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Nfl Draft Scenarios 2026 How Raiders Or Giants Clinch The No 1 Pick

Bonisiwe Shabane
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nfl draft scenarios 2026 how raiders or giants clinch the no 1 pick

The final week of the regular season is an exciting time. It is the last chance for teams in contention for playoff spots to make their moves toward the postseason. On the other end of the standings spectrum, teams at the bottom of the league have already turned their attention to the offseason and next year. The 2026 NFL Draft is coming in April, and the draft order will be finalized at the end of the Super Bowl. At the end of the regular season, though, we will have the order for the first 18 picks. The Las Vegas Raiders and the New York Giants entered the week a combined 5-27 on the season.

While it feels like doom and gloom, there is a bright spot in the future. Both teams were the last two with a shot at the first overall pick in the draft. That draft selection could either be used to select a difference maker, or trade for a litany of picks to bolster their respective futures. In the end, it was Las Vegas who clinched the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft, giving the Raiders an early start on its rebuild. Here is more on how the Raiders clinched the No.

1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft in Week 18. Sunday afternoon update: With the Giants defeating the Cowboys in Week 18, the Raiders have officially clinched the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. The Las Vegas Raiders are limping to the end of a dismal season. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks to last week’s loss to the New York Giants, which dropped the Raiders to 2-14 on the season, they are now in the driver’s seat for the first pick in the 2026 NFL...

And they control their own destiny, as it were, in that race. With the regular season finished, the Raiders hold the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Las Vegas locked in the top spot thanks to the Giants' win over the Cowboys and will almost certainly be in the market for a quarterback when it goes on the clock on April... The Giants, meanwhile, joined the Browns as teams that went from contending for the top pick to losing valuable draft position after closing the regular season with two straight wins. Behind the Raiders, the Jets, Cardinals, Titans and Giants round out the top five.

As a reminder, there are four teams -- Atlanta, Green Bay, Indianapolis and Jacksonville -- without a first-round pick in 2026 as a result of draft-day trades and the Micah Parsons and Sauce Gardner... Here is the current 2026 NFL Draft order (via Tankathon): Will the Raiders add a potential franchise quarterback to their impressive collection of young offensive talent? Alex Slitz / Getty Images Despite snapping a 10-game losing streak by beating the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, the Las Vegas Raiders secured the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.

The New York Giants’ 34-17 win over the Dallas Cowboys earlier in Week 18 locked up that top slot for Las Vegas (3-14), although the New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals and Tennessee Titans finished... Per NFL rules, draft order is determined by record, with strength of schedule used as a tiebreaker; among teams with the same record, the team that faced the weakest schedule picks first. Using that same tiebreaker, the Jets clinched the No. 2 pick with their loss Sunday in Buffalo. The Cardinals and Titans will hold picks No. 3 and No.

4, respectively. The Raiders had been the NFL’s lone two-win team entering Sunday, thanks in no small part to their blowout Week 17 loss to the New York Giants. By winning their final two games of the regular season, the Giants fell to the No. 5 pick. Cleveland, Washington, New Orleans, Kansas City and Cincinnati round out the top 10, in that order. The Raiders have previously held the No.

1 pick just once since the NFL-AFL merger: In 2007, they selected QB JaMarcus Russell out of LSU. The organization also held the top pick in the 1962 AFL draft, which it used on NC State quarterback Roman Gabriel, who instead signed with the Los Angeles Rams after getting selected No. 2 in the 1962 NFL Draft. The Raiders locked up the first overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft on Sunday. The Giants were the only other team still in the running for the top selection entering Week 18, but their victory over the Cowboys on Sunday eliminated them from contention. The Raiders defeated the Chiefs later on Sunday, moving to 3-14, but Vegas wins the strength-of-schedule tiebreaker for the first pick since its SOS is lower than that of the three other 3-14 teams...

