Updated 2022 NFL Draft Order
The Chiefs (9-4) and Chargers (8-5) are getting set to kick off Week 15 in a matchup that could decide the AFC West crown. Meanwhile, more than one-quarter of the NFL’s teams have either been mathematically or effectively eliminated from playoff contention.
For non-playoff teams, the draft order will be determined by the inverted 2021 standings, plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule. For playoff teams, the order is determined by their postseason outcome and regular season record. (Ex: Washington would own the No. 19 pick if they were eliminated in the Wild Card round with the worst record of the group.)
With that in mind, here’s a look at the currently projected 2022 NFL Draft Order:
1. Detroit Lions (1-11-1)
2. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-11)
3. Houston Texans (2-11)
4. New York Jets (3-10)
5. New York Giants (via Bears)
6. New York Giants (4-9)
7. New York Jets (via Seahawks)
8. Carolina Panthers (5-8)
9. Atlanta Falcons (6-7)
10. Philadelphia Eagles (via Dolphins)
11. Philadelphia Eagles (6-7)
12. Minnesota Vikings (6-7)
13. New Orleans Saints (6-7)
14. Las Vegas Raiders (6-7)
15. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-6-1)
16. Denver Broncos (7-6)
17. Cincinnati Bengals (7-6)
18. Cleveland Browns (7-6)
19. Washington Football Team (6-7)*
20. Buffalo Bills (7-6)*
21. Philadelphia Eagles (via Colts)*
22. Miami Dolphins (via 49ers)*
23. Los Angeles Chargers (8-5)*
24. Detroit Lions (via Rams)*
25. Baltimore Ravens (8-5)*
26. Dallas Cowboys (9-4)*
27. Kansas City Chiefs (9-4)*
28. Arizona Cardinals (10-3)*
29. Tennessee Titans (9-4)*
30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-3)*
31. New England Patriots (9-4)*
32. Green Bay Packers (10-3)*
* = Playoffs
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/16/21
Today’s taxi squad moves:
Baltimore Ravens
- Placed on COVID-19 list: RB Nate McCrary
Carolina Panthers
- Released: LB Josh Watson
Cincinnati Bengals
- Signed: CB Brian Allen, S Tedric Thompson
Houston Texans
- Placed on COVID-19 list: DB Cre’von LeBlanc
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: TE Colin Thompson
Los Angeles Rams
- Signed: CB Greg Stroman
New York Giants
- Signed: C Evan Boehm
New York Jets
- Activated from COVID-19 list: LB Noah Dawkins
Minor NFL Transactions: 12/16/21
Today’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: C Rodney Hudson
Baltimore Ravens
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: S Chuck Clark
Chicago Bears
- Activated for return: OT Germain Ifedi, CB Duke Shelley
Cleveland Browns
- Promoted: WR Lawrence Cager
Houston Texans
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: DB Terrence Brooks, DB Terrance Mitchell
Kansas City Chiefs
- Promoted: CB Dicaprio Bootle, DE Cortez Broughton, WR Daurice Fountain, LB Darius Harris
Los Angeles Chargers
- Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: G Scott Quessenberry
- Promoted: DB Ben Deluca
New England Patriots
- Placed on IR: LB Ronnie Perkins
New Orleans Saints
- Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: DE Cameron Jordan
New York Giants
- Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: G Wes Martin
- Promoted: WR Pharoh Cooper
New York Jets
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: WR Elijah Moore, LB Hamsah Nasirildeen
Washington Football Team
- Signed: DT Akeem Spence (story)
Texans’ Jordan Jenkins To Return From IR
The Texans have designated Jordan Jenkins for return from IR, per a club announcement. Jenkins has missed the last few weeks with a torn PCL, but it appears that it was just a partial tear, one that didn’t require significant surgery. 
[RELATED: Texans, Dorsett Agree To Extension]
Jenkins, a 2016 third-round pick of the Jets, joined up with the Texans on a two-year, $6MM deal in March. The Texans aren’t playing for much at this point, but Jenkins may be motivated to keep his job (and contract) for 2022. In theory, the Texans could release him this spring to save $3MM against just $500K in dead money.
Jenkins notched 22.5 sacks in his previous five seasons with the Jets, including 15 sacks between the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Then, he took a step back in 2020 with career-lows in tackles (32) and sacks (2). So far this year, he’s got 17 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and three tackles for loss in Houston.
The Texans are now 2-11 following Sunday’s loss the Seahawks. They’ll try to snap their three-game losing streak this week when they face the Jaguars in Jacksonville.
