With their regular season having come to an end, the Minnesota Vikings can now look towards the offseason, and that includes the 2016 NFL Draft.
As we told you just after the end of the regular season, the top 20 picks were already set. The 21st, 22nd, 23rd, and 24th picks go to the teams that lose in the Wild Card round, sorted by record. With their loss on Sunday, the Vikings are officially locked into the 23rd pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.
The 21st and 22nd picks will be held by the Houston Texans (9-7), who lost the early AFC Wild Card game on Saturday, and the loser of this afternoon's NFC Wild Card contest between the Washington Redskins (9-7) and the Green Bay Packers (10-6). With their 11-5 record, the Vikings would pick after the Texans and whichever team loses this afternoon, because they had a better record than either of those teams. The Cincinnati Bengals, who lost the late AFC Wild Card game last night, are locked into the 24th pick by virtue of their 12-4 record.
If the Packers lose this afternoon, they will pick right ahead of the Vikings at #22 and the Texans will pick at #21. If the Redskins lose, they would go to #21 and the Texans would pick at #22, as Washington's strength of schedule is weaker than Houston's is.
So, with that in mind, the draft order so far for the 2016 NFL Draft looks like this:
Pick | Team | Record | SoS |
1 | Tennessee Titans | 3-13 | .492 |
2 | Cleveland Browns | 3-13 | .531 |
3 | San Diego Chargers | 4-12 | .528 |
4 | Dallas Cowboys | 4-12 | .533 |
5 | Jacksonville Jaguars | 5-11 | .473 |
6 | Baltimore Ravens | 5-11 | .508 |
7 | San Francisco 49ers | 5-11 | .539 |
8 | Miami Dolphins | 6-10 | .469 |
9 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 6-10 | .484 |
10 | New York Giants | 6-10 | .498 |
11 | Chicago Bears | 6-10 | .548 |
12 | New Orleans Saints | 7-9 | .504 |
13 | Philadelphia Eagles | 7-9 | .508 |
14 | Oakland Raiders | 7-9 | .512 |
15 | St. Louis Rams | 7-9 | .528 |
16 | Detroit Lions | 7-9 | .536 |
17 | Atlanta Falcons | 8-8 | .478 |
18 | Indianapolis Colts | 8-8 | .500 |
19 | Buffalo Bills | 8-8 | .508 |
20 | New York Jets | 10-6 | .441 |
21 | Washington Redskins | 9-7 | .465 |
22 | Houston Texans | 9-7 | .496 |
23 | Minnesota Vikings | 11-5 | .504 |
24 | Cincinnati Bengals | 12-4 | .477 |
We will update this with the official order once the results of this afternoon's game are finalized.