SB Nation NFL has figured out the league's 2011 draft order, as of right now. To nobody's surprise, the Carolina Panthers are in good position to pick first, with the rest of the NFC South picking in the latter half of the first round. The Atlanta Falcons will likely pick 30th, 31st, or 32nd, depending on how the postseason shakes out. A Super Bowl win would mean 32nd, a Super Bowl loss 31st, and a failure to make the Super Bowl would have Atlanta picking 30th.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers would pick 19th if the draft order were set today, the second-lowest pick of any non-playoff team. The New Orleans Saints are sitting at 28th a year after picking 32nd.
This isn't expected to be the deepest draft, considering all the talent that left early last year, but as always smart draftin' and clean livin' will help restock the NFC South's upper three. As for Carolina, it's probably going to take more than a weekend worth of drafting to turn things around.
Via .com:
- Carolina (2-12)
- Denver (3-11)
- Cincinnati (3-11)
- Arizona (4-10)
- Detroit (4-10)
- Buffalo (4-10)
- San Francisco (5-9)
- Washington (5-9)
- Dallas (5-9)
- Houston (5-9)
- Cleveland (5-9)
- Seattle (6-8)
- Tennessee (6-8)
- Minnesota (5-8)**
- New England - from Oakland (7-7)
- Miami (7-7)
- San Diego (8-6)
- Jacksonville (8-6)
- Tampa Bay (8-6)
- Green Bay (8-6)
- St. Louis* (6-8)
- Indianapolis* (8-6)
- Kansas City* (9-5)
- Chicago* (9-4)**
- New York Giants* (10-4)
- New York Jets* (10-4)
- Baltimore* (10-4)
- New Orleans* (10-4)
- Philadelphia* (10-4)
- Pittsburgh* (10-4)
- Atlanta* (12-2)
- New England* (12-2)
One asterisk denotes a team currently in the playoffs. The draft order for those teams will depend on how they do in the postseason. Two asterisks means the team is yet to play its Week 15 game.