The Las Vegas Raiders are going to need a serious influx of young talent if they want to turn this thing around. Typically, the best way to do that is by collecting picks for the NFL Draft and using them wisely, which is much, much easier said than done.
First-year general manager John Spytek, however, got creative during last April's draft, trading back several times and eventually making 11 selections in the event. The Raiders are set to have 10 more picks in next year's draft, depending on how the compensatory pick formula shakes out.
Where exactly those picks will be, however, is yet to be determined. Las Vegas is currently in a battle for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft with several other teams that currently have three or fewer wins. The results of Week 14's games will go a long way in determining the eventual order.
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If the 2025 NFL season ended today, the Raiders would have the No. 4 pick in the draft, behind the Tennessee Titans, New York Giants and New Orleans Saints. To clear the path to the top pick, however, Las Vegas needs those teams to win. Here's what that would look like in Week 14:
Broncos over Raiders
Titans over Browns
Saints over Buccaneers
New York is on a bye this weekend, and because it currently holds the tiebreaker for having a lower strength of schedule, the Raiders aren't likely to jump up to No. 1 after this week. But Las Vegas controls its own destiny, in a way, because it plays the Giants in Week 17.
The Titans currently have a higher strength of schedule than the Raiders, so with a win against the Browns on Sunday, which seems at least reasonable, Las Vegas would move up a spot in the draft order. They'd move up another spot if the two-win Saints can pull off an upset against the Bucs.
As mentioned, strength of schedule is the first tiebreaker when determining the NFL Draft order, and the lower it is, the closer a team gets to the top of the draft board. These games will have major strength of schedule ramifications, because they either lower the Raiders' or higher an opponent's:
Lions over Cowboys
Bills over Bengals
Vikings over Commanders
Packers over Bears
Texans over Chiefs
Eagles over Chargers
Obviously, on Thursday Night Football, the Lions beat the Cowboys. The other five games are yet to be determined, and several of them, like the Texans and Eagles winning, will be massively important because they would both lower the Raiders' strength of schedule and higher an opponent's.
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While these games do not directly impact Las Vegas' draft order this weekend, barring an upset win over Denver, and they do not play a major role in the strength of schedule battle, Raiders fans should want to see these three and four-win teams come out victorious to give them a bit of breathing room:
Jets over Dolphins
Falcons over Seahawks
Cardinals over Rams
The Jets are also equipped with tons of draft capital, and the Falcons' first-round pick belongs to the Los Angeles Rams, giving them two first-rounders in 2026. Both the Cardinals and Jets need quarterbacks and could trade up, and the Rams may want to find an heir to Matt Stafford.
The further those teams are down the draft board, the better, as the Raiders can never be too sure of what will transpire. The following games do not appear to have any implications whatsoever on the draft order:
Colts vs. Jaguars
Steelers vs. Ravens
Overall, it is shaping up to be an exciting week on the NFL calendar, if such a thing exists for a 2-10 team and their fan base. But this at least gives Raider Nation something to cheer for as another painful season winds down in Las Vegas.