It's never fun to look ahead toward the NFL Draft in November, but the fan bases of a select group of bottom feeders have no other choice. Take the Cleveland Browns, for example. If you wanted a sense of how badly things are going for them right now, they just lost a game to a 1-8 New York Jets team that just traded both Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams five days ago. Justin Fields had just 54 passing yards, yet the Jets still found a way to beat this Browns team. Wouldn't you rather look towards the draft in this instance, especially when considering the other results?
This loss was obviously inexcusable for Cleveland, but honestly, it helped the Browns quite a bit with the 2026 NFL Draft in mind. Now, both the Jets and Browns sit at 2-7 with New York holding the tiebreaker, meaning Cleveland would pick ahead of them in the NFL Draft. This could allow Cleveland to change the course of their franchise.
Additionally, other bottom feeders like the Miami Dolphins and New Orleans Saints somehow found ways to beat teams that began Sunday's action above .500, meaning Cleveland's odds of getting the No. 1 pick just skyrocketed. With the results of Week 10's early slate in mind, here's a look at how the beginning of the 2026 NFL Draft is projected to shake out.
Updated 2026 NFL Draft order after first wave of Week 10
1. Tennessee Titans (1-8)
2. New Orleans Saints (2-8)
3. New York Giants (2-8)
4. Cleveland Browns (2-7)
5. New York Jets (2-7)
6. Las Vegas Raiders (2-7)
7. Miami Dolphins (3-7)
8. Washington Commanders (3-7)
9. Los Angeles Rams (via ATL (3-6))
10. Cincinnati Bengals (3-6)
11. Arizona Cardinals (3-5)
12. Dallas Cowboys (3-5-1)
13. Baltimore Ravens (4-5)
14. Minnesota Vikings (4-5)
15. Houston Texans (4-5)
16. Carolina Panthers (5-5)
17. Kansas City Chiefs (5-4)
18. San Francisco 49ers (6-4)
19. Cleveland Browns (via Jax (5-4))
20. Pittsburgh Steelers (5-3)
21. Buffalo Bills (6-3)
22. Chicago Bears (6-3)
23. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-3)
24. Detroit Lions (6-3)
25. Los Angeles Chargers (6-3)
26. Dallas Cowboys (via GB (5-2-1))
27. Los Angeles Rams (6-2)
28. New England Patriots (8-2)
29. Philadelphia Eagles (6-2)
30. Denver Broncos (8-2)
31. Seattle Seahawks (7-2)
32. New York Jets (via IND (8-2))
The Tennessee Titans didn't play in Week 10, yet they might be the biggest winners of the week as earning the No. 1 overall pick for a second consecutive year is entirely in their control, giving them a great opportunity to build for the future. Losing out would guarantee Tennessee picks No. 1 overall. Behind the Titans, though, is a major logjam.
Five teams, two of which won in Week 10, have two wins on the season, and another six have three wins. This season is 10 weeks old, yet week after week, we could see tons of movement in the reverse standings because of how bunched up things are.
Not only did the Browns benefit from their own loss, but the Jacksonville Jaguars blew a 19-point lead against the Houston Texans in the fourth quarter and lost, thus improving the placement of Cleveland's second first-round pick and removing Houston from the top 10 picks.
2026 NFL Mock Draft: Projecting the top 10 picks with current draft order
Pick | Team | NFL Mock Projection |
|---|---|---|
1 | Tennessee Titans | EDGE Rueben Bain Jr., Miami |
2 | New Orleans Saints | QB Fernando Mendoza, Indiana |
3 | New York Giants | WR Carnell Tate, Ohio State |
4 | Cleveland Browns | QB Ty Simpson, Alabama |
5 | New York Jets | QB Dante Moore, Oregon |
6 | Las Vegas Raiders | QB LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina |
7 | Miami Dolphins | OT Spencer Fano, Utah |
8 | Washington Commanders | LB Arvell Reese Ohio State |
9 | Los Angeles Rams | OT Kadyn Proctor, Alabama |
10 | Cincinnati Bengals | S Caleb Downs, Ohio State |
If the season ended today, there's a good chance that the Titans would heavily shop the 1.01. They could conceivably trade with any of the teams in the top six in still get the opportunity to select Rueben Bain Jr. out of Miami. Even the one team not looking for a quarterback in the top six, the New York Giants, would be wise to select someone to help Jaxson Dart out on offense, either on the offensive line or as a receiver. Carnell Tate out of Ohio State makes a lot of sense in that regard.
It'll be interesting to see how the quarterbacks follow. Fernando Mendoza continues to solidify himself as the clear-cut favorite to be the first quarterback taken after leading the Indiana Hoosiers on an epic game-winning drive on Saturday, and I feel confident that LaNorris Sellers is QB4 right now, but the battle between Ty Simpson and Dante Moore is a coin flip. I have Simpson barely ahead of Moore because he's slightly more athletic, but this really could go either way.
Arguably the biggest loser of Week 10 was the Miami Dolphins, who found a way to beat the Buffalo Bills pretty handily at home. While the short-term satisfaction is great, they knocked themselves out of the top six, all but eliminating them from an opportunity to select their quarterback of the future, barring a trade-up. Improving their offensive line with Spencer Fano, though, isn't the worst thing in the world.
The top 10 finishes with the Washington Commanders and Cincinnati Bengals adding some much-needed defensive playmakers in Arvell Reese and Caleb Downs, respectively, and the Los Angeles Rams lucking into a high-end offensive lineman, Kadyn Proctor, thanks to the Atlanta Falcons' dysfunction.