NFL Draft 2018 – The Browns are ‘On the Clock’!
Cleveland Holds Two #1 Choices in the Top Four Overall Selections
Once again, the Cleveland Browns are On the Clock with the first overall selection for the NFL Draft 2018. On Sunday they tied the Detroit Lions (2008) as the only teams to go 0-16 during the regular season with a loss to the Steelers. It marks the second consecutive year the Browns earned the top overall draft choice. The last team to accomplish this was the… Cleveland Browns in 1999 and 2000 during their early expansion years. Not much as changed in almost 20 years. The Browns are just the 5th team to earn this back to back year accomplishment. They have been one of the worst teams in recent memory in all major sports with ongoing poor results despite or because of a constant turnover in their front office and coaching staffs. Their draft decisions have been atrocious with several trades out of the top early selections, especially passing on a chance of either QBs, Carson Wentz or Jared Goff just two years ago. Head coach Hue Jackson completed his second season this weekend after going 1-15 last season. His 1-31 two-year record stands by itself as one of the worst in NFL history. Browns owner Jimmy Haslam has stated Jackson will return for 2018 season. “I don’t think Hue has lost his magic.”
Photo – RB Saquon Barkley – Penn St
The Browns are in position to make major strides this April. In addition to the top overall pick, they also hold the Houston Texans #1 choice, the 4th overall selection. Rarely does a club hold two #1 picks let alone two in the top four overall choices. The Browns also hold three #2 picks, one #3 and two #4 selections, a boatload of top 100 draft choices to address several major need areas. New GM John Dorsey came aboard midseason 2017 and has had a few months to evaluate the current roster, in addition to their salary cap. He is in position to bolster a decent roster that has some young players in place, though needs players in key positions and leadership roles on both sides of the ball. The Browns upcoming decisions in both veteran Free Agency and the NFL Draft 2018 will dictate the movement of many players this offseason especially among the premier selections. The top 5-10 draft selections have been highly coveted with premier players especially QBs available and this year is as strong as any in recent memory. Clubs at the top will entertain a few huge offers to move up with the top three QBs, Josh Rosen, Sam Darnold and Josh Allen, all considered franchise caliber NFL starters.
Playoffs – Conference & Super Bowl games determine final 12 positions
x – division winner y – playoff berth
# Team / W-L / Opp W-L %
1 Cleveland – 0-16 .520
2 NY Giants – 3-13 .531
3 Indianapolis – 4-12 .480
4 Cleveland (Houston) – 4-12 .516
5 Denver – 5-11 .492
6 NY Jets – 5-11 .520
7 Tampa Bay – 5-11 .555
8 Chicago – 5-11 .559
9 San Francisco – 6-10 .512
10 Oakland – 6-10 .512
11 Miami – 6-10 .543
12 Cincinnati – 7-9 .465
13 Washington – 7-9 .539
14 Green Bay – 7-9 .539
15 Arizona – 8-8 .488
16 Baltimore – 9-7 .441
17 LA Chargers – 9-7 .457
18 Seattle – 9-7 .492
19 Dallas – 9-7 .496
20 Detroit – 9-7 .496
21 y Tennessee – 9-7 .434
22 y Buffalo – 9-7 .492
23 x Jacksonville – 10-6 .434
24 Buffalo (x Kansas City) – 10-6 .492
25 y Atlanta – 10-6 .543
26 x LA Rams – 11-5 .504
27 x New Orleans – 11-5 .535
28 y Carolina – 11-5 .539
29 x Pittsburgh – 13-3 .453
30 x Philadelphia – 13-3 .461
31 x New England – 13-3 .484
32 x Minnesota – 13-3 .492
Team tie-breaking procedure for the NFL Draft
If two or more clubs are tied in the selection order, the strength-of-schedule tie breaker is applied, subject to the following exceptions for playoff clubs: The Super Bowl winner is last and the Super Bowl loser next-to-last. Any non-Super Bowl playoff club involved in a tie shall be assigned priority within its segment below that of non-playoff clubs and in the order that the playoff clubs exited from the playoffs. Within a tied segment a playoff club that loses in the Wild-Card game will have priority over a playoff club that loses in the Divisional playoff game that in turn will have priority over a club that loses in the Conference Championship game. If two tied clubs exited the playoffs in the same round, the tie is broken by strength of schedule. If any ties cannot be broken by strength of schedule, the divisional or conference tie breakers, when applicable, are applied. Any ties that still exist are broken by a coin flip.
