With the New York Jets’ playoff pipe dreams all but squashed after the team clinched its 10th straight losing season, all eyes turn to the NFL draft standings.

New York’s Week 12 loss to the Baltimore Ravens had significant implications for the team’s positioning in the 2026 draft. With the defeat, coupled with a Cleveland Browns victory in Las Vegas, the Jets jumped one spot to No. 4 after starting the day at No. 5. If the Jets had won, Sunday’s results would have dropped them to the No. 8 spot.

Here is a look at the top 10 of the projected 2026 draft order after Week 12’s Sunday games.

Tennessee Titans (1-10, .574 SOS): L 24-30 vs. SEA

New York Giants (2-10, .545 SOS): L 27-34 @ DET

New Orleans Saints (2-9, .492 SOS): L 10-24 vs. ATL

New York Jets (2-9, .526 SOS): L 10-23 @ BAL

Las Vegas Raiders (2-9, .558 SOS): L 10-24 vs. CLE

Cleveland Browns (3-8, .476 SOS): W 24-10 @ LV

Washington Commanders (3-8, .516 SOS): Bye

Cincinnati Bengals (3-8, .524 SOS): L 20-26 vs. NE

Arizona Cardinals (3-8, .556 SOS): L 24-27 vs. JAX

Miami Dolphins (4-7, .487 SOS): Bye

With a win, the Jets would have been 3-8, tied for the fifth-worst record, but landing them at the eighth overall pick due to the strength-of-schedule tiebreaker. Their .526 SOS would have placed them fourth in a five-way tie, falling behind the Browns, Commanders, and Bengals while staying ahead of the Cardinals.

Instead, the 2-9 Jets remain in a three-way tie for the third-worst record, beating out the Raiders but losing to the Saints. They are a half-game back of the Giants for the second-worst record, and a full game behind the Titans for the worst record. The Jets’ SOS would currently beat both the Giants and Titans in a tiebreaker.

New York will pay a visit to New Orleans in Week 16, a game that could be remembered for years to come. Among the top four teams in the draft order, the Jets and Saints are the only ones projected to take a quarterback. There is a good chance that the loser of this game will end up with the top signal-caller of the 2026 draft, while the winner is left with the second (or third) choice.

There is still plenty of football left to be played until we fully understand the ramifications of the Dec. 21 Jets-Saints game. New York is coming off back-to-back daunting road games against the Patriots and Ravens, two games in which they were 12+ point underdogs. Coming up, they will have more favorable opportunities to get back in the win column.

Over the next two weeks, the Jets will play back-to-back home games against the Falcons and Dolphins, followed by a road trip to Jacksonville before they head out to New Orleans.

Meanwhile, the Saints will play back-to-back road games against the Dolphins and Buccaneers before coming home to host the Panthers, whom they beat on the road two weeks ago.

Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza and Alabama’s Ty Simpson are shaping up to be the most coveted quarterbacks in the 2026 class. Oregon’s Dante Moore lingers closely behind, while South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers has a chance to vault his way up the board by draft day.

According to NFL Mock Draft Database, these are the consensus top 10 draft prospects as of Nov. 24:

Rueben Bain, EDGE, Miami (FL)

Arvell Reese, LB, Ohio State

Fernando Mendoza, QB, Indiana

Ty Simpson, QB, Alabama

Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State

Dante Moore, QB, Oregon

Jordyn Tyson, WR, Arizona State

Peter Woods, DL, Clemson

Spencer Fano, OT, Utah

Keldric Faulk, EDGE, Auburn

In other draft-related news, the Jets enjoyed a loss from the owners of their second 2026 first-round pick, the Indianapolis Colts, who dropped to 8-3 with an overtime defeat in Kansas City. The Colts’ pick is currently projected to land at No. 28 overall, although for playoff-bound teams, the order is determined by the round they lose in.

Indianapolis remains atop the AFC South by two games, but every Colts loss still helps the Jets, as it takes them further from earning a first-round bye and therefore improves their chances of losing in the wild card round. Not to mention, with the red-hot 6-5 Texans on their heels, the Colts have yet to lock down the AFC South. Indianapolis and Houston still have both of their matchups coming up.

The Dallas Cowboys defeated the Philadelphia Eagles, which dropped the Jets’ second-round pick via Dallas to the No. 45 slot.

As of today, the Jets are projected to have the following picks in the first two rounds of the 2026 draft:

Round 1, Pick 4

Round 1, Pick 28 (via Indianapolis)

Round 2, Pick 35

Round 2, Pick 45 (via Dallas)

The Jets also have 2027 first-round picks coming in from Indianapolis and Dallas (with the latter being the better pick between Dallas and Green Bay’s first-rounders).

As the Jets continue tumbling down the 2025 standings, the franchise’s long-term outlook keeps getting brighter, especially since their losses feature respectable competitiveness and promising flashes from young players. Flying up the draft order doesn’t guarantee any sort of future success (as Jets fans know), but if it can be achieved without the team completely embarrassing itself in the present, it leaves the franchise in a good spot moving forward.