As we head into the 4th week of the NFL season the haves and have-nots are starting to take shape. Teams like the New England Patriots, Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers have established themselves as true Super Bowl contenders. The opposite can be said for the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints who might already be looking ahead to the 2016 NFL Draft.
Below is my updated prediction for the 2016 NFL Draft order. I used the most recent version of ESPN’s power rankings and worked through the potential playoff scenario based on those rankings.
Obviously, it’s still early in the season and things could change significantly for some teams.
1. Chicago Bears (0-3)- the rebuild is underway
2. New Orleans Saints (0-3)- can a healthy Drew Brees turn the season around?
3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-2)- this year is all about developing Jameis Winson
4. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-2)- can this team make a surprise run in the AFC South?
5. San Francisco 49ers (1-2)- Colin Kaepernick’s roller-coaster career continues
6. Washington Redskins (1-2)- this team could be dangerous if they had a quarterback
7. Cleveland Browns (1-2)- it’s time to start Johnny
8. Detroit Lions (0-3)- Detroit looks lost on both sides of the ball
9. Tennessee Titans (1-2)- blowing a double digit lead to the Colts will sting for a few weeks
10. Miami Dolphins (1-2)- Joe Philbin’s seat is really heating up
11. Baltimore Ravens (0-3)- running out of time to turn things around
12. Houston Texans (1-2)- can Ryan Mallett find some consistency with consecutive starts?
13. Oakland Raiders (2-1)- the future looks bright for the Raiders either in Oakland or LA
14. St. Louis Rams (1-2)- Nick Foles is playing solid football but doesn’t have much help
15. San Diego Chargers (1-2)- injuries along the offensive line are taking their toll
16. Philadelphia Eagles (1-2)- still the toughest team in the league to figure out
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17. New York Giants (1-2)- the Giants have yet to put together a complete performance
18. New York Jets (2-1)- Ryan Fitzpatrick is going to have games with multiple turnovers– it’s in his DNA
19. Minnesota Vikings (2-1)- this team will win games but it won’t be pretty
20. Kansas City Chiefs (1-2)- the pass-rush is still capable of carrying this team to a solid season
21. Indianapolis Colts (1-2)- the come-from-behind win was nice but there are still issues on both sides of the ball
22. Dallas Cowboys (2-1)- can Brandon Weeden do enough to keep them in the race?
23. Buffalo Bills (2-1)- when will the league figure out Tyrod Taylor?
24. Carolina Panthers (3-0)- Cam Newton is playing like an MVP
25. Pittsburgh Steelers (2-1)- things could get ugly with out Big-Ben
26. Seattle Seahawks (1-2)- the Seahawks are looking to build some momentum after an easy win .vs the Bears
27. Atlanta Falcons (3-0)- Matt Ryan and Julio Jones are on a historic pace
28. Cincinnati Bengals (3-0)- Andy Dalton looks great with Tyler Eifert in the mix
29. Denver Broncos (3-0)- it hasn’t been pretty but the Broncos are in control of their division
30. Green Bay Packers (3-0)- nobody has come close to stopping Aaron Rodgers this season
31. Arizona Cardinals (3-0)- this team is very dangerous with a healthy Carson Palmer
New England Patriots pick forfeited due to bounty-gate