NFL Draft Center

ROUND ONE

1.IND / 2.WSH / 3.MIN / 4.CLE / 5.TB / 6.STL / 7.JAX / 8.MIA / 9.CAR / 10.BUF / 11.KC / 12.SEA / 13.ARZ / 14.DAL / 15.PHI / 16.NYJ / 17.CIN / 18.SD / 19.CHI / 20.TEN / 21.CIN / 22.CLE / 23.DET / 24.PIT / 25. DEN / 26.HOU / 27.NE / 28.GB / 29.BAL / 30.SF / 31.NE / 32.NYG

ROUND TWO

33.STL / 34.IND / 35.MIN / 36.TB / 37.CLE / 38.JAX / 39.STL / 40.CAR / 41.BUF / 42.MIA / 43.SEA / 44.KC / 45.DAL / 46.PHI / 47.NYJ / 48.NE / 49.SD / 50.CHI / 51.PHI / 52.TEN / 53.CIN / 54.DET / 55.ATL / 56.PIT / 57.DEN / 58.HOU / 59.GB / 60.BAL / 61.SF / 62.NE / 63.NYG

ROUND THREE

64.IND / 65.STL / 66.MIN / 67.CLE / 68.TB / 69.WSH / 70.JAX / 71.BUF / 72.MIA / 73.MIA / 74.KC / 75.SEA / 76.HOU / 77.NYJ / 78.SD / 79.CHI / 80.ARZ / 81.DAL / 82.TEN / 83.CIN / 84.ATL / 85.DET / 86.PIT / 87.DEN / 88.PHI / 89.NO / 90.GB / 91.BAL / 92.SF / 93.NE / 94.NYG / 95.OAK

ROUND FOUR

96.STL / 97.IND / 98.MIN / 99.HOU / 100.CLE / 101.JAX / 102.WSH / 103.MIA / 104.CAR / 105.BUF / 106.SEA / 107.KC / 108.DEN / 109.WSH / 110.SD / 111.CHI / 112.ARZ / 113.DAL / 114.PHI / 115.TEN / 116.CIN / 117.DET / 118.CLE / 119.PIT / 120.DEN / 121.HOU / 122.NO / 123.GB / 124.BUF / 125.SF / 126.NE / 127.NYG / 128.MIN / 129.OAK / 130.BAL / 131.NYG / 132.GB / 133.GB / 134.MIN / 135.DAL

ROUND FIVE

136.IND / 137.DEN / 138.MIN / 139.CLE / 140.TB / 141.WSH / 142.JAX / 143.CAR / 144.BUF / 145.MIA / 146.KC / 147.BUF / 148.OAK / 149.SD / 150.CHI / 151.ARZ / 152.DAL / 153.PHI / 154.NYJ / 155.TEN / 156.CIN / 157.ATL / 158.DET / 159.PIT / 160.CLE / 161.HOU / 162.NO / 163.GB / 164.BAL / 165.SF / 166.CIN / 167.CIN / 168.OAK / 169.BAL / 170.IND

ROUND SIX

171.STL / 172.PHI / 173.WSH / 174.TB / 175.MIN / 176.JAX / 177.ARZ / 178.BUF / 179.NO / 180.CAR / 181.SEA / 182.KC / 183.SD / 184.CHI / 185.ARZ / 186.DAL / 187.NYJ / 188.DEN / 189.OAK / 190.TEN / 191.CIN / 192.ATL / 193.PIT / 194.PHI / 195.HOU / 196.MIA / 197.GB / 198.BAL / 199.SF / 200.PHI / 201.NYG/ 202.NYJ / 203.NYJ / 204.CLE / 205.CLE / 206.IND / 207.CAR

ROUND SEVEN

208.IND / 209.STL / 210.MIN / 211.CLE / 212.TB / 213.WSH / 214.IND / 215.MIA / 216.CAR / 217.BUF / 218.KC / 219.DET / 220.CHI / 221.ARZ / 222.DAL / 223.MIN / 224.GB / 225.SEA / 226.SD / 227.TEN / 228.JAX / 229.PHI / 230.DET / 231.PIT / 232.NYJ / 233.HOU / 234.NO / 235.GB / 236.BAL / 237.SF / 238.KC / 239.NYG / 240.PIT / 241.GB / 242.NYJ / 243.GB / 244.NYJ / 245.CLE / 246.PIT / 247.CLE / 248.PIT / 249.ATL / 250.SD / 251.BUF / 252.STL / 253.IND

Written By: Mark Scott

The Rams and Redskins have made their move. In the most anticipated trade of the past few months, St. Louis chose Washington over Cleveland to deal the no.2 overall pick of the 2012 NFL Draft too as first reported by FoxSports.com. The Rams sent the second overall pick to the Redskins in exchange for  Washington’s sixth overall selection of the 2012 NFL Draft, as well as their 2013 and 2014 first round picks along with their 2012 second round choice, 39^th overall. Baylor’s QB Robert Griffin III is expected to be the player chosen by Washington with that selection.

Who the Rams would trade the second overall choice too and what they could receive in compensation has been the talk around the NFL for months, especially the past few weeks when St. Louis let it be known at the NFL Scouting Combine that they intended to trade the pick to the highest bidder. The bounty was expected to be high for the pick in order to select Griffin III, especially after the Baylor Quarterback blew scouts away with his workout in just a few select drills at the Combine. He was also excellent in team interviews and media sessions. The Rams have a number of holes to fill after a 2-14 season and a new regime coming in, but Quarterback wasn’t one of them as St. Louis chose to stand behind current signal-caller Sam Bradford, who was taken with the first overall pick in the 2010 Draft. They can now fill more of those holes beginning this year and over the next couple of years giving their new regime led by Head Coach Jeff Fisher the building blocks to build around Bradford and turn the franchise around.