The Jets secured the second pick after losing to the Bills on Sunday. Rounding out the rest of the top 10 in the draft order, the Cardinals pick third, the Titans fourth, the Giants fifth, the Browns sixth, the Commanders seventh, the Saints eighth, the Chiefs ninth... The Raiders hold the top selection for the first time since 2007. Things started off positively for the Silver and Black at the dawn of the Pete Carroll era, with the Raiders beating the Patriots in New England to open the season. The bottom dropped out immediately after that victory, though, with Vegas losing 14 of its next 15 games, including 10 in a row entering Sunday's contest. On Monday, team owner Mark Davis announced that the organization was parting ways with Carroll, stating that GM John Spytek will lead football operations in close collaboration with minority owner Tom Brady.

Reuniting Carroll with Geno Smith was largely a disaster. Smith led the league in interceptions with 17 and the offense's struggles led to the firing of coordinator Chip Kelly after a 24-10 loss to the Browns in Week 12. QB coach Greg Olson was installed as the interim OC, but the results didn't improve, with the low-wattage unit averaging a measly 12.7 points per game since the change. The Las Vegas Raiders and New York Giants are a combined 5-27 on the season. While that sounds like doom and gloom, there’s a silver lining: both franchises remain in contention for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft–and the chance to select Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza.

Week 17’s “Stinker Bowl” between the NFL’s only two-win teams went to the Giants, who cruised to a 34-10 victory and snapped a nine-game losing streak in the process. The result flipped the draft order, putting Las Vegas in the driver’s seat for the top selection heading into the final week. Here’s everything you need to know about the No. 1 pick scenarios for Week 18. The Raiders control their own destiny. Las Vegas clinches the No.

1 overall pick with: It’s that simple. Pete Carroll’s squad doesn’t need any help, just one more loss in a season full of them. If the Raiders somehow beat Kansas City, the No. 1 pick would go to a strength-of-schedule tiebreaker, and Las Vegas would likely fall to No. 2.

The No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL draft is officially set. Because the Giants defeated the Cowboys in Week 18, the lowly Raiders will have the first selection in Pittsburgh this April, as confirmed by ESPN's Adam Schefter. Last year, the Raiders used the sixth overall pick to select Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty. With the Giants win today, the Las Vegas Raiders now have clinched the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.The Raiders are now on the clock.

Starting Raiders quarterback Geno Smith is under contract through the 2027 season, but Vegas still needs a solution to its long-term QB problem, especially with Smith's poor play in 2025 (case in point: as... That in mind, it's widely believed that the team will select Heisman-winning Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza with its top pick. Mendoza has not yet declared for the draft, as he is in the middle of the College Football Playoff, but it's very likely he will. Fox News Flash top sports headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on FoxNews.com. A loss would have clinched the Raiders the first overall pick In April, but they did not have to wait for their own game to kick off to find out their fate.

The New York Giants had an outside shot at the No. 1 pick, a selection they controlled heading into their matchup against the Raiders last week. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM A general view of the field shows the New England Patriots and the Las Vegas Raiders in the first quarter of their game at Allegiant Stadium on Oct. 15, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Week 18 outcomes locked the 2026 NFL Draft Top 10, with Las Vegas first and the Jets moving up to No. 2 thanks to the Giants' win over the Cowboys. With nearly the entire 2025 NFL regular season in the books, the Top 10 in the 2026 NFL Draft is set. The Las Vegas Raiders clinched the top pick Sunday when the New York Giants defeated the Dallas Cowboys in Week 18, even though the Raiders beat the Chiefs. The New York Jets moved up from No. 3 to No.

2 thanks to their loss to the Buffalo Bills coupled with the Giants' win. The only other time the Raiders had the No. 1 pick in the draft, they selected quarterback JaMarcus Russell in 2007. They're hoping they don't repeat history with that disastrous selection. The same is true for the Jets, who took quarterback Zach Wilson with the No. 2 pick in 2021, the only other time the team held the No.

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