2021 NFL Draft Order
With most of Week 5 in the books, we bring you a way-too-early look at the current order for the 2021 NFL draft. For non-playoff teams, the draft order will be determined by the inverted 2020 standings, plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule. After that, the same goes for the six clubs eliminated from each round of the postseason, with the final two picks determined by the outcome of the Super Bowl.
Here’s where things stand in the race to the bottom:
- New York Giants (0-5)
- Atlanta Falcons (0-5)
- New York Jets (0-5)
- Washington Football Team (1-4)
- Minnesota Vikings (1-4)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (1-4)
- Miami Dolphins (via Houston Texans, 1-4)
- Los Angeles Chargers (1-3)
- Detroit Lions (1-3)
- Denver Broncos (1-3)
- Philadelphia Eagles (1-3-1)
- Cincinnati Bengals (1-3-1)
- Miami Dolphins (2-3)
- San Francisco 49ers (2-3)
- New Orleans Saints (2-2)
- New England Patriots (2-2)
- Arizona Cardinals (3-2)
- Indianapolis Colts (3-2)
- Dallas Cowboys (2-3)
- Carolina Panthers (3-2)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-2)
- Las Vegas Raiders (3-2)
- Kansas City Chiefs (4-1)
- Cleveland Browns (4-1)
- Chicago Bears (4-1)
- Baltimore Ravens (4-1)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (via Los Angeles Rams, 4-1)
- Tennessee Titans (3-0)
- Green Bay Packers (4-0)
- Pittsburgh Steelers (4-0)
- Buffalo Bills (4-0)
- New York Jets (via Seattle Seahawks, 4-0)
Browns Place Greedy Williams On IR
Browns cornerback Greedy Williams will be placed on injured reserve, per a club announcement. While he won’t require surgery, head coach Kevin Stefanski says he’ll need additional time to heal up from a nerve issue in his shoulder. 
[RELATED: Browns Place Nick Chubb On IR]
Williams was absent from the Browns’ first five games. Now that he’s on IR, he’ll miss at least another three. In a best case scenario, Williams will be eligible to return for the Browns’ Nov. 15 game against the Texans.
Williams, a 2019 second-round pick, registered 47 stops as a rookie. The LSU product missed a quarter the season due to hamstring issues and he once again finds himself sidelined. At best, Williams will finish his second pro season with just 20 regular season games played in total.
On the plus side, the Browns beat the Colts on Sunday with Terrence Mitchell, Denzel Ward, and Kevin Johnson as their top trio of cornerbacks. With that, they advanced to 3-1 on the season, though they’ll have to push for separation in the sardine-packed AFC North. Next up, a pivotal matchup against the 4-0 Steelers.
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/10/20
Here is the latest barrage of Saturday minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Promoted: TE Evan Baylis, S Curtis Riley
Atlanta Falcons
- Promoted: DB Tyler Hall, LB Edmond Robinson
Chicago Bears
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: T Badara Traore
Cincinnati Bengals
- Promoted: DT Kahlil McKenzie, CB Torry McTyer
Cleveland Browns
- Promoted: DT Joey Ivie, DE Cameron Malveaux
Denver Broncos
- Promoted: T Jake Rodgers
- Placed on IR: RB LeVante Bellamy
Houston Texans
- Promoted: LB Nate Hall, S Jonathan Owens
Indianapolis Colts
- Promoted: G Jake Eldrenkamp, WR Marcus Johnson
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Promoted: DL Caraun Reid, LB Quincy Williams, S Jarrod Wilson
Las Vegas Raiders
- Promoted: DE Datone Jones, DE Chris Smith
Los Angeles Rams
- Waived: DT Eric Banks
Miami Dolphins
- Promoted: DE Tyshun Render
Minnesota Vikings
- Waived: DE Eddie Yarbrough
Philadelphia Eagles
- Activated from IR: CB Craig James, WR Quez Watkins
- Promoted: DB Grayland Arnold, TE Jason Croom, DB Elijah Riley
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Promoted: FB Trey Edmunds
San Francisco 49ers
- Promoted: CB Brian Allen, CB Jamar Taylor, WR Kevin White
Seattle Seahawks
- Promoted: S Damarious Randall
Tennessee Titans
- Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: CB Greg Mabin
Washington Football Team
- Promoted: TE Temarrick Hemingway
Browns Activate TE David Njoku
David Njoku is back. The Browns announced this morning that they’ve activated the tight end from the injured reserve.
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/7/20
Here are Wednesday’s minor moves, with the list being updated throughout the day:
Arizona Cardinals
- Promoted: S Kentrell Brice
Atlanta Falcons
- Placed on IR: DB Damontae Kazee
Cleveland Browns
- Promoted: WR Taywan Taylor
Philadelphia Eagles
- Claimed off waivers (from Cardinals): T Brett Toth
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed off Cardinals’ practice squad: DL Jonathan Bullard
- Placed on IR: DB Neiko Thorpe
NFL Workout Updates: 10/6/20
Workout updates stand to be sparser going forward, with Mike Garafolo of NFL.com noting the NFL has moved to, in light of some teams’ recent issues with the coronavirus, cap workouts at five per week (Twitter link). However, the rule will not apply to teams that place more than three players on IR in a week, Garafolo tweets. In those scenarios, teams would be permitted to work out 10 players in a week. That said, here are the top developments from the workout circuit, as of Tuesday evening.
