2019 NFL Draft Order: Packers get 12th pick in round one, second pick still TBD

The regular season has come and gone for the vast majority of NFL teams, and we finally know the order of picks in round one of the 2019 NFL Draft — or at least where the Green Bay Packers’ first selection will be. Green Bay will have the 12th pick in round one as a result of their final record of 6-9-1 on the season.

Green Bay’s loss to the Detroit Lions did help their draft position, as did victories by the Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons, who won on Sunday to both finish 7-9. That pushes them down below the Packers in the draft order, giving Green Bay the 12th pick after the early games. Wins by the Bengals and Broncos would have helped the Packers even further, but both teams lost to fall to 6-10 on the season, keeping them ahead of Green Bay.

The top two draft picks both belong to teams from the NFC West. The Arizona Cardinals get the first selection as the only team to finish 3-13 this season, and they will be followed by the 49ers, Jets, and Raiders in that order.

Had the Packers lost their last two games of 2018, they might have been in position to find themselves well inside the top ten of the draft, However, the Packers beat the New York Jets in week 16 before losing on Sunday. If they had lost that game and finished 5-10-1 instead, they would be picking 8th overall.

Keep in mind that the Packers will have a second pick in the first round, thanks to general manager Brian Gutekunst’s trade with the New Orleans Saints during the 2018 NFL Draft. However, with the Saints making the playoffs and holding the best record in the entire NFL, that pick can end up no higher than 28th. That would be the position of that pick if the Saints lose in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.

The first 20 picks will go as follows, pending confirmation of the strength of schedule numbers. Note that pick 19 will go to the loser of Sunday’s Colts-Titans game; if the game ends in a tie, the Colts will go to the playoffs with the Titans earning the 19th pick due to a lower strength of schedule than the Steelers.