Giants' Rooting Guide for 2022 NFL Draft Implications of Week 12
The New York Giants have fallen behind the New York Jets in their quest to have the higher 2022 NFL first-round draft picks.
The Giants' natural first-round pick is three slots behind the Jets' going into Week 12. The pick the Giants acquired from the Chicago Bears is also trailing the Jets' pick that they own from the Seattle Seahawks. Chicago moved to 4-7 win a win over the Detroit Lions on Thursday.
Joe Judge's team needs a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday and victories by the opponents of the Jets and Seahawks to have a better chance of landing the top first-round pick in New York.
If that occurs, the Giants could move into the top four by the end of Sunday. They are fifth in Tankathon's draft order projections and could use a Jets win over the Houston Texans to improve their first-round stock.
Jets over Texans
Since the Giants can't root against the Bears on Sunday, all of their energy should be shifted to rooting for the Jets.
The other New York franchise heads into Sunday with one of the three 2-8 records in the NFL. At least one of those teams will get to three wins because the Jets are set to visit the Texans.
Giants fans should be backing the Jets so that their team can have the highest draft pick of the two New York teams. Unless a drastic change occurs, both the Giants and Jets will pick at least once in the top 10 come April. However, each franchise has a chance to land two top-10 picks because the Bears and Seahawks are struggling.
If the Jets win and the Giants lose, depending on results elsewhere, there might only be only two two-win teams left in the NFL and a trio of three-win squads going into Monday night.
And if everything goes to plan Sunday, the Giants should be rooting against an NFC East rival at home Monday night.
Seahawks over Washington Football Team
Giants fans are used to rooting against the Washington Football Team.
They get another good reason to cheer against their NFC East rival Monday night.
The Seahawks are projected to have the No. 6 overall pick, which transfers to the Jets as part of the Jamal Adams trade.
A Seahawks victory would move them down the first-round order. That result would still keep Washington in front of the Giants.
The Giants do not need Washington to lose in Week 12 because the Football Team has a head-to-head tiebreaker over them from Week 2. If the Giants beat the Eagles and Washington loses to Seattle, New York would still have the higher draft pick because of that September 16 defeat.
The NFC East rivals meet again in Week 18. By that time, the Giants could have at least one top-five pick confirmed. They have to hit the road for four of their next six games.
Jaguars over Falcons
Sunday presents the Jacksonville Jaguars with the best chance to win their third game.
Jacksonville is facing an Atlanta Falcons team that looked awful in its most recent trip to the gridiron. The Falcons had nothing go in their favor in a 25-0 home loss to the New England Patriots. They have been outscored 68-3 by the Patriots and Dallas Cowboys in the past two weeks.
Atlanta could have used the extra rest from the Week 11 Thursday night game to fix its issues, but the result could also hurt its mentality and left the squad in bad shape.
Jacksonville has not played many teams on its level this season. It beat the Miami Dolphins and lost to the Texans in its two battles of top-five contenders.
The Jaguars have winnable games against the Texans and Jets left on their schedule. A win Sunday could make the Jags a five-win team by the end of the season.
That is the best possible scenario for the Giants, who could see a top-five rival play its way out of a high draft pick in even matchups.