30. New England Patriots
The New England Patriots kind of just are what they are at this point.
Every game is an opportunity to see and evaluate Drake Maye, and every game is also a painful reminder that the Patriots desperately need to surround Maye with better overall talent.
Good news: Travis Hunter could soon be on the way. Or someone.
The issue right now is that the Patriots are shockingly one of a whopping seven teams in the NFL right now with 11 or more losses. You would think that being 3-11 at this point in the season, you’d be in pretty good shape for a top three pick. But if the Patriots want the best non-quarterback on their 2025 NFL Draft board, they are going to have to continue losing.
The problem is, you want to see Maye continue to take strides, and if that happens, we could see this team accidentally win another game or two. Luckily for them, they play the Bills twice and the Chargers in between over the final three weeks of the season. A top three pick feels imminent for this team, which recommitted to head coach Jerod Mayo last week.
29. Jacksonville Jaguars
I mean, at this point, we’re all just waiting for the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 2024 season to be over. We would have simulated to the end of the year a long time ago if we could have.
The great news for the Jaguars from this past weekend? Well, they ended up losing a game at home against the New York Jets, keeping their 2025 NFL Draft standing intact. They not only lost, but they lost in style as well, rocking the glorious throwback uniforms from the 90s which should still be their permanent uniforms. We also saw another great performance from young wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr., one of the top building blocks of this Jaguars team.
But the big news is that a loss once again pushes this team further up the 2025 NFL Draft order. Maybe the Jaguars don’t care much about having Travis Hunter (not that anyone in the NFL really tanks anyway) but this is a franchise that could use whoever ends up being the top non-quarterback on their draft board. It still seems likely that Doug Pederson is going to be gone as soon as the 2024 season concludes, and the Jaguars are going to be in position to try and lure a top head coaching candidate to Jacksonville this coming offseason.
So who is going to want this job? How many question marks linger about Trevor Lawrence and what you’re going to get out of him going forward? It’s not impossible to think this could be one of the most attractive jobs in the league in a few weeks.