Week 12 saw the Giants become the first team in the NFL to be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. Based on Sunday’s results, another two teams from each conference saw their postseason chances officially come to an end.
The Titans, Saints, Raiders and Cardinals have now been eliminated as well. Attention in the case of those teams will increasingly turn toward the offseason. For some, questions about changes at the quarterback spot will be ongoing through the spring. Free agency is not expected to include many notable options, so the draft will be sought out in several instances as a means of finding a 2026 starter.
Of course, the incoming class of passers has largely underwhelmed this season. That has led to uncertainty regarding the ceiling for many of the top prospects at the quarterback position. Nevertheless, supply often outweighs demand at the top of the Day 1 order in the NFL draft. How things shake out over the closing weeks of the season will be key in determining which QB-needy teams find themselves in the best position to select a new QB1.
For non-playoff teams, the draft order is determined by the inverted 2025 standings plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule. Playoff squads are slotted by their postseason outcome and the reverse order of their regular season record.
Here is an early look at the first-round order:
- Tennessee Titans (1-11)
- New York Giants (2-11)
- New Orleans Saints (2-10)
- Las Vegas Raiders (2-10)
- Cleveland Browns (3-9)
- Washington Commanders (3-9)
- New York Jets (3-9)
- Arizona Cardinals (3-9)
- Los Angeles Rams (via Falcons)
- Cincinnati Bengals (4-8)
- Minnesota Vikings (4-8)
- Miami Dolphins (5-7)
- Kansas City Chiefs (6-6)
- Pittsburgh Steelers (6-6)
- Carolina Panthers (7-6)
- Dallas Cowboys (6-5-1)
- Detroit Lions (7-5)
- Houston Texans (7-5)
- Baltimore Ravens (6-6)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-5)
- Buffalo Bills (8-4)
- Philadelphia Eagles (8-4)
- New York Jets (via Colts)
- San Francisco 49ers (9-4)
- Los Angeles Chargers (8-4)
- Cleveland Browns (via Jaguars)
- Dallas Cowboys (via Packers)
- Seattle Seahawks (9-3)
- Los Angeles Rams (9-3)
- Denver Broncos (10-2)
- Chicago Bears (9-3)
- New England Patriots (11-2)
Raiders need to lose out the remainder of season.
The same can be said for every team 1-8 on this list
Raiders steam rolled the Pats wk 1
‘The top players aren’t very good. Many like them and many don’t.’ Propaganda season has begun!
It’s like last season, arty!, when everyone said the QB’s coming out weren’t as good as what’s coming in 2026. What a laugh.
And of course, after the draft; not a single team will get a ‘C’ report. All 32 teams ‘earn ‘A’ or ‘B’ grades w/ fail from the media!
That said, the Steelers would do well to lose out ( and they may do just that). Here’s a franchise that needs to burn it all down from the head coach and his assistants to the many old, slow, high priced guys they have.
Translation: “This is a disappointing QB draft therefore it’s not a great draft”
Translation: ‘Teams drafting lower than top 5 that need a QB, say how bad the class is.’ It’s the same GM’s & scouts that praised this class all last off season.
From google: Before winning the Heisman, Joe Burrow’s draft grade was that of a late-round prospect, potentially as high as a fifth-round pick
They were wrong on Joe.
Hard to put a lot of stock in what the pundits say. Having watched Burrow at LSU it seemed apparent he was the real deal and for my money is the best QB in the league
But guys like Burrow are generational talents. So many “blue chip” guys fall flat on their faces while others come from literally out of nowhere and succeed. It’s difficult to predict
That said, if I was the Steelers GM I would have been taking a QB in every draft after Roethlisberger began to go downhill until someone showed me some ability. And I sure would have had a good QB coach to develop them and make determinations about progress
I’m just not sure a team like the Steelers have scouts who can make good assessments as they’ve missed so many times. Rudolph? Pickett? Will Howard?
Guess that’s my bottom line. Teams that annually are looking for QBs like Pittsburgh, Vegas, Tennessee and Cleveland seem to continually misfire. You wonder how that’s possible
I don’t think you’re paying attention. You’re describing every team. It’s hard to find a great QB.
I can’t stand the Steelers, but I also acknowledge they’re not any worse than other teams with QB draft successes.
No? I’ve been paying attention since the Noll era. The point was that some teams are pretty consistent in their assessments. Some are lesser. Since the 70’s the Steelers have had Bradshaw and Roethlisberger, a lot of stiffs in between and many afterwards. Maybe that’s true of a lot of teams and maybe you’re right.
The draft failures are one thing but boy, the guys they’ve brought in when the draft hasn’t been kind are another matter
arty- Tom Brady says hello.
1 player this century. Wow! Next up, Purdy double wow. 95% 5th-7th rounders are out of the league w/in 3 years.
Nice to see the Jets are doing what needs to be done to avoid any decent QB prospects.
When they signed Rodgers they as much as admitted they were going with a veteran because they had no clue how to develop QB draft prospects.
Could be, but add that to getting DK, Jonnu Slay and Ramsey. Extending Watt. Redoing Cam. This was their “all in” effort. Had it been 5 years ago and with a different set of coordinators, it might have worked
I believe Cross eye was referring to the Jets
Ha. Could easily apply here in Pittsburgh too
Roethlisberger retired in 2021. Really was done in 2019. They’ve been trying to replace him ever since
I literally laughed out loud at this comment. Thank you.
How at this time is the cowboys picking after the panthers
Winning percentage. Cowboys .542 and Panthers .538
For 1 day and 1 day only. Unless the Pats lose tonight anyway.
Keep Tanking Giants. Don’t ruin the draft for you.
I’m a Pats fan and so I couldn’t care less about the Giants, but they’ve got a really good top of their roster. When they get another set of high draft picks next year (each round), they can make some noise. Nabors, Skattebo, and Dart can form the basis of an offense, and then they’ve got some quality on D also. They’ve at least got a core to work around.
Will the Titans trade the #1 pick? Will a team be foolish enough to trade up with this weak QB class? Will Max Brosmer be waived by the Vikings? Find out next time on Dragon Ball Z.
Here in Minnesota you cannot waive a former Gopher in season.
After Tomlin fell in love with Kenny Pickett as the savior of the franchise a couple years back, I’d say anything is possible if he and Khan are still with the Steelers. It’s amazing how many misfires one group can have