49ers win coin flip at combine for the No. 9 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft

The last bit of unfinished business for the 2018 NFL Draft order has been settled. The 49ers and Raiders flipped a coin at the NFL Combine to determine the draft order for the ninth- and 10th-overall picks in this year’s draft. The 49ers won, so they’ll pick at No. 9 this year.

Former Raiders and 49ers safety Rod Woodson was the official coin flipper. The teams had to resort to a coin toss because both finished 6-10 and with the same opponent strength of schedule. The rest of the tiebreakers didn’t apply, so the coin flip was the deciding factor.

This year’s toss also impacts a third team. The Patriots have the Niners’ second-round pick this year as part of the Jimmy Garoppolo trade. Because the Niners won, the Patriots will have the 43rd-overall pick.

John Lynch was looking forward to this since the end of the season.

“I’m going to practice all offseason,” Lynch said in January, via ESPN’s Nick Wagoner. “I’m talking to our analytics guys. I’m hearing it’s 50-50.”

Lynch’s excitement about it didn’t wane on Friday.

Raiders’ scouts were decidedly less into the whole thing than Lynch was.

Lynch is right, this was technically a 50/50 proposition. But oddly enough — no pun intended — Bet DSI’s odds favored the Raiders winning. The Raiders were at -130, meaning you could bet $100 and win $130 if the the toss went the Raiders’ way. The Niners’ odds were longer, at +100.

Bet DSI gave Golf Digest a statement explaining the odds.

“With the Raiders eventually relocating to Las Vegas, we thought Lady Luck might favor the silver and black one more time while in the Bay Area,” it read. “Plus, Jon Gruden is a combine junkie, and he knows which way the wind blows in that dome.”

This is the second consecutive year a combine coin toss has been necessary to set the draft order. The Colts and Vikings had to flip to determine the draft order for the 14th and 15th picks in the 2017 draft. The Vikings won, which worked out well for the Eagles, who got the No. 14 pick as part of the preseason Sam Bradford trade.

It’s not the first time the Raiders and Niners have had to flip for draft order, either. This also happened before the 2006 draft. Both teams finished 4-12 and they were dead even on the tiebreakers. The 49ers came out ahead that time and got the sixth-overall pick, which they used to select tight end Vernon Davis. The Raiders got safety Michael Huff at No. 7.

Now we’ll see what these teams do with the ninth and 10th picks in this year’s draft.