Jaguars clinch No. 1 pick and chance to draft Trevor Lawrence thanks to Jets win

The complete 2021 NFL Draft order won’t be finalized until the end of the playoffs, but we know in Week 16 who will be in position to draft Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence with the No. 1 overall pick next April. The Jacksonville Jaguars lost to the Chicago Bears 41-17 and that coupled with the New York Jets 23-16 win over the Cleveland Browns means Jacksonville will hold the top pick in the spring.

The Jaguars are currently 1-14 while the Jets improved to 2-13. They can finish tied, but the Jets cannot win the first draft order tiebreaker. The league uses strength of schedule as the first tiebreaker to split teams up. The weaker SOS claims the better draft position. Coming into Sunday, the Jaguars SOS was .553 and the Jets SOS was .598. It is mathematically impossible for the Jets to pull ahead in SOS.

The Jaguars could trade the pick or go in another direction, but odds are good they draft Trevor Lawrence to be their franchise quarterback. A week ago, the Jets had the No. 1 pick just about settled, but back-to-back wins now mean they won’t be able to draft Lawrence.

Jacksonville gave Chicago some early problems, but Mitchell Trubisky and David Montgomery helped the Bears pull away in the third quarter. Trubisky completed 24 of 35 passes for 265 yards. He threw two touchdowns and an interception, and also ran in a score. Montgomery ran for 95 yards and a score.

The Jets stunned the Browns for a second straight win, but did it in convincing fashion. Cleveland took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter, but the Jets followed with 20 straight points. Cleveland fought back but came up short in a 23-16 loss. The Jets didn’t do anything overly impressive most of the day on offense, but their defense thoroughly shut down the Browns for most of the day and made a key stop late in the fourth quarter. They held the Browns vaunted rushing attack to 45 total yards.