With Super Bowl LVIII in the books, NFL teams can start turning their attention to April.
The race for top picks in the 2024 NFL Draft well before the Kansas City Chiefs defended their Super Bowl crown. Through the 18-week regular season, there was one two-win team, three four-win teams and several others that were out of the postseason mix well before their final games.
Losses effectively served as wins in the long run for those franchises with two touted quarterbacks and a standout wide receiver at the top of draft boards.
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Which team has the No. 1 draft pick? And where will the eliminated playoff teams pick? Let’s take an early look at the 2024 NFL Draft order and some of the top prospects who could hear their names selected first overall in Detroit this spring.
2024 NFL Draft order
The Chicago Bears are on the clock – even though it isn’t their own selection.
The team owns the Carolina Panthers’ 2024 first-rounder after trading down from No. 1 overall in 2023. The Panthers used that pick on Bryce Young, whose rocky rookie season came to a close Sunday with a shutout loss against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The defeat brought the Panthers to 2-15 on the year, though they had already clinched the league’s worst record before Week 18.
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That isn’t the Bears’ only top-10 pick. At 7-10, Chicago also owns the No. 9 selection in the 2024 draft.
The Washington Commanders, New England Patriots and Arizona Cardinals, respectively, will follow the Bears at the top of the draft. All three teams share a 4-13 record, but Washington sits at No. 2 based on the strength of schedule tiebreaker.
Here is a look at the first-round 2024 NFL Draft order:
1. Chicago Bears (via Carolina Panthers, 2-15)
2. Washington Commanders, 4-13
3. New England Patriots, 4-13
4. Arizona Cardinals, 4-13
5. Los Angeles Chargers, 5-12
6. New York Giants, 6-11
7. Tennessee Titans, 6-11
8. Atlanta Falcons, 7-10
9. Chicago Bears, 7-10
10. New York Jets, 7-10
11. Minnesota Vikings, 7-10
12. Denver Broncos, 8-9
13. Las Vegas Raiders, 8-9
14. New Orleans Saints, 9-8
15. Indianapolis Colts, 9-8
16. Seattle Seahawks, 9-8
17. Jacksonville Jaguars, 9-8
18. Cincinnati Bengals, 9-8
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19. Los Angeles Rams, 10-7
20. Pittsburgh Steelers, 10-7
21. Miami Dolphins, 11-6
22. Philadelphia Eagles, 11-6
23. Houston Texans (via Cleveland Browns, 11-6)
24. Dallas Cowboys, 12-5
25. Green Bay Packers, 9-8
26. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 9-8
27. Arizona Cardinals (via Houston Texans, 10-7)
28. Buffalo Bills, 11-6
29. Detroit Lions, 12-5
30. Baltimore Ravens, 13-4
31. San Francisco 49ers, 12-5
32. Kansas City Chiefs, 11-6
Top 2024 NFL Draft prospects
The 2024 draft class is headlined by two quarterbacks and the son of a Hall of Famer.
USC QB Caleb Williams, the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner, entered the year as the projected No. 1 pick. While he put up strong stats (30 passing touchdowns, five interceptions and 11 rushing touchdowns) and kept his team in games, the Trojans lost five out of six games to close out the regular season while giving up 34.9 points per game on the year.
North Carolina QB Drake Maye declared for the draft and has entered the mix as a potential No. 1 pick. He had 24 passing touchdowns, nine rushing touchdowns and nine interceptions in 2023 and has drawn comparisons to Justin Herbert.
Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. is widely viewed as the top non-QB in the draft class. He was an All-American as a sophomore with the Buckeyes and continued to improve his stock as a junior.
Elsewhere, Heisman-winning quarterback Jayden Daniels from LSU, Georgia tight end Brock Bowers, Penn State offensive tackle Olu Fashanu and Notre Dame offensive tackle Joe Alt are among the players who could end up in the top five.