This is a look at the first-round order for the 2020 NFL Draft heading into Week 13, along with the top three needs for each team. The order is determined by record, using strength of schedule as the first tiebreaker (click here to see a full list of the draft-order tiebreakers). Keep in mind -- teams 21-32 would make the playoffs if the season ended today and are marked as PL (short for playoffs) in the order below. The draft order for playoff teams is determined by the results of postseason play.
Is the race for the No. 1 overall pick over before we even get to Thanksgiving?
No, it's not. Sorry to tease you like that. However, the Bengals now have a two-game lead for the first selection in the 2020 NFL Draft with five games to play. Even if the Red Rifle returns with a vengeance now that he has his old job back, it's difficult -- although not impossible -- to imagine Cincinnati winning twice with a remaining schedule of vs. Jets, at Browns, vs. Patriots, at Dolphins, vs. Browns.
Now, the needs for each team listed below offer just a snapshot of the areas that project to require the most attention as of today. Draft needs for NFL teams don't crystallize until the spring, after free agency plugs some holes and creates others, but we are firm believers that it's not too soon to see what might be coming around the corner.
The order and needs will evolve as we go along. Stay tuned. It's going to be a rather inglorious ride.
Arrows indicate how far up or down a team has moved relative to last week.
**Previous week:** No. 1
**This week's game:** vs. Jets
**Biggest needs:** QB, OL, LB
The Bengals announced to the world a month ago that they don't believe Andy Dalton is the answer. Now it's clear that Ryan Finley isn't the answer. This is why they can't pass on Joe Burrow in April.
**Previous week:** No. 3
**This week's game:** vs. Packers
**Biggest needs:** OT, edge rusher, DB
The Giants' offseason priorities should be two-fold: 1) Keep fumble-prone Daniel Jones upright. 2) Fix a defense that just allowed the bumbling Bears to post 300-plus yards for just the second time this season.
**Previous week:** No. 2
**This week's game:** at Panthers
**Biggest needs:** OL, CB, pass catcher
For Washington fans whose top priority is gaining the best possible draft positioning, that was a devastating win over the Lions. Not only does it likely kill the team's chances for the top pick, it also places the Redskins behind the division-rival Giants due to the strength-of-schedule tiebreaker. There's likely to be major draft-order implications when those two teams meet in Week 16.
**Previous week:** No. 4
**This week's game:** vs. Eagles
**Biggest needs:** QB, OT, edge rusher
Miami is ranked dead last in pass and run blocking, per Pro Football Focus. No team has allowed more points than the Dolphins (346), and just two teams have scored fewer. There are needs everywhere on the roster. Yet, this team has won two games and has a very good chance to win more with teams like the Giants and Bengals remaining on the schedule. Remarkable.
**Previous week:** No. 6
**This week's game:** vs. Chargers
**Biggest needs:** Interior D-line, OL, DB
OK. We'll give it one more week, but if the Broncos pass again on a chance to start Drew Lock over Brandon Allen, it's going to be awfully hard to justify keeping QB off the needs list. If there's so little confidence in Lock within the organization that it won't play him over a sputtering journeyman, doesn't that tell us all we need to know? Let's see what the second-round pick can do!
**Previous week:** No. 8
**This week's game:** vs. Saints
**Biggest needs:**Edge rusher, DB, OL
The Falcons' pass rush returned to its old ways against the Bucs, recording only one QB hit (and no sacks) against a QB known for holding the ball for too long while playing behind a porous offensive line.
**Previous week:** No. 10
**This week's game:** vs. Bears
**Biggest needs:** CB, OL, edge rusher
A season that looked so promising in late September has turned into an outright disaster. The Lions, once 2-0-1, have lost seven of eight and they can't protect their quarterback. Jeff Driskel was sacked six times and hit on eight other dropbacks in a loss to the woeful Redskins.
**Previous week:** No. 9
**This week's game:** vs. Rams
**Biggest needs:** Defensive playmaker, OL, pass catcher
As is usually the case with a defense that is one of the league's worst, Arizona has had issues at every level. No team has allowed more passing TDs than Vance Joseph's unit (29), and there will be a glaring void opposite Defensive Player of the Year candidate Chandler Jones if Terrell Suggs isn't re-signed before the start of free agency.
**Previous week:** No. 11
**This week's game:** at Broncos
**Biggest needs:** OL, QB, CB
Regardless of who is playing quarterback for the Chargers when they move into their new stadium next season ( Philip Rivers is in a contract year and is showing signs of significant decline), GM Tom Telesco has to give him a better offensive line. L.A. ranks in the bottom five in both pass and run blocking, per PFF.
