With five games remaining in the NFL's regular season, here's a breakdown of the race for the No. 1 overall selection in next April's NFL draft:
_ Cincinnati Bengals (0-11): Being winless certainly gives them the edge, but finishing 0 for 16 isn't written in stone. That takes a special kind of bad and wins against the Jets (Week 13) and Dolphins (Week 16) wouldn't shock me.
_ New York Giants (2-9): The G-Men may not be able to catch Cincy, but they could certainly hold their current position by losing to the Dolphins (Week 15) and Redskins (Week 16).
_ Washington Redskins (2-9): They are most likely to lose out. Their last five games: at Panthers, at Packers, Eagles, Giants and at Cowboys. The only game that should be competitive is a rematch with the G-Men (they lost 24-3 in September).
_ Miami Dolphins (2-9): Initially, this team appeared to be historically bad. Now, not so much. They're just bad and undermanned. Beating either the Jets (Week 14), Giants (Week 15) or Bengals (Week 16) would doom their prospects of being first on the clock in Vegas.
The NFL draft has become a nice appetizer before our main course in September. A mock version of said draft is meant to educate, and even entertain. At very least, it helps you pass the time.
This is an early attempt at identifying the best players available in this season's draft class, and which teams they match up well with considering the updated draft order (according to NFL.com).
The closer we get to draft day, the more I attempt to match what teams will actually do with their draft picks as opposed to what I believe they should do.
Last season, I was the fifth most accurate (out of 101) _ most accurate in print _ NFL draft prognosticator according to The Huddle Report. I'm 18th over the past five years.
Follow me on Twitter @UTEddieBrown so we can continue the conversation.
Here's my updated 2020 NFL Mock Draft:
