We are through Week 10 of the 2015 NFL season, and the San Francisco 49ers did not lose ground in the 2016 NFL Draft order, remaining in the No. 8 spot. More importantly, they got a small bit of help from the Houston Texans, and a string of upsets by 3-5 teams give the 49ers a little bit of breathing room on the back end. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Chicago Bears, Washington, Miami Dolphins, Kansas City Chiefs, and Houston Texans all won to improve to 4-5 on the season.
The big win was the Texans Monday Night Football upset of the Cincinnati Bengals. It kept the Texans behind the 49ers, but it also improved the 49ers strength of schedule. The first draft tiebreaker is SOS, and the worse it is, the better a team is for tiebreakers. The Bengals loss dropped the 49ers SOS to .531. That actually ties them with the Lions in SOS. This will change over the final seven weeks, but if the 49ers are tied with another team in record and SOS, it goes to a coin flip.
2016 NFL Draft order
1. Cleveland Browns (2-8) - .507
2. Baltimore Ravens (2-7) - .500
3. Tennessee Titans (2-7) - .507
4. San Diego Chargers (2-7) - .507
5. Detroit Lions (2-7) - .531
6. Dallas Cowboys (2-7) - .558
7. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-6) - .483
8. San Francisco 49ers (3-6) - .531
9. New Orleans Saints (4-6) - .517
10. Oakland Raiders (4-5) - .479
The Week 11 schedule provides all sorts of opportunities for movement. The 49ers could very well stun the 4-5 Seattle Seahawks, so we certainly should not get ahead of ourselves! But here is a look at games involving teams ahead of the 49ers, as well as the teams at 4-5. The Titans-Jaguars matchup is the only one featuring two teams ahead of the 49ers. However, there are plenty of other matchups that can help the 49ers if they were to lose on Sunday to the Seahawks. The 49ers would either move up further into the top ten, or they would at least get some more cushion behind them.
Week 11 NFL schedule
Titans (2-7) @ Jaguars (3-6)
Raiders (4-5) @ Lions (2-7)
Rams (4-5) @ Ravens (2-7)
Cowboys (2-7) @ Dolphins (4-5)
Chiefs (4-5) @ Chargers (2-7)
Colts (4-5) @ Falcons (6-3)
Jets (5-4) @ Texans (4-5)
Bucs (4-5) @ Eagles (4-5)
Broncos (7-2) @ Bears (4-5)
Washington (4-5) @ Panthers (9-0)