**Previous week:** No. 5
**This week's game:** at Bengals
**Biggest needs:** OL, edge rusher, CB
**Previous week:** No. 12
**This week's game:** vs. Buccaneers
**Biggest needs:** CB, front-seven playmaker, OL
Welp. After getting thumped by each division opponent in the last three games (lost each game by at least 20 points), I think it's safe to say this franchise has to go back to the proverbial drawing board. The most surprising part of this collapse is the way a once-proud defense has completely unraveled.
**Previous week:** No. 7
**This week's game:** at Jaguars
**Biggest needs:** QB, OL, DB
They don't want it. Nope. The Bucs do not want that top-10 pick! They've won two of the last three (even though Jameis Winston has thrown at least two picks in each game), and have a good shot to keep it going against a Jaguars team in disarray.
**Previous week:** No. 16
**This week's game:** vs. Redskins
**Biggest needs:** DB, OL, DL
Obviously, there could be some franchise-altering decisions to come on offense -- starting at the quarterback position -- but Ron Rivera, long considered one of the best defensive coaches in the business, is heading up a team that has given up 20 or more points in seven straight games (third-longest active streak in the NFL). There also figures to be big-time turnover for a defense that starts seven impending free agents.
**Previous week:** No. 17
**This week's game:** at Dolphins
**Biggest needs:** DB, edge rusher, WR
Just when the Eagles figure things out on defense ... their offense disappears. Ouch. Philly has allowed 15.3 points per game in its last four outings, but has gone just 2-2 during that stretch because it lacks any semblance of punch when Carson Wentz is under center. He's not right, but he's not going anywhere. Give him better weaponry on the perimeter.
**Previous week:** No. 14
**This week's game:** at Steelers
**Biggest needs:** OT, S, interior OL
The Browns are now 4-2 when Baker Mayfield is sacked two times or fewer -- as he has been each time out during the current three-game winning streak -- and 1-4 when he's sacked more than two times. Protect the franchise and good things happen. Hence, the O-line needs.
**Previous week:** No. 15
**This week's game:** at Colts
**Biggest needs:** QB, OL, RB
At this rate, it will be stunning if the Titans don't commit to impending free agent Ryan Tannehill as their QB1 for 2020. Given Tannehill's history, though, I'm not moving QB off the needs list at this point. Derrick Henry is making a run at the rushing title in his contract year. Some big decisions await Jon Robinson.
**Previous week:** Playoffs
**This week's game:** vs. Titans
**Biggest needs:** DL, pass catcher, DB
Indy failed to gain more than 14 yards on a pass in its loss to the Texans. That's not going to cut it. I know the Colts are without Parris Campbell (broken hand) right now and T.Y. Hilton had a couple costly drops vs. Houston, but this is not a new problem. Indy ranks last in the league with one pass of 40-plus yards in 2019. GM Chris Ballard has to keep looking for targets who can pick up yardage in chunks this offseason.
**Previous week:** No. 19
**This week's game:** at Chiefs
**Biggest needs:** CB, WR, edge rusher
The Raiders' house came tumbling down on Sunday, as weaknesses that they have done such a nice job of covering up were exposed by the Jets. Oakland still is struggling to find a consistent rusher opposite Maxx Crosby and a secondary that isn't good enough could lose its top corner -- Daryl Worley -- in free agency. And when Josh Jacobs is quieted, the passing game doesn't have the potency to pick up the slack.
**Previous week:** Playoffs
**This week's game:** vs. Bills
**Biggest needs:** DB, pass catcher, DL
Following a game in which the Dallas offense couldn't get anything going with Amari Cooper being completely shut down by Stephon Gilmore, it seems a good time to remind everyone that Cooper and Randall Cobb are due to hit the market in March. Jason Witten is 38 and his deal is up after this season, too.
**Previous week:** Playoffs
**This week's game:** vs. Raiders
**Biggest needs:** CB, LB, OG
Some huge, potentially needs-altering decisions await Andy Reid and Brett Veach when it comes to the porous Kansas City defense. CBs Kendall Fuller and Bashaud Breeland are ticketed for free agency, as are D-linemen Chris Jones and Emmanuel Ogbah. He won't come cheap, but they would be foolish to let a stud like Jones walk while he's in his prime.
**Previous week:** Playoffs
**This week's game:** at Cowboys
**Biggest needs:** WR, CB, DE
The Bills have faced the easiest schedule in the league to this point, with their most impressive win coming against a Marcus Mariota-led Titans team on the road back in Week 5. It's not Buffalo's fault, but it just hasn't played many good teams. We're about to find out if this squad has the juice on offense and playmakers on defense to hang with some of the darlings of the NFL, though. Buffalo's next four games: at Cowboys, vs. Ravens, at Steelers, at Patriots.
