With the Cleveland Browns markedly improved in 2018, and thus likely to vacate their traditional spot in the National Football League’s overall basement, who will supplant them as being first overall on the clock come NFL Draft night? There’s a reason that the one movie that was ever made about the NFL Draft centered around the Brownies, but in 2019, they will almost certainly not be picking first.
There are four early contenders to take the top pick, and all of them are franchises that have endured a lot of losing lately. Yes, the NFL is a league where revenue sharing and overall infrastructure invites parity and quick mobility up the standings, but the league has seen remarkable consistency at both ends of the spectrum.
The race to the bottom of the NFL has four early contenders: Buffalo, Arizona, Detroit, and Oakland.
If sportsbooks were offering odds to finish last after two weeks, the Buffalo Bills and Arizona Cardinals would be neck and neck for favorite status. The current game odds for week 3 reflect this wth +900 moneyline for the Bills, as they are huge underdogs at The Vikings. Their -55 and -52 point differentials are the worst in the league and neither has been remotely competitive in either of its games.
Both are also likely to be 0-3 after two weeks, with the Lions getting a touchdown at home against the Patriots and the Bills getting an almost unheard of 16.5 points at Minnesota. The Lions and Raiders have huge issues, themselves, but they at least offered resistance in tough road environments in Week 2 (San Francisco and Denver, respectively).
You knew that the Buffalo Bills, a franchise that last season ended what had been the league’s longest postseason drought, was in serious trouble as soon as they named Nathan Peterman their starting quarterback. It’s been 22 years since the Buffalo Bills last won a playoff game (3rd worst in the league), and 27 years since they have appeared in a conference title game (good, or should we say bad, for the 6th worst streak in the NFL).
As for the Detroit Lions, they have the overall worst Super Bowl/NFL championship drought in the entire league, because it’s been 60 seasons since they last won it all in 1957. Sure, there are some NFL franchises that have never been to the big game, but those clubs have been around for only a fraction as long as the Lions have.
Detroit got utterly boat raced by the New York Jets in week one, and the Jets themselves are often a punchline. As for Oakland, it’s very clear, early on this season that the Khalil Mack trade was a massive blunder and that 2016’s success is just a fluke now in the overall scheme of things.
Regarding the Cardinals, they are another franchise that has traditionally been down a lot more than they have been up, and when they have had success, they don’t know how to handle it. Their 2008 season was a tremendous fluke.
Overall, as we have seen the New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers consistently up near the top, we also have a group of usual suspects down near the bottom.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, is currently a regular contributor to SB Nation, WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Sound Cloud and YouTube. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to any and all of his.