The Buffalo Bills victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday has precipitated a somewhat precarious drop down the draft board. The team was previously picking sixth, but the win against the Jags dropped them three spots down to the ninth pick, tied with three other 4-7 teams.
Here’s where the top nine spots in the draft currently stand, along with the accompanying record for each team:
- San Francisco 49ers: 2-9
- Arizona Cardinals: 2-9
- Oakland Raiders: 2-9
- New York Jets: 3-8
- New York Giants: 3-8
- Jacksonville Jaguars 3-8
- Atlanta Falcons 4-7
- Detroit Lions 4-7
- Buffalo Bills: 4-7
Buffalo now sits two games back from “league-leading” 49ers for the first overall pick and any more wins like Sunday’s may push them out of the top ten — and the competition for the number one pick — entirely.
The last time the Bills owned the ninth pick in the draft was 2014 when former general manager Doug Whaley infamously traded the pick, along with a 2015 first rounder, to draft wide receiver Sammy Watkins.
Looking ahead, it may be a foregone conclusion that at least one of the bottom three teams will be in possession of that coveted first pick, as only a December 16th game between the Cardinals and the Falcons seems likely to provide decisive movement in the rankings. All three teams have particularly difficult schedules ahead of them.