University of Kwazulu-Natal

2026 Nfl Mock Draft How Wild Card Weekend Impacts First Round Picks

Bonisiwe Shabane
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2026 nfl mock draft how wild card weekend impacts first round picks

Picks 1 through 18 are set in the NFL Draft ... for now. Something tells me this is going to be an eventful draft season of trades for a number of reasons. That's because it's not a particularly strong crop of first-round talent. That means we'll see teams willing to move first-rounders for proven players. I'd argue the last time we saw a first round this weak was 2022, and that year set the record with 18 trades involving first-round picks.

That said, I'll play it straight with no trades, at least until we get past the Jan. 23 deadline for players to officially declare for the 2026 NFL Draft. Note: This is the current NFL Draft order after Week 18 (via Tankathon). Six teams will see their hopes of winning Super Bowl 60 come to an end during the NFL's wild-card weekend. Their fan bases will likely cope with those postseason losses by assessing how their teams can improve next season. That will include looking ahead to the 2026 NFL Draft, where the full draft order is coming into clearer focus.

The first 18 picks of the draft were already entering wild-card weekend. By the end of the "Monday Night Football" game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston Texans, the first 24 picks will be locked in, though they will be subject to change based on any... Much is still to be determined about the 2026 NFL Draft. Many believe that Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza will be the No. 1 overall pick, but after that, things remain wide-open, especially as Oregon quarterback Dante Moore's future remains in flux. That will leave many NFL fan bases daydreaming about the possibility of landing a star player like Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love, USC wide receiver Makai Lemon or a defensive stud like Ohio...

The Packers let a 21-3 halftime lead slip away in a wild-card loss to the Bears. Patrick McDermott / Getty Images The Athletic has live coverage of 49ers vs. Eagles and Chargers vs. Patriots from the NFL playoffs wild-card round. The Green Bay Packers’ wild-card round collapse Saturday night was the Dallas Cowboys’ gain.

The Cowboys own the Packers’ first-round selection this year as part of their return on the Micah Parsons trade, and Green Bay’s loss locked that pick in at No. 20. The full order for picks 19-32 will be decided by playoff results — teams eliminated in the wild-card round will be placed into slots 19-24; divisional-round losers will hold picks 25-28, and so on. The first tiebreaker for draft positioning is strength of schedule, with the team that’s faced an easier schedule receiving the higher pick. Here’s how Round 1 stands after the conclusion of Saturday’s wild-card games. This is a look at the first-round order for the 2026 NFL Draft heading into the Wild Card Round of the playoffs.

The order is determined by record, using strength of schedule as the first tiebreaker (click here to see a full list of the draft-order tiebreakers). Keep in mind -- teams that made the playoffs are marked as PL (short for playoffs) in the order below. The draft order for playoff teams is determined by the results of postseason play. Arrows reflect movement from last week's order. While there’s a long way to go between now and draft day, it certainly feels like a fait accompli that the Raiders will pick a quarterback in the first round for the first time... The Jets tore things down to the studs at the trade deadline and now have a pile of draft assets to help them reset, including four of the top 50 picks.

It looks messy in Arizona after the team’s collapse following a 2-0 start to the season. The first priority has to be charting a path forward at the quarterback position, with Kyler Murray’s future murky. Everything always revolves around the clock. When you're an adult, you're on the clock or off the clock. When you're in school, all eyes are on the clock. In sports like football, clock management is an important part of the game.

There's a tango of sorts that everyone does with the clock. You don't want to overstay your welcome, but you also don't want to leave too soon. Somewhere, there is a middle ground or sweet spot of sorts to be found. Luckily for the 18 teams that missed out on the 2025 NFL playoffs, the clock doesn't stop. Instead, it's just getting started. In just over four months' time, all 32 teams will be on the clock at the 2026 NFL Draft, hoping that their picks over the course of three days will eventually have them celebrating...

The top 18 spots are officially set! Let’s talk about it! Draft order courtesy of http://www.tankathon.com. 1. Las Vegas Raiders (3-14)QB Fernando Mendoza, Indiana6’5, 225 lbs2025 Stats: 240-332, 3172 yards, 36 TD, 6 INT Very early reports have the Raiders moving on from the Pete Carroll experiment and starting over with a new coaching staff and quarterback.

I think that would be the way to go. Fernando Mendoza may not be on that Trevor Lawrence/Caleb Williams tier of quarterback prospects, but he looks like a long term starter who can make some Pro Bowls. He is tall, has adequate arm strength, is accurate and is a winner, leading Indiana to its best season in school history. He should be an instant starter, and can hopefully turn this woeful franchise around. 3. New York Jets (3-14)QB Dante Moore, Oregon6’3, 206 lbs2025 Stats: 272-373, 3280 yards, 28 TD, 9 INT

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