Panthers win first; top pick for week still undecided

October 29, 2023

Top 6 picks set for week as Cards lose and back back into top pick … After Carolina got its first win of the year by edging Houston 15-13 on a walk-off FG in one of today’s early games, Arizona moved up into the #1 pick in the opening round selection order for the 2024 draft, at least for the week, after the Cardinals’ loss to Baltimore in one of the late games. Meanwhile, Chicago which owns the Panthers top pick in this year’s draft as a result of a 2023 draft trade drops down into the #2 spot. However, the switch comes with a pick as the one-win Cardinals move ahead of the one-win Panthers only because the Cardinals have one more loss than Carolina. Carolina, though, has a weaker SOS and the Bears would be back to #1 if Carolina loses its ‘game-in-hand’. Chicago will also hold the #3 pick after the Bears loss in LA against the Chargers last night, while the NY Giants and New England will slide up into the 4-5 spots with Green Bay at #6. As with the Cardinals above, though, Green Bay at #6 comes with a bit of a caveat as the 2-5 Packers would move up ahead of both the 2-6 Giants and Patriots if they were to lose their extra game as they have a weaker SOS than those two teams. The rest of the top ten and beyond, though, won’t be set until after tonight’s Monday night game between Las Vegas and Detroit.