NFL Mock Draft: Updated draft order after Week 16 and who Top 10 could select

The postseason is a distant dream for many NFL teams when we're entering the final three weeks of the regular season. For as many playoff contenders as we're still eyeing as they battle for seeding, there are more teams that have their vision fixed on the 2025 NFL Draft and how they can build their roster for the future this offseason.

When you look at teams like the New York Giants, Las Vegas Raiders, Tennessee Titans and Cleveland Browns and consider the abysmal quarterback situations they've found themselves in, the draft has been in the forefront for an exceptionally long time this season. Others, however, like the Chicago Bears and New York Jets didn't expect to be in this spot when the year began, but here they are, almost surely picking in the Top 10 of the 2025 draft.

In the late window, we then saw a brutal outcome for the Raiders, which might sound like a funny way to describe a win. Beating the Jaguars, however, pushes Vegas from a Top 2 draft pick to outside the Top 5. That could make their quarterback situation that much trickier to solve — or, god forbid, set the front office up to make a brutal mistake.

Speaking of that Top 10, the 2025 NFL Draft order is getting clearer as the end of the season nears, which includes some of the high-implication results we saw in Week 16. So let's take a look at the updated draft order before we also project even further forward with a look at an NFL Mock Draft to see which prospects could be the first off of the board come late April based on which teams are picking early in the first round.

Updated 2025 NFL Draft order after Week 16

1. New York Giants (2-13)
2. New England Patriots (3-12)
3. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-12)
4. Tennessee Titans (3-12)
5. Cleveland Browns (3-12)
6. Las Vegas Raiders (2-13)
7. Carolina Panthers (4-11)
8. New York Jets (4-11)
9. Chicago Bears (4-11)
10. New Orleans Saints (5-9)
11. San Francisco 49ers (6-9)
12. Dallas Cowboys (6-8)
13. Miami Dolphins (7-8)
14. Indianapolis Colts (7-8)
15. Cincinnati Bengals (7-8)
16. Arizona Cardinals (7-8)
17. Seattle Seahawks (8-7)
18. Atlanta Falcons (8-7)
19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-6)
20. Los Angeles Chargers (9-6)
21. Houston Texans (9-6)
22. Denver Broncos (9-6)
23. Los Angeles Rams (9-6)
24. Washington Commanders (10-5)
25. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-5)
26. Baltimore Ravens (10-5)
27. Green Bay Packers (10-4)
28. Philadelphia Eagles (12-3)
29. Buffalo Bills (12-3)
30. Minnesota Vikings (13-2)
31. Detroit Lions (13-2)
32. Kansas City Chiefs (14-1)

One of the big results for the top of the 2025 draft order in Week 16 was the Carolina Panthers knocking off the Arizona Cardinals in overtime. That win not only pushes the Panthers out of a Top 5 pick in the draft but also puts a nail in the coffin for the Cardinals in terms of their playoff hopes. Arizona will now all but be locked into a Top 18 pick in the draft. And for Carolina, while getting a less valuable draft pick isn't good, the move down in the order is indicative of the much-improved vibes around this team down the stretch.

It was also not too long ago that the Cincinnati Bengals were flirting with a Top 10 pick in the draft in the midst of what felt like a disastrous season. But with a win that keeps the rival Cleveland Browns picking inside the Top 5, Cincinnati is keeping their own playoff chances alive and moving further back in the first round order.

Where there weren't any changes, though, were at the top of the draft. The New York Giants, back to starting Drew Lock in Week 16, saw more of the same. The G-Men have been abysmal and Michael Penix Jr. made that worse in his first start for the Atlanta Falcons with a thorough drubbing of New York. They'll have their pick of the litter at the top of the 2025 NFL Draft, especially now that the Raiders win knocks Vegas down outside the Top 5.

2025 NFL Mock Draft: Projecting the Top 10 picks with current draft order

Quarterbacks coming off the board at 1-2 if the Giants and Raiders hang in those spots is a near formality. The big question will continue to be the order that they come off of the board. Having said that, a report this week from Jeff Howe of The Athletic ($) indicated that Heisman finalist Cam Ward is the clear favorite to go off the board first. While Shedeur Sanders has the bigger name and more notoriety, he offers less of the rare physical tools that Ward does. So we have the Giants taking Ward with Sanders then falling to the Titans, who should be surely inclined to move on from Will Levis after an abysmal audition in the 2024 season.

In between the top quarterbacks, there's Travis Hunter, the Heisman Trophy winner, going to the Patriots. Whether he's a wide receiver who can serve as an elite weapon for Drake Maye or if he's a cornerback to pair with Christian Gonzalez, this would be best-case scenario for the Pats — especially since it appears that they have a franchise quarterback. The Jaguars then eat their vegetables to protect Trevor Lawrence with Will Campbell, the top-rated tackle prospect in the draft. Rounding out the Top 5, the Browns could go with tackle but, instead, will likely pair a veteran QB with the best pure receiver in the draft, Tetairoa McMillan out of Arizona.

Las Vegas, as mentioned, falls outside the Top 5 in the draft order with the surprise win over the Jaguars on Sunday, which puts them in a bad spot. Any quarterback beyond Ward or Sanders would be a reach, so they instead improve the defense with Will Johnson, the top corner in the 2025 draft class. This could likely make them an ideal Kirk Cousins team if they're so inclined this offseason.

That then gives the Panthers defense the elite potential playmaker they currently don't have with Abdul Carter out of Penn State, who looks like he could be an immediate double-digit sack threat as a rookie. The Jets would hope that Mason Graham and Quinnen Williams, meanwhile, would be among the most dominant interior duos in the league.

The Bears would be thanking their lucky stars to have the 2025 draft play out like this for them as they need a stud offensive tackle to help upgrade the offensive line in front of Caleb Williams. Kelvin Banks Jr. checks all of those boxes. New Orleans would then round out the Top 10 with a perfect replacement for Cam Jordan, Nic Scourton, who profiles as a quality pass-rusher who is equally stout against the run, just like the veteran Saints leader has been for the defense for so many years.