to win anytime soon?
Here's the top 20 picks in order, according to NBC Sports:
1. Tampa Bay (2-14)
2. Tennessee (2-14)
3. Jacksonville (3-13)
4. Oakland (3-13)
5. Washington (4-12)
6. New York Jets (4-12)
7. Chicago (5-11)
8. Atlanta (6-10)
9. New York Giants (6-10)
10. St. Louis (6-10)
11. Minnesota (7-9)
12. Cleveland (7-9)
13. New Orleans (7-9)
14. Miami (8-8)
15. San Francisco (8-8)
16. Houston (9-7)
17 Kansas City (9-7)
18. San Diego (9-7)
19. Cleveland (from Buffalo 9-7)
20. Philadelphia (10-6)
So it is the Bucs who should chose either Oregon's Marcus Mariota or FSU's Jameis Winston with the top pick. Both are former Heisman Trophy winners with impressive passing and rushing skills. Winston has the better arm, but also more serious personality concerns, while Mariota is polished but not perfect. Both Tampa Bay and Tennessee could use a quarteback, among other things.
But when is that not the case for the two worst teams in football?
Chicago, at No. 7, is the highest team with an established starting quarterback. But Jay Cutler was benched earlier this season and the Bears just fired their coach and general manager. So who knows how things will shape up there. Of course, neither Mariota or Winston should still be on the board by then. The Jets will snatch up whoever is left, if either of them are. New York had a dismal season, but only lost enough to get the No. 6 pick.
Here's the rest of the first-round order, according to nfl.com:
21. Green Bay Packers
22. Philadelphia Eagles
23. Kansas City Chiefs
24. Cincinnati Bengals
25. San Diego Chargers
26. Cleveland Browns
27. New Orleans Saints
28. Carolina Panthers
29. New England Patriots
30. San Francisco 49ers
31. Denver Broncos