It's been a cold winter for Patriots fans. But brighter days could be around the corner come spring. They've just got to keep losing.
New England dropped its fifth straight game on Sunday, this time a 6-0 stinker to the Chargers. It was a showcase that was offensive on the eyes. The Pats defense continued to carry the load, holding Los Angeles' fervent offense to a pair of mere field goals. And yet, Bill Belichick's squad continued to harass viewers with a Vincent Price-esque horror show on offense.
The bad news? New England is awful, seemingly poised to put up the worst campaign of the Belichick era. The good news? The Patriots are just a half a game out of the first overall pick sweepstakes pending the result of the Panthers-Buccaneers game Sunday afternoon. If the putrid times keep going, they could be on pace to pick up a game-changer at the front of the draft board.
Going in the other direction are the Cardinals, who picked up an impressive weather-delayed win over the Steelers in Pittsburgh to improve to 3-10 and move to third in the draft order.
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With that, here's why you need to know about the latest projections for the 2024 NFL Draft order after Week 13 of the NFL season.
NFL Draft order 2024
| Pick | Team | Record |
| 1 | Bears (from CAR) | 1-10 |
| 2 | Patriots | 2-10 |
| 3 | Cardinals | 3-10 |
| 4 | Commanders | 4-9 |
| 5 | Bears | 4-8 |
| 6 | Giants | 4-8 |
| 7 | Jets | 4-8 |
| 8 | Titans | 4-8 |
| 9 | Buccaneers | 4-7 |
| 10 | Saints | 5-7 |
| 11 | Raiders | 5-7 |
| 12 | Chargers | 5-7 |
| 13 | Packers | 5-6 |
| 14 | Rams | 5-6 |
| 15 | Bengals | 5-6 |
| 16 | Bills | 6-6 |
| 17 | Broncos | 6-6 |
| 18 | Texans (from ARI) | 7-5 |
| 19 | Falcons | 6-6 |
| 20 | Vikings | 6-6 |
| 21 | Seahawks | 6-6 |
| 22 | Steelers | 6-5 |
| 23 | Colts | 7-5 |
| 24 | Texans (from CLE) | 7-4 |
| 25 | Chiefs | 8-3 |
| 26 | 49ers | 8-3 |
| 27 | Jaguars | 8-3 |
| 28 | Cowboys | 9-3 |
| 29 | Lions | 9-3 |
| 30 | Ravens | 9-3 |
| 31 | Dolphins | 9-3 |
| 32 | Eagles | 10-1 |
Notes
- The Bears own the Panthers' first-round pick as a result of the trade that sent the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft to Carolina and D.J. Moore to Chicago.
- The Cardinals own the Texans' first-round pick as part of Houston's trade up to select Will Anderson Jr. with the No. 3 pick in the 2023 draft.
- The Texans own the Browns' first-round pick as a result of the Deshaun Watson trade from 2022.
NFL Draft 2024 top prospects
There are a number of highly-rated prospects slated to make the grade at the next level come April. Some, like gifted technicians Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Michael Penix Jr., conjure spells with the flick of their wrist.
Others, such as Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., Florida State wideout Keon Coleman and Washington pass-catcher Rome Odunze, are known for their soft hands.
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Defenders Kool-Aid McKinstry and Dallas Turner also figure to hear their names quite early in this year's draft, as do Penn State's Olu Fashanu and Notre Dame's Joe Alt — two of the country's best offensive linemen.
Suffice to say, there's a whole lot of talent in tow in the college ranks. For some of the league's more snake-bitten franchises, that certainly is a good thing.
