The Bengals won a game but are still ahead in the race for the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft
Not every NFL team is fortunate enough to be in the postseason hunt late in the season. For some, there are different stakes on the line as the year winds down.
The Cincinnati Bengals are currently winning the race to the bottom of the NFL standings and, thus, they’re the favorite to land the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. If the Bengals ruin that by winning again, the Giants, the Dolphins, and Washington are all in striking distance to take over the top spot.
For a while, it seemed like a competition for the right to draft Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. He won a national championship during his freshman year with the Crimson Tide and earned unanimous All-American honors as a sophomore in 2018. But that may no longer be the case. LSU quarterback Joe Burrow has put together a tremendous 2019 season, while Tagovailoa suffered a season-ending hip injury in November.
So for now, it appears as though it’s the Burrow race, although there are plenty of other compelling options for teams at the top of the draft order. Ohio State pass rusher Chase Young, Auburn defensive tackle Derrick Brown, and Georgia offensive tackle Andrew Thomas all won’t have to wait long to hear their names called in April.
Here’s a quick breakdown of how this whole draft order thing works:
Teams are sorted by the record, with the worst team picking first and the Super Bowl champion picking last in each round.
Ties are broken by strength of schedule. Teams that played an easier schedule pick ahead of those that played more a difficult slate. If teams are still tied, the tiebreakers to determine playoff seeding are used.
Picks 21-32 belong to teams that make the playoffs. The losers in the Wild Card Round draft first, followed by teams that lose in the Divisional Round, and so on.
A few selections have already been traded. The Dolphins own both the Steelers’ and Texans’ first-round picks. The Jaguars have the Rams’ pick after a trade involving cornerback Jalen Ramsey, and the Bears still owe the Raiders a 2020 first-round pick as part of their 2018 trade for Khalil Mack.
The full order will be updated throughout the remainder of the season. Here’s how the first round looks with Monday Night Football left to play in Week 14:
