Week 12 of the NFL season is in the books. And, somehow, things only continue to be more unpredictable in the league. The 5-5 Kansas City Chiefs finally found their mojo back and found a way to beat the 8-2 Indianapolis Colts.
However, while the Chiefs were trying to keep their playoff hopes alive, some teams have already shifted their focus to next season. As their year has gone awry, their race for a top spot in the 2026 NFL Draft has already begun.
How Does the 2026 NFL Draft Order Look After Week 12?
Here is the current 2026 NFL Draft order after Week 12.
1) Tennessee Titans, 1-10
2) New York Giants, 2-10
3) New Orleans Saints, 2-9
4) New York Jets, 2-9
5) Las Vegas Raiders, 2-9
6) Cleveland Browns, 3-8
7) Washington Commanders, 3-8
8) Cincinnati Bengals, 3-8
9)Â Arizona Cardinals, 3-7
10) Miami Dolphins, 4-7
11) Los Angeles Rams (via Atlanta Falcons, 4-7)
12) Minnesota Vikings, 4-7
13) Dallas Cowboys, 5-5-1
14) Carolina Panthers, 6-6
15) Pittsburgh Steelers, 6-5
16) Kansas City Chiefs, 6-5
17) Houston Texans, 5-5
18) Detroit Lions, 7-4
19) Buffalo Bills, 7-4
20) Los Angeles Chargers, 7-4
21) Cleveland Browns (via Jacksonville Jaguars, 6-4)
22) San Francisco 49ers, 8-4
23) Dallas Cowboys (via Green Bay Packers, 7-3-1)
24) Seattle Seahawks, 8-3
25) Baltimore Ravens, 6-5
26) Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 6-5
27) Chicago Bears, 8-3
28) New York Jets (via Indianapolis Colts, 8-3)
29) Philadelphia Eagles, 8-2
30) Denver Broncos, 9-2
31) Los Angeles Rams, 9-2
32) New England Patriots, 9-2
Which Team Has the Best Chance To Land the Top Pick?
PFSN’s Playoff Predictor isn’t just a one-stop destination for everything related to the NFL’s playoff bracket. However, it also serves as an accurate indicator of how things will shape out for the rest of the NFL as the season progresses.
Unfortunately, the Week 12 results may not bring about significant changes to the top of the draft. The usual suspects all had brutal showings, as losses continued to pile on for them. However, for some, there was a lot to take away positively from this week.
For the second consecutive week, the Tennessee Titans were able to keep the game competitive. This time around, facing a legitimate Super Bowl contender in the Seattle Seahawks, their 30-24 outing seemed like a step in the right direction.
The New York Jets, however, could not effect change even after replacing Justin Fields with Tyrod Taylor. As they lost 23-10, they gave the Baltimore Ravens the top spot in the AFC North for the first time all season.
The other team in their city, the New York Giants, put up stiff competition against a Detroit Lions team that continues to look exceedingly vulnerable. In Jameis Winston’s second start of the year, he put up a remarkable performance, including what might be the greatest receiving touchdown for a quarterback in NFL history.
The Cincinnati Bengals, despite hopes of Joe Burrow returning to the lineup, continued without him for another week. With Ja’Marr Chase also ruled out for the game, their offense couldn’t keep up with the New England Patriots, as they lost 27-20 to end their playoff hopes altogether.
However, the game of the week, at least as far as the draft odds were concerned, had to be the matchup between the Cleveland Browns and the Las Vegas Raiders. In the first career start for Shedeur Sanders, the Browns were able to dominate the Raiders en route to a 24-10 victory.
Quinshon Judkins added two touchdowns, while Sanders put together some impressive highlights, as the Browns were able to dominate with their defense, forcing 10 sacks on Geno Smith to give Cleveland its third win of the season.
The current odds for the first overall pick after these results stand at:
- Tennessee Titans, 33.5%
- New Orleans Saints, 16.6%
- Las Vegas Raiders, 13.4%
- New York Giants, 13%
- New York Jets, 12.8%
- Cleveland Browns, 3.9%
Top Prospects in the 2026 NFL Draft
Rueben Bain Jr., EDGE, Miami (FL)
Rueben Bain Jr. has been a disruptive defender for as long as he’s been on the college football circuit. After joining the Hurricanes as a four-star recruit, Bain racked up 7.5 sacks, 13 tackles for loss, and three forced fumbles in his true freshman campaign. Bain’s sophomore season was less productive, but he was nursing a calf injury, and he has a chance to bounce back as a junior. At 275 pounds, Bain has a rare body type for the position, with elite compact mass and natural leverage, and he’s an easy accelerator with awesome raw hand power. While power is his primary mode, he has a deep pass-rush bag and smooth upper-lower synergy, superb strength, IQ, and pursuit range in run defense, and surprising flexibility as a finisher.
