Carolina seems to have a lock on the top spot which means Chicago will likely pick first. (Due to strength of schedule, Carolina needs to win two more games to surrender the top spot which seems very, very unlikely.)

As of now, the Cardinals would pick second. Cards seem to have one winnable game left and that’s vs the Bears.

This places the Pats 3rd.

I believe the 1st pick in the draft will be a QB, likely Caleb Williams but could be Maye. It seems reasonable to induce that Chicago would decide to either move on from Fields or trade down. They’ll also have another top 10 pick (currently #4)

The Cardinals picking MHJ at 2 or 3 seems like a forgone conclusion. They appear committed to Murray evidenced by last year when they drafted his choice at tackle. I have a hard time imagining that AZ would pass on Fitzgerald’s heir apparent.

So as long as NE, CAR and AZ continue to separate themselves as the 3 worst teams in the league, the Pats will have a chance to draft either Maye or Williams, regardless of whether they pick second or third.

The SD game would be a helpful loss because, as of now, if the Pats win 2 more games that could drop them back as far as 10th depending on SoS. SD is one of the six 4 win teams. The good news is that this draft also features 2 franchise LTs in Alt and Fashanu. Another interesting draft note is the rise of Jayden Daniel’s stock who has shot up to #7 on Tankathon’s mock draft, #8 on SIs most recent and has been steadily climbing all year. There are also 3 other WRs that have elite potential in Odunze, Nabors and Coleman.

It’s clearly to early to know how this all shakes out, but as of now we’ve got a bead on Drake Maye which gives me some much needed excitement for the future.