If the only thing you want to see Sunday is the Giants improve their draft position, then you couldn’t have hand-picked a better season-ending opponent than the Eagles.
The Giants (5-11) have lost 17 of the last 20 meetings in the rivalry, and the Eagles should be plenty motivated by the possibility of winning the NFC East with a victory combined with a Cowboys loss to the Commanders.
Only pride — and draft position — is on the line for the Giants.
Here is a fan’s guide for how to root in Week 18, depending on if draft position matters or if playing spoiler to the Eagles’ dreams is the goal.
The Giants enter the finale holding the No. 5 pick:
Q: How high can the Giants pick?
A: No. 2.
If the Giants lose and the Commanders (vs. Cowboys), Patriots (vs. Jets) and Cardinals (vs. Seahawks) win, then there will be at least a four-way tie at 5-12.
The Bears (via the Panthers) are locked in at No. 1.
Q: How low can the Giants pick?
A: No. 8.
If the Giants, the Chargers (vs. Chiefs) and Titans (vs. Jaguars) all win and the Jets lose (vs. Patriots), then there will be a four-way tie at 6-11.
Q: Are any of those teams favored to win?
A: The Patriots (-1.5) and Chargers (-3.5) both are favored, according to BetMGM.com.
Q: What are the tiebreakers?
A: The first — even in a two-way tie — is strength of schedule, where the lower number gets the better pick.
The Giants’ strength of schedule (.511) is the second-lowest of the seven teams of the logjam, ahead of only the Jets’ (.507), according to Tankathon.com.
Those numbers will slightly change based on Week 18 results.
If the strength of schedule is the same, division record and conference record can break a tie.
If they are not applicable or teams are in different conferences, ties are broken by head-to-head record, then by winning percentage in common games with a minimum of four, and then by strength of victory in all games.
Q: How late is too late for a top quarterback?
A: The consensus opinion is that quarterbacks Caleb Williams and Drake Maye, as well as receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., will be the top three picks in some order.
The crapshoot begins at No. 4, where offensive tackle Olu Fashanu, pass-rusher Dallas Turner and a handful of others are possibilities based on team-by-team grades.
That list includes Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jayden Daniels and potential national-championship-winning quarterback Michael Penix Jr., both of whom have created wide-ranging assessments with a ceiling of the top five.
Q: What is the most likely scenario?
A: The Giants have a less than 1 percent chance of earning the No. 2 pick, a 7 percent chance of earning No. 3, a 36 percent chance of earning No. 4 and a 43 percent chance of earning No. 5, according to ESPN analytics.
The Giants have the best odds of No. 4 and No. 5.
The percentages reflect starting quarterbacks for Week 18 — when some starters are resting — but do not account for unknown quarterback decisions.
The Giants have an 85.1 percent chance of securing a top-five pick, per ESPN’s Football Power Index.
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