Top picks unchanged as early selection order set … In the end, there will be very little change in this week’s early selection order for the 2024 draft; in fact, the first 4 picks will be the same as last week: Chicago, with Carolina’s pick, will hold the #1 pick overall for at least another week, while it will be Arizona at #2, New England at #3 and Chicago, with its own pick at #4 no matter what happens in Monday night’s game with Minnesota. It should be noted, though, that Arizona will have the 2nd pick rather than New England, the other 2-win team, because the 2-9 Cardinals have played one more game than the 2-8 Patriots and would drop to 3rd if they lose their game in hand as Arizona has a somewhat stronger strength of schedule figure. What did happen this week, though, is that it appears that the gap between the teams with the top 3-4 teams and the rest of the league widened to the point that something pretty major would have to happen for Chicago, Arizona and New England not to end up with one of those top 3-4 picks. There was one small change in this week’s top 5, though, as the Giants drop from #5 to #6 after squeaking past New England, while Washington moves up to the 5th slot; we can also confirm that Tampa Bay will have the 7th pick, at least for this week, while the NY Jets will sit at #8. Meanwhile, the rest of the top 10 and beyond will not be set until after the Sunday and Monday night games.
