2017 NFL Draft Order: Cleveland Browns Have Two Top 10 Selections, Tennessee Titans Also Have Two First-Rounders

The 2017 NFL Draft order will still shift based on how the playoffs turn out, but it is never too early to start looking ahead. That is especially the case for fans of the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Chicago Bears. While the latest NFL standings show that the Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles will have good spots, neither team controls that pick next year. Putting together a terrible season and then not having a first-round selection in the 2017 NFL Draft is going to be a bitter pill to swallow for die-hard fans.

A previous trade by the Rams sent that first-round selection to the Tennessee Titans, while the Eagles gave up their first-round pick to the Browns. This could give the Browns two top 10 selections, especially if the final 2017 NFL Draft order mirrors where it currently stands. Below is the full first-round draft order, calculated through the Thursday night game on December 22. Minor shifts should take place based on the games getting played on Saturday (Dec. 24).

The yearly draft order goes in reverse order of the final standings, no matter what seed a team receives in the playoffs. The postseason also affects how the final order looks, with the Super Bowl winner getting the last pick and the Super Bowl loser awarded the penultimate selection. The conference championship game losers come in at No. 29 and No. 30 and it works backward from there, with the teams making it further in the NFL Playoffs getting the worse pick in the following draft.

In addition to the final two weeks of the regular season shifting the 2017 NFL Draft order, there are likely to also be further trades taking place during the offseason. So far, three selections have been dealt, with the Los Angeles Rams’ pick going to the Tennessee Titans, the Philadelphia Eagles’ pick going to the Cleveland Browns, and the Minnesota Vikings’ pick going to the Eagles. More picks typically get exchanged between when the Super Bowl takes place and when the week of the draft finally rolls around.

An early look at the Week 16 NFL scores shows that the first-round picks for the top 10 will be directly affected by the results of the San Diego Chargers vs. Cleveland Browns and the San Francisco 49ers vs. Los Angeles Rams. All four teams will be toward the top of the draft order, so the results of these two particular games certainly have the potential to shake things up. That happened with the New York Giants vs. Philadelphia Eagles game on Thursday. The Giants lost and moved into a better pick, while the Eagles slot got worse due to the victory.

It’s almost that time of year where 20 teams and the fans of those teams start paying closer attention to the mock drafts than to what it taking place in the postseason. Once the college football bowl season comes to a close and players begin committing to the draft, the mock drafts should start becoming more reflective of the available player pool. For now, fans of teams toward the top of the 2017 NFL Draft order can begin pining after North Carolina quarterback Mitch Trubisky, Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer, Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett, and LSU running back Leonard Fournette.

2017 NFL Draft Order (Through December 22)

1. Cleveland Browns
2. San Francisco 49ers
3. Jacksonville Jaguars
4. Chicago Bears
5. New York Jets
6. Tennessee Titans (From Los Angeles Rams)
7. Carolina Panthers
8. San Diego Chargers
9. Arizona Cardinals
10. Cleveland Browns (From Philadelphia Eagles)
11. Cincinnati Bengals
12. New Orleans Saints
13. Buffalo Bills
14. Indianapolis Colts
15. Philadelphia Eagles (From Minnesota Vikings)
16. Tennessee Titans
18. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
19. Green Bay Packers
20. Denver Broncos
21. Houston Texans
22. Washington Redskins
23. Miami Dolphins
24. Detroit Lions
25. Atlanta Falcons
26. Pittsburgh Steelers
27. New York Giants
28. Seattle Seahawks
29. Kansas City Chiefs
30. Oakland Raiders
31. New England Patriots
32. Dallas Cowboys

[Featured Image by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images]