Texans, Phillip Dorsett Agree To Extension
Phillip Dorsett has a new deal. On Wednesday, the Texans agreed to a new extension with the veteran wide receiver that will take him through the 2022 season (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of Sports Talk 790).
The new portion of the deal carries a base salary of $1.035MM with $300K in guarantees ($100K signing bonus, $200K for skill, injury and salary cap). He’s also in line to receive a $50K workout bonus.
Dorsett, 29 in January, now stands as the Texans’ primary slot receiver following Davion Davis‘ season-ending leg fracture. Before that, he spent time with the Jaguars and Seahawks. Now, the 2015 first-round pick could see more action that he has in a while. His last season of significance came in 2019 with the Patriots when he tallied 29 grabs for 397 yards and five touchdowns. All in all, he has 125 receptions for 1,643 yards and eleven touchdowns across the last five-and-three-quarters seasons.
Texans Could Draft DE If QB Mills Shows Promise
With two defensive ends topping most 2022 NFL mock drafts and the Texans staring down a potential spot in the top 3 draft picks, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that his sources have told him Houston may elect to draft Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson or Oregon’s Kayvon Thibodeaux should rookie quarterback Davis Mills show promise in the last four games of the season.
The third-round pick out of Stanford has started seven games this season, taking over for season starter Tyrod Taylor after Taylor suffered a hamstring injury in Week 2 of this season. When Taylor returned to health, Mills went back to his backup role. In Week 13, due to an injured wrist and general ineffectiveness Taylor was benched for Mills and the Texans announced that Mills would be tabbed as the starter for the remainder of the season.
In his play as a rookie, Mills has shown impressive accuracy completing 65.8% of his passes. He’s thrown for eight touchdowns and eight interceptions and, in games he’s started, he’s averaged about 227 passing yards per game for a Texans team that isn’t necessarily rich in offensive weapons. The Texans did say that, if Mills struggles down the stretch, they still may aim for a quarterback with a high draft pick.
This decision may end up being a bit more complicated than they’re currently saying. If Mills shows too much promise en route to proving they don’t need to draft a quarterback and wins a couple of games, he could potentially push them out of range of the draft’s top defensive ends. If Mills does indeed struggle in the tail end of the season and Houston decides they need to draft one of the top quarterbacks available in the draft, due to the lack of a consensus top quarterback prospect, they may be tempted to let an anxious team trade up into their high draft pick, assuming that some of the top quarterback prospects may still be available throughout the top 10 picks.
Regardless of the their thought process, Houston has provided Mills with motivation and an opportunity to take hold of the starting job and has put the onus on him to determine how they approach the 2022 NFL Draft. In his attempts to prove his starting abilities, Mills will face the Jaguars, Chargers, 49ers, and Titans in the final four games of the season.
Minor NFL Transactions: 12/12/21
Here are today’s minor moves:
Houston Texans
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: RB David Johnson
Washington Football Team
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: DE Casey Toohill
WFT has played its way back into the NFC playoff picture, but the team has now placed three DEs on the reserve/COVID-19 list this week, including Montez Sweat. The club’s front seven depth will be seriously tested in its key matchup with the Cowboys this afternoon.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/11/21
Here are Saturday’s practice squad moves:
Detroit Lions
- Placed on practice squad reserve/COVID-19 list: LB Tavante Beckett
- Released: T Darrin Paulo
Houston Texans
- Placed on practice squad reserve/COVID-19 list: RB Jaylen Samuels
Washington Football Team
- Signed: K Lirim Hajrullahu
Minor NFL Transactions: 12/11/21
Here is how teams finalized their Week 14 rosters:
Atlanta Falcons
- Activated from IR: TE Hayden Hurst
- Promoted: RB Qadree Ollison, S Shawn Williams
- Waived: RB Wayne Gallman
Baltimore Ravens
- Promoted: CB Robert Jackson, T David Sharpe
Buffalo Bills
- Activated from IR: G Jon Feliciano
