The San Francisco 49ers still have an outside shot to make the NFL playoffs, but as their chances dip despite a blowout win over the Chicago Bears, it’s easy to turn an eye toward the 2025 NFL draft.
It looked like the 49ers might be on track for a top-10 pick after consecutive losses to the Green Bay Packers and Buffalo Bills.
However, they righted their ship Sunday against Chicago and careened back down the draft order where the rest of the playoff hopefuls reside.
San Francisco entered the week holding the No. 14 overall pick in the rear of a cluster of 5-7 teams. Now they’re sitting at 6-7 alongside their NFC West rivals. At No. 17 overall the 49ers are one spot ahead of the Los Angeles Rams and one spot behind the Arizona Cardinals.
Here’s the 2025 NFL draft order based on the full-season strength of schedule tiebreaker:
1. Las Vegas Raiders (2-11)
2. New York Giants (2-11)
3. New England Patriots (3-10)
4. Carolina Panthers (3-10)
5. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-10)
6. Tennessee Titans (3-10)
7. New York Jets (3-10)
8. Cleveland Browns (3-10)
9. Chicago Bears (4-9)
10. New Orleans Saints (5-8)
11. Cincinnati Bengals (5-8)
12. Dallas Cowboys (5-8)
13. Miami Dolphins (6-7)
14. Indianapolis Colts (6-7)
15. Atlanta Falcons (6-7)
16. Arizona Cardinals (6-7)
17. San Francisco 49ers (6-7)
18. Los Angeles Rams (7-6)
Ties come down to strength of schedule where the team with a worse strength of schedule gets the more favorable pick. Of the five 6-7 teams, the 49ers are on track to have the best strength of schedule and thus land the worst pick among that group.
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