**Previous week:** Playoffs
**This week's game:** at Seahawks
**Biggest needs:** OL, DB, DL
Mike Zimmer could still use a disruptive interior D-lineman to pair with Linval Joseph. The Vikings' other DTs have combined for just three sacks, six tackles for loss and five QB hits in 11 games.
**Previous week:** Playoffs
**This week's game:** at Giants
**Biggest needs:** OT, pass catcher, ILB
The schedule lightens up considerably now, so perhaps this is the end of the rough patch for the losers of two of their last three? Aaron Rodgers -- who was sacked 12 times in his first seven games of the season -- has been sacked 15 times in the last four games and he's averaging 166 passing yards in his last three games. Send help.
**Previous week:** Playoffs
**This week's game:** vs. 49ers
**Biggest needs:** Edge rusher, ILB, interior OL
The price tag is only going up for Matt Judon, who recorded his team-leading seventh sack of the season in Monday night's romp over the Rams. The level of need at edge rusher grows considerably if he doesn't return.
**Previous week:** Playoffs
**This week's game:** at Falcons
**Biggest needs:** WR, interior OL, DB
Quarterback is off the needs list this week because whether it's Drew Brees or Teddy Bridgewater -- both due to become free agents -- I have to think Sean Payton will ensure one or both are on the roster next season. While the long-term plan at the position is still the elephant in the room, the more immediate concerns are likely to be finding a complement for Michael Thomas, potentially replacing impending free agent Andrus Peat and retooling a secondary where there could be significant turnover due to expiring deals.
**Previous week:** Playoffs
**This week's game:** vs. Vikings
**Biggest needs:** DL, OL, DB
John Schneider and Pete Carroll might have to rebuild a defensive line that helped wreak havoc against the Eagles on Sunday despite being without the injured Jadeveon Clowney. This is a deep D-line, but Ezekiel Ansah, Al Woods, Quinton Jefferson, Jarran Reed and Clowney have deals that expire after this season. Adding a playmaker in the secondary is probably more of a luxury.
**Previous week:** Playoffs
**This week's game:** at Ravens
**Biggest needs:** DB, OL, WR
The 2021 offseason might be weighing heavily on John Lynch's mind this spring. Some of the 49ers due to hit the market 16 months from now: George Kittle, Jaquiski Tartt, Richard Sherman, DeForest Buckner, K'Waun Williams and Tevin Coleman. Better plan ahead.
**Previous week:** Playoffs
**This week's game:** at Texans
**Biggest needs:** TE, OL, S
The Pats keep winning, but they've gone three straight games scoring 20 points or fewer for the first time in eight years. Bill Belichick is going to have to add some more punch to the offense in the offseason, starting at the tight end position, which has produced a measly 24 grabs for 302 yards and one TD for New England in 2019.
TEAMS WITHOUT A FIRST-ROUND PICK
Chicago Bears (5-6)
Biggest needs: QB, DB, OG
Mitchell Trubisky played poorly enough for the Giants to sneak out of Soldier Field with a win on Sunday, but the Chicago defense didn't let that happen. The second overall pick of the 2017 draft has five more games before the Bears almost certainly bring in someone to replace him as the QB1. And it's still entirely possible the team's 2020 first-round pick -- in the Raiders' possession thanks to the Khalil Mack trade -- ends up being a top-10 selection.
Houston Texans (7-4)
Biggest needs: Edge rusher, OL, CB
How much does this team miss J.J. Watt? The Texans have allowed 168.7 rush yards per game since Week 9 (the first game Watt missed after suffering a torn pec). Houston was giving up 85.4 rush yards per game (fifth in the league) prior to the Watt injury. Plus, Romeo Crennel's defense has only sack in the last two games. The Texans lead the AFC South, but that kind of defensive production doesn't smack of a recipe for sustained success. They have to improve their depth off the edge.
Los Angeles Rams (6-5)
Biggest needs: OL, edge rusher, DB
Oh no. A team that seemed to be gearing up for a second half run when it acquired Jalen Ramsey before the trade deadline was shellacked by the Ravens to suffer a second loss in three games, and there's not a gimme left on the schedule. The Super Bowl hangover is real.
Pittsburgh Steelers (6-5)
Biggest needs: Edge rusher, pass catcher, OL
Impending free agent Bud Dupree, who already has a career-high seven sacks, continues to potentially price himself out of town. But leave it to Kelvin Colbert to find a way to replace him, if necessary, because as we've seen over the past couple weeks, a Steelers offense sans Ben Roethlisberger, JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Conner is not easy on the eyes. Trying to win without the services of your QB1, WR1 and RB1 sounds like a horrible experience, but Pittsburgh would make the playoffs if the season ended today.