- Promoted: DE Eli Ankou, DT Brandin Bryant, LB Joe Giles-Harris
Carolina Panthers
- Activated from IR: T Cameron Erving
- Promoted: RB Reggie Bonnafon, LB Frankie Luvu, OL Patrick Omameh
Chicago Bears
- Promoted: LB Charles Snowden
Cincinnati Bengals
- Promoted: LB Austin Calitro, LB Keandre Jones
Cleveland Browns
- Activated from IR: LB Jacob Phillips
- Promoted: DB Herb Miller, DB Jovante Moffatt, WR JoJo Natson
- Waived: WR Ja’Marcus Bradley
Dallas Cowboys
- Promoted: TE Ian Bunting, RB JaQuan Hardy, S Darian Thompson
- Waived: DT Justin Hamilton
Denver Broncos
- Activated from IR: LB Micah Kiser, CB Michael Ojemudia
Detroit Lions
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: CB Mark Gilbert, CB Ifeatu Melifonwu
- Promoted: CB Corey Ballentine, LB Curtis Bolton, DE Bruce Hector, CB Parnell Motley, RB Craig Reynolds, CB Nickell Robey-Coleman, RB Rodney Smith, TE Shane Zylstra
Houston Texans
- Promoted: DB Grayland Arnold, WR Phillip Dorsett, DL Chris Smith
Kansas City Chiefs
- Promoted: DB Dicaprio Bootle, DB Josh Jackson
- Placed on IR: DB Chris Lammons
Los Angeles Chargers
- Placed on IR: LB Kyler Fackrell
- Promoted: DB Ben DeLuca, LB Emeke Egbule, WR Jason Moore
Miami Dolphins
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: RB Salvon Ahmed
New Orleans Saints
- Activated from IR: DB Chauncey Gardner-Johnson
- Promoted: G James Carpenter, LB Chase Hansen, WR Kevin White, WR Easop Winston, TE Ethan Wolf
New York Giants
- Promoted: WR Pharoh Cooper, DB Jarren Williams
New York Jets
- Activated from IR: CB Brandin Echols
- Promoted: DE Ronald Blair, TE Dan Brown, WR D.J. Montgomery, WR Vyncint Smith
San Francisco 49ers
- Placed on IR: RB Trenton Cannon, CB Emmanuel Moseley
- Promoted: WR River Cracraft, RB Brian Hill, CB Saivion Smith, S Jarrod Wilson
Seattle Seahawks
- Promoted: LB Edmond Robinson
Tennessee Titans
- Activated from IR: S Dane Cruikshank, WR Racey McMath
- Placed on IR: TE Tommy Hudson; this is Hudson’s second IR trip, ending his season
- Promoted: WR Cody Hollister, DL Kevin Strong
- Waived: S Brady Breeze
Washington Football Team
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: CB Darryl Roberts, DE James Smith-Williams
- Placed on IR: G Wes Schweitzer
- Promoted: DE William Bradley-King, LB De’Jon Harris, S Jeremy Reaves, C Jon Toth
Texans Likely To Retain David Culley In 2022
Three AFC teams have been outscored by at least 140 points this season, but the Texans lead the pack (and the NFL) with a minus-159 point differential. David Culley‘s debut is tracking toward finishing with the worst margin of defeat in franchise history.
That said, the Texans — at the start of a potentially long rebuild and navigating a complex Deshaun Watson situation — were expected to be one of the NFL’s worst teams. And they are likely to bring back their head coach for a second season, Dan Graziano of ESPN.com notes (ESPN+ link).
[RELATED: Texans To Start Davis Mills]
Culley, 66, was an unexpected hire due to his age and lack of connection to other teams during this past HC hiring period. Only the Texans interviewed the ex-Ravens wide receivers coach. Houston GM Nick Caserio then proceeded to fill the roster with numerous midlevel free agents, some of whom have since been traded or cut, on short-term deals. Culley was also tasked with an awkward transition from Watson, who requested a trade before 22 criminal and civil suits alleging sexual assault and/or sexual misconduct emerged.
Houston’s job would not exactly be appealing were it to become available again in 2022, so keeping Culley — who was given a five-year contract in January — makes sense. That said, Caserio might have another plan in mind ahead of the next phase of the team’s rebuild. The first-year GM has eyed one unnamed coach since before accepting the Texans job, Albert Breer of SI.com adds. Given the rumors of Caserio and Josh McDaniels being a package deal elsewhere in previous offseasons, the longtime Patriots OC would certainly be a reasonable guess as the ex-New England exec’s preference for a longer-term option.
If the Texans can unload Watson before the draft, that would do well to accelerate their rebuild. The team still has a shot at the 2022 No. 1 overall pick, but the Lions (1-11-1) still lead the way with five weeks to go. Joining the Jaguars at 2-10, the Texans landing a top-five choice is a near-certainty. Because of trades by the previous Houston regime, the team did not have first- or second-round picks in the 2021 draft.