While some teams are fighting for playoff positioning at the top of the NFL standings, two others are fighting for the bottom -- and for the top of the No. 1 pick race.
The Giants and Raiders share the worst record in the NFL at 2-11 heading into Week 15, which means they are the favorites to earn the top pick in the 2025 NFL draft.
Six teams are one game away with 3-10 records, but New York and Las Vegas currently control the top of the NFL draft order. But what happens if the Giants and Raiders remain tied with the same record through the end of the 2024 season?
Here is where the NFL draft order stands now and how a draft tiebreaker would work between the two teams:
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*Draft order and team records entering Week 15 of the 2024 season.
According to the NFL draft rules, the draft order between teams who finish the season with the same record is decided by their strength of schedules.
A team's strength of schedule is determined by the combined record of its opponents, and the team with the lower strength of schedule earns the higher pick.
If two teams are tied with the same strength of schedule, here is the order of tiebreakers the NFL would use until it breaks the tie:
But it is unlikely the league would need to go deep in its tiebreaker list.
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If the season ended before Week 15, the Giants would own the No. 1 pick over the Raiders, as they have a lower strength of schedule -- .527 compared to Las Vegas' .574.
In the four remaining weeks of the NFL season, though, the Raiders play teams with a combined .423.winning percentage, while the Giants play teams with a winning percentage of .574.
If both the Giants and the Raiders were to lose all of their remaining games, then based on the current records of every team in the NFL, Las Vegas would jump New York at the top of the draft.
As a result, the next four weeks are crucial to deciding the NFL draft order.
Two games stand out when it comes to NFL draft positioning between these two teams: the Raiders hosting the Jaguars in Week 16 and the Giants playing the Eagles in Week 18. Since Jacksonville is seven games under .500, and Philadelphia nine games over .500, those two teams could significantly impact the Raiders' and Giants' strength of schedules.
Additionally, any of these teams could play a role in this race by winning or losing in games that the Giants and Raiders aren't playing. For example, the Jaguars still play the 3-10 Jets and 3-10 Titans this year, so Jacksonville winning those games would increase the Raiders' strength of schedule.