How is the NFL Draft order determined? The selection order is dictated by the reverse order of finish in the previous season. Each round starts with the team that finished with the worst record and ends with the Super Bowl champions, unless any trades have occurred.
Under the current rules, only the top four picks are decided by the lottery, and are chosen from the 14 teams that do not make the playoffs. The team with the worst record, or the team that holds the draft rights of the team with the worst record, has the best chance to obtain a higher draft pick.
So pick 1 means you get the first choice of every player in the draft, pick 2 means you get the second pick etc. The order of the picks are awarded based on the reverse order of where you finished on the ladder, so if you finished 18th of the ladder you get pick 1, 17th gets pick 2 etc.
A list is sent to all NFL teams of all players eligible to be drafted and then they take turns. The team with the worst record (wins and losses) gets to pick first and the Super Bowl winner picks last. So your first draft pick is the guy that you pick in the first round (picks 1–32).
The order of selection is determined by the reverse order of finish in the previous season. Barring any trades between clubs, each round starts with the team that finished with the worst record and ends with the Super Bowl champions. Teams that didn't qualify for the playoffs are assigned draft slots 1-20.