NFL news: Las Vegas Raiders, Tennessee Titans and the teams currently leading the NFL Draft order
The number one pick in the NFL Draft is awarded to the worst team from the previous season, and the race to the bottom currently has eight sides in contention.
Obviously, no team intends to lose, but some manage themselves and their rosters in ways that make it hard for them to win.
Here, Sports News Blitz writer Graeme Bailey takes a look at the franchises that are trending towards the basement spot.
Raiders lead the way
With five weeks of the regular season left, there are eight teams with a realistic chance of being ‘put on the clock’ first when NFL chief Roger Goodell opens the draft in Pittsburgh in April.
As it stands, we have a new leader in the clubhouse, with the Las Vegas Raiders moving to number one in the draft order following their recent 31-14 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
Given their current season record of 2-11, the Raiders are 13/25 to finish on three wins or more.
Even if they get to three wins, bookmakers believe the Las Vegas franchise have a real chance of remaining at the bottom, which could give co-owner Tom Brady his first-ever look at a number one draft pick.
The Tennessee Titans, who had the number one pick last time out in Cam Ward and are also 2-11 this term, had sat atop the draft order all season, but an unexpected win at fellow strugglers the Cleveland Browns has seen them drop to number two.
Bookmakers are offering 11/25 odds that the Titans gain three or more wins.
Elsewhere, the New York Giants are in third spot.
And while the Giants are also at 2-11, they are 21/50 to manage five wins or more.
In fourth are the Browns, who fell to 3-10 after that loss against the Titans – a game in which rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders produced the best display of his NFL career to secure a job for the rest of the season.
The Browns are in the same boat as the Giants, backed to land five wins at 21/50.
Jets, Commanders continue struggles
Lying in fifth are the New York Jets, who came up short against the Miami Dolphins last week to sit at 3 and 10.
They are 1/2 to make it to four wins, so bookmakers clearly believe that the Jets could have a real chance of being number one by the end of the season.
The Washington Commanders’ struggles similarly continued when they moved up to sixth in the draft pecking order after being shut out by the Minnesota Vikings in a miserable showing.
Washington are definitely going to have a good pick, with the bookies rating them at 13/20 to have fewer than 4.5 wins.
In contrast, the New Orleans Saints have started to edge away from the top draft pick.
Rookie QB Tyler Shough was outstanding in their shock win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a result which took them to 3 and 10.
The Saints moreover look well-placed to pick up more wins and are 1/2 to have five wins or more.
In the hunt for top spot in the draft, the final team to note is the Arizona Cardinals, whose season has just evaporated of late.
They were handed a beating by the hugely fancied Los Angeles Rams on Sunday for a fifth-straight loss and, at 3-10, are 11/20 to record five wins.
Arizona are thus worth keeping an eye on as the battle for the top pick continues.
Mendoza the likely pick
Looking ahead, who might the draft battle be for?
One player in particular has emerged, moving from outsider to odds-on favourite, and that is Indiana Hoosiers quarter-back Fernando Mendoza.
The 22-year-old has enjoyed an outstanding campaign thus far in the Big Ten Conference and the Hoosiers have accordingly secured their ranking as the top college side in the country.
Mendoza, for his part, is one of the favourites to win the 2025 Heisman Trophy – awarded to the top player in college football – and currently sits at just 4/6 to be the first draft pick.
MORE FROM GRAEME BAILEY: NFL news: Can returning quarterback Joe Burrow lead the Cincinnati Bengals to the AFC play-offs?
