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Who improved, who hurt chances in 2023 NFL Draft order coming out of Week 17

The NFL draft order is coming into focus and Week 17 could bring some significant closure. Or, it could create Week 18 chaos in the top ten. We’ll follow along Sunday and Monday to see how it shakes out.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Sam Darnold (14) runs for a touchdown during the second quarter against the Detroit Lions at Bank of America Stadium. Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

Week 17 has some great matchups with playoff implications in both conferences. Neither has a set No. 1 seed and the wild card standings are a toss up. We will also see a few teams who don't want to win as they compete for a better pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

The Texans and Bears are likely to have the No. 1 and No. 2 pick in this years draft, but it could get interesting. The Broncos don’t have their pick as they traded it away for Russell Wilson. They will be everything they can do to win the last two games. They would love to have a top five pick right now. The Colts are another team to watch for tanking. I don't see them catching anybody in the top three, but they want a quarterback bad and want to try and get in the top three.

An interesting pick right now would be the Panthers. They would have the No. 8 pick, but because the AFC South has been so bad, they have a shot at making the playoffs. Midway through the season, it seemed they were rebuilding and would try to get a quarterback in the 2023 NFL Draft, but Sam Darnold has played decent and they would rather make the playoffs it seems. A playoff berth would drop them out of the top 18 picks.

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The Texans and Bears both lost, which means the No. 1 pick will be decided in the final week of the regular season. The Texans are guaranteed a top two pick, while Chicago could still drop to fourth if they win. The big change in the early window was the Patriots and Lions moving into the final wild card berth in each conference, which moved them out of the top 18 picks. The Dolphins and Commanders moved out of the playoff standings and into the top 18 picks.

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The Seahawks beat the Jets, which moved them into the final NFC wild card berth for the time-being. That moves the Lions out of the playoff spots in the draft order. The Seahawks, Lions, and Packers are all competing for that final berth. In the AFC, the Raiders lost to the 49ers and were officially eliminated from playoff contention. They currently have the seventh overall pick in the draft.

Here’s the complete 2023 NFL Draft order. The first 18 picks are teams that would currently miss the playoffs. A division leader has a lower draft position than a non-playoff or wild card team with a better record because of the nature of playoff seeding. SOS serves as the tiebreaker and comes via Tankathon.

  1. Houston Texans, 2-13-1, .485
  2. Chicago Bears, 3-13, .566
  3. Denver Broncos (Seahawks have pick), 4-12, .485
  4. Arizona Cardinals, 4-12, .526
  5. Indianapolis Colts, 4-11-1, .507
  6. Los Angeles Rams (Lions have pick), 5-11, .517
  7. Atlanta Falcons, 6-10, .470
  8. Las Vegas Raiders, 6-10, .471
  9. Carolina Panthers, 6-10, .474
  10. New Orleans Saints (Eagles have pick), 7-9, .502
  11. Tennessee Titans, 7-9, .504
  12. Cleveland Browns (Texans have pick), 7-9, .520
  13. New York Jets, 7-9, .532
  14. Washington Commanders, 7-8-1, .540
  15. Pittsburgh Steelers, 8-8, .526
  16. Green Bay Packers, 8-8, .528
  17. Detroit Lions, 8-8, .535
  18. Miami Dolphins (Forfeit pick due to tampering), 8-8 .541
  19. Seattle Seahawks, 8-8, .465
  20. Jacksonville Jaguars, 8-8, .471
  21. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 8-8, .502
  22. New England Patriots, 8-8, .504
  23. New York Giants, 9-6-1, .522
  24. Baltimore Ravens, 10-6, .504
  25. Los Angeles Chargers, 10-6, .434
  26. Cincinnati Bengals, 11-4, .531
  27. Minnesota Vikings, 12-4, .482
  28. Dallas Cowboys, 12-4, .506
  29. San Francisco 49ers (Broncos have pick), 12-4, .414
  30. Buffalo Bills, 12-3, .509
  31. Kansas City Chiefs, 13-3, .452
  32. Philadelphia Eagles, 13-3, .478