Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Packer Plus
Packers will pick 12th in draft
Green Bay — Losing to the Detroit Lions 31-0 Sunday has some redeeming value for the Green Bay Packers. They will pick 12th in the 2019 NFL draft. The Packers (6-9-1) had a chance to sneak into the top 10, but they needed some help from the Cincinnati Bengals and Denver Broncos, both of whom entered the day 6-9. Finishing 6-9-1, the Packers needed both teams to win in order to finish with a worse record and move into the No. 10 spot.
However, the Broncos were no match for the San Diego Chargers, falling 23-9, in Denver, and the Bengals were edged out by the Pittsburgh Steelers, 16-13. As a result, the two teams finished with 10 losses, one more than the Packers, pushing them back to No. 12.
The Packers will have their highest selection since the 2009 season when they picked nose tackle B.J. Raji with the No. 9 pick.
The Packers also have New Orleans’ first-round pick. The Saints’ finished as the No. 1 seed in the NFC, which means the earliest their pick would fall would be No. 30.
Over the last nine seasons, the Packers’ assigned draft pick at the end of their season was (in order starting with last season) 14th, 29th, 27th, 30th, 21st, 26th, 28th, 32nd and 23rd.
Despite the victory over the Packers, the Lions (610) will be drafting ahead of them. They have the same amount of victories as Green Bay, but one more loss. The Arizona Cardinals hold the first overall pick. Picking ahead of the Packers will be: Arizona (313), San Francisco (4-12), Oakland (4-12), New York Jets (4-12), Jacksonville (5-11), New York Giants (5-11), Tampa Bay (5-11), Buffalo (6-10), Denver (6-10), Cincinnati (6-10) and Detroit (6-10).
Schedule nearly set: All of the Packers’ 2019 opponents have been determined.
The Packers’ interconference pairing is with the AFC West and will include games against Denver, Oakland, Kansas City, and Los Angeles Chargers. Their intraconference pairing is with the NFC East, including: Philadelphia, Washington, Dallas and New York Giants.
Since the Packers finished third in the NFC North, they will play the third-place finishers in the other two NFC divisions. Carolina finished third in the NFC South and the San Francisco 49ers finished third in the NFC West.
The Packers face division opponents Chicago, Detroit and Minnesota at home and away. Thus, the other teams the Packers will play at home are Philadelphia, Washington, Denver, Oakland and Carolina. Their road opponents include Kansas City, L.A. Chargers, San Francisco, Dallas and New York Giants.