Giants' Rooting Guide for 2022 NFL Draft Implications of Week 10
The New York Giants will sit back in Week 10 and hope their draft stock improves through a few wins from teams projected to pick around them.
Entering Sunday, the Giants have the No. 8 and No. 9 selections in the first round, per Tankathon.com.
The first of those two picks is New York's own selection. The second is the one it acquired from the Chicago Bears when the NFC North side traded up for Justin Fields in the 2021 NFL draft.
With the Bears also on a Week 10 bye, the Giants need to turn their rooting interests to the other three-win teams in the NFL to clear away some potential tiebreakers.
Seahawks over Packers
Rooting for a Seattle Seahawks win over the Green Bay Packers carries two purposes for the Giants.
The first is to clear out a three-win team from a large cluster of franchises slated to select between sixth and 12th overall.
The other purpose is to push the New York Jets' second first-round pick further into the middle of the opening round. The other New York franchise owns Seattle's 2022 first-round pick from the Jamal Adams trade.
At the moment, the Giants and Jets are both slated to have two picks in the top 11, but a win by the Seahawks could drop the Jets closer to No. 15 depending on other results.
Seattle is in a better position to beat Green Bay this week since Russell Wilson is returning to the field after he hurt the middle finger on his throwing hand.
If Wilson returns to 100 percent, Seattle could put together a string of victories that puts it in playoff contention and takes the Jets away from the top 10.
Eagles over Broncos
The Denver Broncos cleared themselves from the top 10 mess in Week 9 by beating the Dallas Cowboys.
Now, the Giants need the Broncos to lose in order to take the Philadelphia Eagles further away from the top five.
Philadelphia's first-round draft stock took a hit on Thursday night when the Miami Dolphins beat the Baltimore Ravens. The Eagles own Miami's first-round pick.
The Giants could use an Eagles win in Denver to move up the draft order while taking some premier talent away from one of their NFC East rivals.
At one point this season, the Eagles were in line to have three top 10 picks, but the Indianapolis Colts started to win more and are now slated to pick at No. 14. Philadelphia receives the Colts pick if Carson Wentz plays over 75 percent of the offensive snaps.
If Philadelphia goes on a winning run, the Giants could end up with the worst record in the NFC East, and in turn, the best possible talent coming out of the draft to enter the division.
Washington Football Team over Buccaneers
We will admit this is more of a pipe dream for the Giants, but there are not many favorable matchups on the Week 10 schedule that can shake up the draft order.
The Washington Football Team was competitive with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first round of the postseason last year, and the Giants have to hope some of that magic is still left.
Washington enters Sunday with one fewer victory than the Giants and in the No. 5 draft position. A third win would put the NFC East rivals level pegging.
Washington owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Giants from a Week 2 victory. If the teams have the same amount of wins, the Giants would jump ahead of the Football Team in the draft order.
It is hard to believe Taylor Heinicke will beat Tom Brady at home, but it is far better than hoping for the P.J. Walker-led Carolina Panthers to win in Arizona, or for the Jacksonville Jaguars to upset the Colts on the road.