2025 NFL Draft order: How Patriots’ pick position improved in bye week originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The New England Patriots had a successful Week 14 even though they didn’t play a game.
The Patriots entered their bye week with the No. 4 pick in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, but as a result of Sunday’s outcomes, they have moved up one spot to No. 3.
The reason for the jump was the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 10-6 win over the Tennessee Titans in one of the ugliest games of the season. Ex-Patriots first-round pick Mac Jones started at quarterback for the Jaguars and got the victory despite throwing two interceptions and zero touchdown passes.
The victory for the Jaguars improved their record to 3-10. There are six teams at 3-10, including the Patriots, but New England owns the tiebreaker over all of them because it has the worst strength of schedule rating (.459).
The Las Vegas Raiders and New York Giants (both 2-11) own the No. 1 and No. 2 picks, respectively. Both teams had a good chance to win Sunday, which would’ve created a perfect scenario for the Patriots. But the Raiders faltered in the fourth quarter and ended up losing 28-13 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, while the Giants lost 14-11 to the New Orleans Saints after missing a potential game-tying field goal in the final seconds.
Even if the Patriots lose all of their final four games, they’ll still need the Raiders and/or Giants to win at least one more game to move up in the order.
The Patriots’ chances of winning another game are pretty low. They have the third-toughest remaining schedule, based on their final opponents having a combined .654 win percentage. New England plays at the Arizona Cardinals in Week 15 and at the Buffalo Bills in Week 16, then hosts the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 17 and the Bills in Week 18.
Patriots fans should be rooting for the Cowboys on Monday night because a Dallas win would make the Bengals’ record worse, which would also decrease New England’s strength of schedule rating. The Patriots beat the Bengals in Week 1.
Here’s the updated order for the top 10 picks in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. This chart will be updated after Cowboys-Bengals.
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