The San Francisco 49ers managed one benefit in their 27-6 loss to the St. Louis Rams. The team improved from No. 9 to No. 6 in the 2016 NFL Draft order. The 49ers still have eight more games, with their bye coming in a couple weeks. Plenty can and will change in this draft order, but the team is steadily moving up the draft board.
Here is how the top 11 of the draft board currently stand. I went to 11 because that goes through the 3-5 teams. The last number is strength of schedule, which is the first tiebreaker for draft order. If teams are tied in strength of schedule, there is then a coin flip.
1. Detroit Lions (1-7) - .551
2. Tennessee Titans (1-6) - .500
3. Baltimore Ravens (2-6) - .521
4. Cleveland Browns (2-6) - .521
5. San Diego Chargers (2-6) - .525
6. San Francisco 49ers (2-6) - .549
7. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-5) - .462
8. Chicago Bears (2-5) - .521
9. Dallas Cowboys (2-5) - .569
10. Houston Texans (3-5) - .509
11. Kansas City Chiefs (3-5) - .513
Here is how the 49ers strength of schedule currently looks, based on this running spreadsheet, courtesy of Scott Carasik.
| San Francisco 49ers | ||
| Record | 2 | 6 |
| SOS % | 0.549 | |
| SOS | 67 | 55 |
| Team | Wins | Losses |
| Arizona Cardinals | 6 | 2 |
| Arizona Cardinals | 6 | 2 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 4 | 4 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 4 | 4 |
| St. Louis Rams | 4 | 3 |
| St. Louis Rams | 4 | 3 |
| Chicago Bears | 2 | 5 |
| Detroit Lions | 1 | 7 |
| Green Bay Packers | 6 | 1 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 5 | 2 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 2 | 6 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 7 | 0 |
| Cleveland Browns | 2 | 6 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 4 | 4 |
| New York Giants | 4 | 4 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 6 | 2 |
Week 9 schedule
The 49ers host the 6-2 Atlanta Falcons this coming Sunday. The Falcons were stunned at home in overtime by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a week after Atlanta barely edged the Tennessee Titans. The Falcons are not a bad team, but they are not as good as they appeared during their early unbeaten run. They are better than the 49ers, but it will be interesting to see what happens to the 49ers offense against a less than stellar defense.
The rest of the schedule shakes out as follows. The 49ers could lose some ground in two weeks during their bye week, but Week 8 provides some opportunities to gain more ground.
Cleveland Browns (2-6) vs. Cincinnati Bengals (7-0)
Tennessee Titans (1-6) vs. New Orleans Saints (4-4)
Jacksonville Jaguars (2-5) vs. New York Jets (4-3)
Philadelphia Eagles (3-4) vs. Dallas Cowboys (2-5)
Chicago Bears (2-5) vs. San Diego Chargers (2-6)