Washington was desperate to fix their Quarterback position after a disastrous season with Rex Grossman and John Beck throwing passes for them. They were expected to pursue recently released Peyton Manning and still are despite Friday’s trade, but news that Manning isn’t interested in playing in the NFC, specifically the NFC East, where his brother Eli plays with the Giants seems to have eliminated them from discussions. This news about Manning probably only increased the Redskins interest in the Rams’ draft pick to select Griffin III. Barring a change in Manning’s mind, the Redskins will go forward with Robert Griffin III as their new franchise Quarterback, believed to be a perfect fit for Head Coach Mike Shanahan’s offensive scheme.

Unhappy with their own Quarterback situation, the Cleveland Browns were believed to be the favorites to land St. Louis’ No.2 pick and made a late push Friday by reportedly offering three first round picks including their 2012 fourth overall pick and possibly a second round choice, but it was too late, the Rams had already settled on a deal with Washington. Cleveland will now have to look elsewhere to find a Quarterback or stick with current starter Colt McCoy. The deal between St. Louis and Washington will become official when the new league year starts on Tuesday, March 13, 2012 at 4 pm, EST.

It is a great move for both teams. For St. Louis, they will now have five first round and four second round draft picks over the next three years. They can now build around Sam Bradford and finally give him some weapons to utilize, while possibly finding some help and an eventual replacement for aging running back Steven Jackson and also improve a bad defense. For Washington, they can select Griffin III and finally add the right Quarterback to build the franchise around in the Mike Shanahan era, although it comes at a steep price.

Written By: Mark Scott

The Super Bowl is set with the New England Patriots taking on the New York Giants, while the rest of league now focuses on the NFL Draft and how to improve their teams for next season. As the last two teams alive, the Patriots and Giants will determine picks 31 and 32 of the 2012 NFL Draft with the Super Bowl winner obviously selecting with the last pick of the round. As for the other ten teams that made the playoffs this year, their draft position was determined as they were knocked out of each round, along with their final record and strength of schedule. Draft picks 21-24 are made up of the four teams (CIN, ATL, DET, PIT) that lost in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, while selections 25-28 consist of the four teams (DEN, HOU,NO, GB) that lost in the Divisional Round of the playoffs. The two teams (BAL, SF) that lost in the AFC and NFC Championship games will slot in at picks 29 and 30. Atlanta’s pick #22 is owned by the Cleveland Browns courtesy of the Julio Jones trade at last year’s Draft. New Orleans’ pick #27 is owned by the New England Patriots due to the Mark Ingram trade that also happened at the 2011 NFL Draft. The Top 20 spots in the Draft consist of the twenty teams that failed to make the playoffs this season. The order of the Top 20 can be seen here: http://nfldraftcenter.sportsblognet.com/2012/01/02/the-almost-official-2012-nfl-draft-order/

Team/Record/Strength of Schedule

21.          CIN (9-7)              .492

22.          ATL (10-6) CLE    .480

23.          DET (10-6)           .535

24.          PIT (12-4)             .492

25.          DEN (8-8)             .520

26.          HOU (10-6)         .453

27.          NO (13-3) NE      .441

28.          GB (15-1)             .457

29.          BAL (12-4)           .477

30.          SF (13-3)              .449

Written By: Mark Scott

We finally have an official 2012 NFL Draft Order (Top 20 picks only), time to start mocking away. The regular season is officially over and the NFL has released their official draft order for the Top 20 selections made up of the 20 non-playoff teams. The playoff teams will make up picks #21 through pick #32 as each round of the playoff comes to a close and teams are eliminated or move on to the next round. The order is determined by worst record and then strength of schedule for teams with the same record. The third tie-breaker, for teams with the same record and the same strength of schedule, which will have to be used in two separate cases this year to break ties between Carolina and Miami as well as Kansas City and Seattle will be determined by a coin toss that will take place at the 2012 NFL Draft Scouting Combine.

TEAM/RECORD                        SOS

1. IND (2-14)                           .539
2. STL (2-14)                            .590
3. MIN (3-13)                          .559
4. CLE (4-12)                            .531
5. TB (4-12)                              .551
6. WSH (5-11)                          .477
7. JAX (5-11)                           .500
8. *CAR (6-10)                        .504
9. *MIA (6-10)                        .504
10. BUF (6-10)                             .520
11. *KC (7-9)                              .512
12. *SEA (7-9)                           .512
13. ARZ (8-8)                             .469
14. DAL (8-8)                             .473
15. PHI (8-8)                              .488
16. NYJ (8-8)                             .500
17. OAK (8-8) CIN                    .504
18. SD (8-8)                                 .516
19. CHI (8-8)                              .527
20. TEN (9-7)                             .563

*CAR/MIA #8 selection will be determined by coin toss at NFL Scouting Combine

*KC/SEA #11 selection will be determined by coin toss at NFL Scouting Combine

> Picks 21-32 will be determined as playoff teams lose in each round.

> Cincinnati holds Oakland’s first-round draft choice (via Carson Palmer trade)

> Cleveland holds Atlanta’s first round draft choice (via Julio Jones trade)

> New England holds New Orleans first-round draft choice (via Mark Ingram trade)

AFC PLAYOFF BRACKET

1. NE (13-3)
2. BAL (12-4)
3. HOU (10-6)
4. DEN (8-8)
5. PIT (12-4)
6. CIN (9-7)

NFC PLAYOFF BRACKET

1. GB (15-1)
2. SF (13-3)
3. NO (13-3)
4. NYG (9-7)
5. ATL (10-6)
6. DET (10-6)