The penultimate week of the 2016 NFL season has arrived, and the San Francisco 49ers have clinched no worse than the No. 4 pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. They sit at 1-13, and with two games left, strength of schedule bodes well for them getting the No. 2 pick. The Jacksonville Jaguars sit at 2-12, but trail the 49ers by a sizable margin in SOS (Jags: .545, 49ers: .509). The Chicago Bears are 3-11, with an SOS of .520.
The 49ers do still have a shot at the No. 1 pick, although it is not a good shot. The Cleveland Browns are winless at 0-14. They host the San Diego Chargers this week, and then travel to face the Pittsburgh Steelers in their season finale. The 49ers travel to face the Los Angeles Rams this week, and then host the Seattle Seahawks in Week 17.
Football Outsiders is back with their latest draft order odds, which they mix in with their playoff odds. The past two weeks, the 49ers have had around an 18 percent chance of claiming the top pick. This week, following their loss to the Falcons and the Browns loss to the Bills, the 49ers now have an 11.8 percent chance of claiming the top pick.
The Browns are probably not going to win another game this season. The Chargers have enough offense to mean bad news for the Browns bad defense. And the Steelers, while a rival that could be prone to an upset, are another team that are just better than the Browns in a lot of ways.
That being said, what do you think happens on Saturday? i actually picked the Browns in the SB Nation NFL picks. I’m the only one of eight people to pick them. I would be surprised if the Browns won, but I would not be shocked. I’m counting on cold weather and the Chargers losing interest with the team likely moving to LA. I’ll take whatever I can to convince myself of this!