Fernando Mendoza, QB, Indiana
Fernando Mendoza could be a potential first overall pick in waiting, and the leap could be coming at Indiana. At 6’5″, 225 pounds, Mendoza has the ideal prototypical frame, along with quick feet, nimble pocket mobility, and understated creation capacity and off-script feel. He’s a crisp rotational and consistent areal thrower who flashes high-end situational precision and layering ability. Even beyond that, he has the rifle arm strength and keen anticipation to make NFL-level throws. There’s a definite degree of arm arrogance in Mendoza’s game that he’ll have to tamp down, in order to minimize unnecessary risks and forced throws. Nevertheless, he has all the physical and mental tools to catalyze a rise as a franchise QB candidate.
Dante Moore, QB, Oregon
Dante Moore has gone from dark horse to definite QB1 contender. It’s tough to call a former five-star recruit a dark horse, but Moore’s college career got off to a slower start than many expected. As a true freshman at UCLA in 2023, he started five of nine games played with subpar efficiency. Then he transferred to Oregon and threw just eight passes in 2024 while redshirting behind Dillon Gabriel. But now that Moore has had time to develop, and now that he has the reins in a QB-friendly Oregon environment, he’s looking like an early first-round pick. At 6’3″, 210 pounds, Moore boasts easy, effortless velocity and layering ability as his calling card, and he looks supremely poised, composed, and mechanically-sound for his age. He had ice in his veins against Penn State in a tough environment, and is on a steep ascent to potential QB1 status.
Arvell Reese, LB, Ohio State
Arvell Reese is a first-year starter for the Ohio State Buckeyes, who could be at the start of an early-round ascent in 2025. He was the Buckeyes’ best player in their season-opening win against the top-ranked Texas Longhorns, with nine total tackles and a sack. Along the way, Reese put translatable reps on tape as a pass-rusher, a run defender, and a coverage presence. At 6’4″, 243 pounds, Reese has a tantalizing blend of explosive athleticism, length, and forklifting strength. He used that strength to stack-and-shed in the run game, plaster solo blockers into the turf as a blitzer, and make solo stops in gap invasion. Meanwhile, his range and fluidity makes him dangerous as a rusher, as well as a dropper and matcher in zone coverage. Reese is on the rise; the only question is how high he goes.
Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State
Caleb Downs has received first-round premonitions from the general consensus ever since he set foot on Georgia’s campus as a five-star recruit. An instant producer at the CFB level, Downs was a star for the Bulldogs’ vaunted defense in 2023, and then for Ohio State’s Championship-level unit in 2024. Now Downs is eligible, and he’s already in the conversation as one of the best safety prospects in recent memory. A fluid, explosive, and energized mover at 6’0″, 205 pounds, Downs is special in the box with his combined mobility, play pace, angle IQ, and physicality on blocks. And on top of his alley-running skills, he’s an instinctive cover man who can manage route relationships, transition, and clamp down on stems from different alignments. In short, he’s a game-changer.
Carnell Tate, WR, Ohio State
Carnell Tate first showed promise with a 52-733-4 receiving line last season, producing in spite of his place as the Buckeyes’ third option alongside Jeremiah Smith and first-round NFL Draft pick Emeka Egbuka. But in 2024, Tate’s technical feel was still underdeveloped. He was primarily a vertical threat for Ohio State, who lacked polish. That hasn’t been the case in 2025. Tate has reinvented his game, and has become a true route-running expert with rare sink, throttle control, and stem IQ for his size. He still has the long-strider range, body control, and catch-point focus that makes him so potent in 50-50 situations, but he’s a true multi-level separator who can win 1-on-1, convert on clutch downs, and generate big plays. A complete X or movement-Z, Tate will assuredly keep Ohio State’s first-round streak at WR alive, and he has impact starter ability.
