Much of the focus around the NFL during the final week of the season surrounded the playoff chance, and rightfully so. There were a handful of teams that had both postseason berths and division championships on the line in Week 18, and it made for some exciting finishes around the league.
NFL Draft Order Set, Commanders & Patriots Land In Top-3
The first 3 picks in the 2024 NFL Draft are now officially set:
1. Bears
2. Commanders
3. Patriots— Field Yates (@FieldYates) January 8, 2024
But for many of the already-eliminated teams, Sunday’s results were more about draft positioning than anything else, and the order for the first 18 picks of the upcoming selection process are now set in stone:
- Bears (via Panthers)
- Commanders
- Patriots
- Cardinals
- Chargers
- Giants
- Titans
- Falcons
- Bears
- Jets
- Vikings
- Broncos
- Raiders
- Saints
- Colts
- Seahawks
- Jaguars
- Bengals
The order of the remaining teams will of course be decided by the outcomes in the upcoming postseason.
The Chicago Bears are the obvious winners of the first round run-down, and are on the clock. Thanks to their decision to trade away the first overall pick in last year’s draft, they were able to obtain the rights to the Carolina Panthers’ first round pick in 2024, and Bryce Young and company wound up being the worst team in the NFL.
The Bears will benefit, but it is unclear what they plan to do with the selection. They passed on the opportunity to draft a quarterback last year in order to give Justin Fields the reins for another season, but he and the team didn’t do much to solidify their future’s together in 2023.
Will they stand pat, take Caleb Williams, and look to trade Fields? Or will they look for a king’s ransom in another trade and use their own pick (9th overall) to select their first round talent?
How Does The Rest Of The Top-5 Shake Out?
The official 2024 NFL Draft order:
1) Bears (via CAR)
2) Commanders
3) Patriots
4) Cardinals
5) Chargers
6) Giants
7) Titans
8) Falcons
9) Bears
10) Jets
11) Vikings pic.twitter.com/CMxqrffzCl— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) January 8, 2024
The second overall pick will go to the Washington Commanders, and it could prove to be a commodity that helps entice candidates during their upcoming coaching search.
The Patriots are making a rare appearance in the top-3. Due to their worst finish since 1993, New England will have one of the more valuable picks of the first round, but could be just out of reach for one of the two elite prospects if both the Bears and Commanders select Williams and Drake Maye. Will Bill Belichick even be around to see what happens?
The Arizona Cardinals secured the 4th overall pick on the day that it was reported that they would keep Kyler Murray as their quarterback of the future and look to build around him instead of going after one of the top prospects.
The Los Angeles Chargers round out the top-5.
Add Sportslens to your Google News Feed!
