AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez

Updated 2023 NFL Draft Order After Sunday's Week 9 Results

Jake Rill

The 2022 NFL regular season has almost reached its midway point. After Monday night's game between the Baltimore Ravens and New Orleans Saints, Week 9 of the 18-week campaign will be complete.

At this point, it's becoming clearer where teams could be picking in the 2023 NFL draft. The Houston Texans and Carolina Panthers appear destined for early selections. Others, such as the Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings, will surely be on the clock much, much later.

With nearly all of the Week 9 action in the books, let's take a look at how the 2023 NFL draft order would stack up at this point in the season.

Updated 2023 NFL Draft Order

AP Photo/Alex Menendez

1. Houston Texans (1-6-1)

2. Carolina Panthers (2-7)

3. Las Vegas Raiders (2-6)

4. Pittsburgh Steelers (2-6)

5. Detroit Lions (2-6)

6. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-6)

7. Arizona Cardinals (3-6)

8. Chicago Bears (3-6)

9. Green Bay Packers (3-6)

10. Philadelphia Eagles (via New Orleans Saints) (3-5)

11. Seattle Seahawks (via Denver Broncos) (3-5)

12. Detroit Lions (via Los Angeles Rams) (3-5)

13. Houston Texans (via Cleveland Browns) (3-5)

14. Indianapolis Colts (3-5-1)

15. Atlanta Falcons (4-5)

16. Washington Commanders (4-5)

17. New England Patriots (5-4)

18. Cincinnati Bengals (5-4)

19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-5)

20. Denver Broncos (via San Francisco 49ers) (4-4)

21. Los Angeles Chargers (5-3)

22. Baltimore Ravens (5-3)

23. Tennessee Titans (5-3)

24. Seattle Seahawks (6-3)

25. Forfeited pick (via Miami Dolphins) (6-3)

26. New York Jets (6-3)

27. Dallas Cowboys (6-2)

28. New York Giants (6-2)

29. Kansas City Chiefs (6-2)

30. Minnesota Vikings (7-1)

31. Buffalo Bills (6-2)

32. Philadelphia Eagles (8-0)

Draft order via Tankathon.com.

Texans Only 1-win Team as Recent Slide Continues

AP Photo/Matt Patterson

After one half on Thursday night in Houston, the Texans were tied with the Eagles, the lone remaining undefeated team in the NFL. It would have been quite an upset if Houston had become the first squad to hand Philadelphia a loss in the 2022 season.

Instead, the Texans lost 29-17, dropping their third straight game coming out of their Week 6 bye. They're now the only team with less than two wins this year, as they sit in last place in the AFC South at 1-6-1.

Houston won only four games in each of the previous two seasons. It's possible the team reaches that mark this year, but it has some challenging matchups over the next nine weeks. That includes the Texans' Week 10 contest: a road matchup vs. the 6-2 Giants.

There's a decent chance that Houston ends up with the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft, as it has some other difficult non-divisional games against the Dolphins, Cowboys and Chiefs. So it'll likely continue to be challenging for the Texans to collect wins down the stretch.

Could Mayfield Provide Panthers with Spark?

AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel

In Week 9, the Panthers nearly defeated the Falcons, taking them to overtime before falling in Atlanta. In Week 10, Carolina's away matchup against Cincinnati wasn't nearly as competitive, and it became clear quite early the Bengals would cruise to victory.

Cincinnati had a 35-point lead by halftime, and Carolina didn't score any points until 4 minutes and 8 seconds into the third quarter. The Panthers had three second-half touchdowns, but they fell 42-21 for the NFL-high seventh loss of the season.

PJ Walker entered Sunday as Carolina's starting quarterback, but the 27-year-old went 3-for-10 for 9 yards and two interceptions. That led to the Panthers turning back to Baker Mayfield, who opened the year as their starting QB before missing some time due to an ankle injury.

Mayfield had a solid showing against the Bengals, going 14-for-20 for 155 yards and two touchdowns. Of course, much of that came when the game was already out of reach. But if Mayfield plays like that moving forward, it could give Carolina a spark as it looks to stay alive in an NFC South division with no teams at .500 or better.

Raiders Quickly Running out of Time for Turnaround

AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack

The Raiders have made some NFL history over the past two weeks. But not the good kind.

In Week 9, Las Vegas was blanked in a 24-0 loss to New Orleans. Then in Week 10, it blew a 17-point lead in a 27-20 loss to Jacksonville. According to ESPN Stats & Info, the Raiders are only the eighth NFL team (and the first since 2009) to be shut out and blow a 17-point lead in consecutive games (in either order).

Now, Las Vegas sits at 2-6 and in last place in the AFC West. It's been a surprising start for the Raiders, who made the playoffs last season and were expected to be better this year after trading for star wide receiver Davante Adams from the Packers.

"There's no reason why we should be losing games like this, and it's frustrating," Adams said, per ESPN's Paul Gutierrez.

And if Las Vegas doesn't stop playing games like that soon, it could end up with an early pick in the 2023 NFL draft, rather than in the playoffs where it had hoped to be.

   

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