Most fans would probably say ‘draft order be damned, I’d rather see my team win.’ And fair enough, but just for the sake of tracking these things, the Raiders’ big win on Thursday Night has caused them to tumble in the draft order.
Six days ago, the Raiders were sitting at sixth in the draft order. Today? 12th. Quite a drop in a single week.
That’s because there is a large group of teams that are currently between 5-9 — where the Chargers now sit — and 6-8 — where the Raiders now sit.
Currently, there are nine teams with either five or six wins on the season, starting at the fifth overall pick and ending at the 13th overall pick. That’s a lot of draft positions separated by one game.
Here is what that top 13 looks like according to Tankathon.com:
1. Bears (vis CAR) 2-12
2. Patriots 3-11
3. Cardinals 3-11
4. Commanders 4-10
5. Bears 5-9
6. Jets 5-9
7. Giants 5-9
8. Chargers 5-9
9. Titans 6-8
10. Falcons 6-8
11. Packers 6-8
12. Raiders 6-8
13. Seahawks 6-7
You might notice that the Seahawks have only seven losses. That’s because they play the Eagles on Monday Night. The thing is, though, that even if they lose that game — as they are expected to do — their strength of schedule would keep them right where they’re at.
A lot could happen in the final three games. The only thing that is certain now is the Raiders are mathematically out of the number one overall pick. Everything else is possible at this moment — from the second overall pick to the playoffs — even if unlikely.
The Raiders final three games are against the Chiefs (9-5), Colts (8-6), and Broncos (7-7).