2012 NFL Draft: Coin Flips Decide Draft Fate of Four NFL Teams

Most of the talk at the 2012 NFL Scouting Combine will revolve around Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III and the rest of the top prospects participating in Indianapolis this week. You can throw Peyton Manning's future into that mix, too.

However, a rather obscure yet important event will also happen on Friday of this week. At a hotel in downtown Indianapolis, two separate coin flips will take place to decide where four NFL teams pick in April's draft.

For the Carolina Panthers, Miami Dolphins, Kansas City Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks, Friday definitely matters.  

The Panthers and Dolphins both finished at 6-10 in 2011 and had identical strength of schedules at 129-127 (.504). Their coin flip will decide who picks at No. 8 and who picks at No. 9. 

The same thing applies to the Chiefs and Seahawks. The two teams finished at 7-9 with identical schedule strengths of 131-125 (.512). Whoever wins their coin flip will pick No. 11; the loser gets No. 12.

While I don't think you could say that the coin flips will be franchise-changing, that doesn't mean they're not important. 

Higher picks obviously mean higher value, and that could come into play for the Miami Dolphins. They have long been rumored as a team that could trade up to get to quarterback Robert Griffin III and having the No. 8 pick would make it a touch easier for Miami to make up the difference in trade value. 

Sports Illustrated's Peter King laid out that complete scenario in his Tuesday edition of Monday Morning Quarterback:

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The difference in one spot on the draft trade value chart -- the chart most teams use to divine value when making draft-day trades -- between picks that high is 50 points. That's roughly the equivalent of a mid- to low-fourth-round pick on the chart. And with this draft expected to have lots of very close valuations between post-Luck and -RGIII players at the top, the winner of each flip could lead to a valuable chip when the first round goes off April 26.

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King also talked about how it could effect both the Seahawks and Chiefs a couple of picks later:

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Let's say Kansas City and Seattle both want Iowa tackle Riley Reiff at No. 11. Seattle wins the flip. And let's say there are other suitors for Reiff. Seattle could move down one spot, with the Chiefs, for a third- or fourth-round pick, or seven spots, with tackle-needy San Diego, for something significantly better. Just something to keep your eye on in the two months before the draft.

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NFL.com's Bucky Brooks also thinks that the coin flips could have a big impact on the 2012 NFL draft. His piece on the coin flips can be found here.

In the end, the coin flips will be an important but little spoke of event at the combine. Pay attention sometime Friday morning to find out the results of both flips. 

Among the biggest decisions for those four teams to make at this combine will now be whether to pick heads or tails.