NFL Draft order after Week 15
With two weeks remaining in the NFL regular season, playoff spots and playoff seeds are on the line. Still up for grabs are the respective No. 1 seeds in the AFC and NFC, with the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints and Seattle Seahawks among the teams still in the mix.
Also on the line in Weeks 16 and 17 are spots in the 2021 NFL Draft. How the teams finish in the regular season will determine the order of draft picks. Still up for grabs is the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, with the New York Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars battling it out to finish at the bottom of the league -- and therefore, at the top of the draft.
With Week 15 in the rearview mirror and Week 16 approaching, what would be the draft order if the season ended today?
1. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-13)
When the New York Jets finally won their first game of the season in Week 15, it brought them into a tie with the Jaguars for the NFL's worst record at 1-13. If the two moribund franchises remain tied for the rest of the season, then the draft-pick tiebreaker would go to the Jaguars -- who have the easier schedule. The logic being that if the Jaguars have gone 1-13 against a weaker schedule than the Jets, they must be the worse team among the two.
2. New York Jets (1-13)
The Jets seemed to have the No. 1 draft pick on lock for the whole season, until they went out there and actually won a game against the Los Angeles Rams last week. Now they're tied with the Jaguars at 1-13, but the Jets would lose the draft-pick tiebreaker to Jacksonville based on strength of schedule.
3. Cincinnati Bengals (3-10-1)
The Bengals could finish tied with the Jets and Jaguars in the win column, they'd still be ahead of them in the loss column thanks to their Week 3 tie against the Philadelphia Eagles. Last week's upset win over the Steelers probably locked Cincinnati into the 3rd pick in the draft at best.
4. Carolina Panthers (4-10)
5. Atlanta Falcons (4-10)
6. Miami Dolphins (9-5)
The Dolphins could make the playoffs and get a top-10 pick thanks to last year's trade with the 4-10 Houston Texans. The Dolphins gave up offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil and receiver Kenny Stills, and got two first-round picks from Houston.
7. Philadelphia Eagles (4-9-1)
8. Dallas Cowboys (5-9)
9. Los Angeles Chargers (5-9)
10. New York Giants (5-9)
11. Detroit Lions (5-9)
12. San Francisco 49ers (5-9)
13. Denver Broncos (5-9)
14. Minnesota Vikings (6-8)
15. New England Patriots (6-8)
16. Chicago Bears (7-7)
17. Las Vegas Raiders (7-7)
18. Baltimore Ravens (9-5)
19. Washington (6-8)
20. Arizona Cardinals (8-6)
21. Miami Dolphins (9-5)
22. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-5)
23. Indianapolis Colts (10-4)
24. Cleveland Browns (10-4)
25. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-13)
26. New York Jets (1-13)
27. Tennessee Titans (10-4)
28. Pittsburgh Steelers (11-3)
29. New Orleans Saints (10-4)
30. Buffalo Bills (11-3)
31. Green Bay Packers (11-3)
32. Kansas City Chiefs (13-1)