Atlanta Falcons
- LB James Burgess, S J.J. Wilcox (visit)
Chicago Bears
Cincinnati Bengals
- DT Xavier Williams (visit)
Cleveland Browns
Houston Texans
- LB Deone Bucannon, LB Emmanuel Ellerbee, DB Roderic Teamer
Indianapolis Colts
- LB Najee Goode (visit), DB Akeem King, DB Jaylen Watkins, LB Ramik Wilson
New Orleans Saints
Seattle Seahawks
- LB Ray-Ray Armstrong, DE/LB Jeff Holland
Tennessee Titans
- LS Colin Holba, LS Matt Overton
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/6/20
Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Promoted: RB Jonathan Ward
- Released: DB Curtis Riley
Cleveland Browns
- Placed on IR: WR KhaDarel Hodge
Green Bay Packers
- Waived: WR Reggie Begelton
New England Patriots
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: DT Bill Murray; Murray was on Patriots’ practice squad
New York Giants
- Promoted: TE Eric Tomlinson
- Waived: S Sean Chandler
San Francisco 49ers
- Promoted: DE Alex Barrett
- Waived: TE Charlie Taumoepeau
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Promoted: WR Cyril Grayson
Washington Football Team
- Released from IR: WR Jordan Veasy
Cowboys Release DB Brandon Carr
Brandon Carr‘s second act with the Cowboys will end early in the season. The team released the 13th-year veteran defensive back Tuesday.
The Cowboys brought Carr back just before the season, stashing him on their practice squad before promoting him ahead of Week 1. Carr, however, did not see much playing time. Dressing for three games, the iron-man defender played just 21 defensive snaps — despite Dallas being shorthanded in its secondary.
The Ravens did not pick up Carr’s 2020 option, sending him to free agency. The past three 2020 games marked the first time the former 2008 draftee did not start an NFL game, ending a 192-game start streak. Said streak included 80 games with the Cowboys, who signed Carr to a five-year deal in 2012 and watched him play out the contract before signing with the Ravens in 2017.
Additionally, the Cowboys waived tackle Alex Light, signed tackle Greg Senat off the Browns’ practice squad and added tackle William Sweet to their taxi squad.
Browns Place Nick Chubb On IR
The Browns placed running back Nick Chubb on injured reserve with with an MCL injury, head coach Kevin Stefanski announced. Fortunately, the injury is not season-ending, so Chubb is expected to return later on this year. Doctors believe Chubb will miss about six weeks, according to a source who spoke with ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter).
Chubb got rolled up on in scary fashion on Sunday when his knee twisted under a Cowboys defender. Fortunately, the injury was nowhere near as bad as it looked. An MRI on Monday morning confirmed that Chubb is only dealing with mild MCL damage and not a torn ACL.
Chubb, 25 in December, has been off to a tremendous start in 2020. Through four games, he’s got 335 rushing yards off of 57 carries, good for 5.9 yards per tote. Since entering the league as a second-rounder in 2018, Chubb has averaged an eye-popping 5.2 yards per attempt. Last year, Chubb came six yards shy of 1,500 en route to his first ever Pro Bowl selection.
Per league rules, Chubb will have to sit out for at least three weeks. At minimum, Chubb will miss upcoming games against the Colts, Steelers, and Bengals. In theory, he’ll be eligible to return on Nov. 1 when the Browns face the Raiders in Cleveland, but it’s likely that he’ll need additional time to recover. In the meantime, Kareem Hunt will assume RB1 duties, with support from D’Ernest Johnson, Dontrell Hilliard, and fullback Andy Janovich.
Injury Updates: Chubb, Looney, Darnold, Fant,
It’s been a bad year for injuries, and unfortunately we’ve already heard reports of significant ones to guys like O.J. Howard and Austin Ekeler this Sunday. Here’s the latest batch of updates as Week 4 winds down:
- Browns running back Nick Chubb got rolled up on in scary fashion, with his knee twisting under a Cowboys defender. Fortunately it looks like Cleveland dodged a bullet, as a source told Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com that the team is “cautiously optimistic” he didn’t suffer a torn ACL. He’ll have an MRI on Monday to tell the full story, but it looks like he isn’t going to be done for the year.
- Chubb wasn’t the only one to go down with a knee injury in the same game. Cowboys center Joe Looney also hurt his knee and was quickly ruled out, which had Dallas fans holding their breath. Like with Chubb however it appears it could’ve been worse, as Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News tweets that there’s “hope the injury is not of season-ending variety.” Dallas is already banged up on the offensive line, and starting right tackle La’el Collins was just ruled out for the year due to hip surgery, so this would be a big loss. Rookie fourth-round pick Tyler Biadasz filled in after Looney got hurt.
- Sam Darnold hurt his shoulder early in the Jets’ Thursday Night Football game, and although he was able to return to the loss to the Broncos and keep playing, it appears he isn’t out of the woods yet. Darnold has a sprained AC joint in his shoulder and is in danger of missing New York’s Week 5 game against the Cardinals, according to Rich Cimini of ESPN.com. “We just need to make sure we lay everything out and kind of see where we go from here, what’s best for him, not just next week but long term,” head coach Adam Gase explained. Darnold has struggled mightily in his third season, and considering this is clearly the Jets’ easiest game for the foreseeable future, it would be great if he could play. If he’s unable to go, veteran Joe Flacco would draw the spot start.
- Broncos tight end Noah Fant also went down on Thursday night, suffering an ankle injury. Although he was carte to the locker room it fortunately isn’t a season-ending broken ankle or anything of the sort. That being said he will be week to week and is expected to miss Denver’s Week 5 game against the Patriots, a source told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). You’re probably well aware of the Broncos’ injury woes this season, as players have been going down left and right. At 1-3 and without practically half of their starting lineup, it’s looking like a lost season for Denver. The 20th overall pick of last year’s draft had been playing well, with 19 catches for 219 yards and two scores through three and a half games before going down.