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Not every fan will be thrilled about the San Francisco 49ers’ Week 16. win over the Arizona Cardinals. Once teams are out of the postseason picture, there’s a tendency to turn toward the draft and pull for losses instead of wins to ensure a better place in the upcoming selection process. The 49ers didn’t help their place in the draft order with their sixth win of the year.
San Francisco dropped two spots from No. 12 to No. 14 in the draft order.
That in itself isn’t a massive change. The talent difference at that point of the draft is typically negligible, and a good player should be available at No. 14. A win over a division rival could be viewed as a price worth paying for a couple spots in the draft.
On the other hand, a loss would’ve put them in prime position to jump way into the top 10. A loss would’ve put them at No. 10, one spot ahead of the Denver Broncos thanks to the win percentage tie breaker. They would’ve gone into Week 17 with an outside shot at picking in the top five.
Now they’ll have to settle for something in the No. 15 range.
The good news is they can’t fall much further than that even with an upset victory over the Seahawks on Sunday.