Week 16 wasn’t good for the San Francisco 49ers.
They were officially eliminated from the playoffs before their game against the Miami Dolphins even kicked off, and then they faceplanted against the Dolphins in an ugly 29-17 defeat.
On the other hand, with all eyes officially turned toward the 2025 season, we can immerse ourselves fully in the race for the best draft picks. In that regard, Sunday couldn’t have gone much better for San Francisco.
They entered the week holding on to the No. 15 overall pick, behind a slew of other 6-8 teams thanks to the strength of schedule tiebreaker that gave them the worst pick of those 6-8 clubs.
However, the Cincinnati Bengals and Indianapolis Colts both won their games Sunday morning. Then the Dolphins beat the 49ers to move the 49ers further up the draft board.
Then the Dallas Cowboys swung an upset Sunday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a wild game where the Cowboys nearly smoked a nine-point lead with less than three minutes to go.
By defeating Tampa Bay 26-24, the Cowboys became the fourth of five 6-8 teams to win, moving the 49ers all the way up to No. 11 in the 2025 NFL draft, just behind the 5-9 New Orleans Saints who face the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football.
Here’s the updated draft order through Sunday night with projected full-season strength of schedule as the tiebreaker.
2025 NFL draft order
1. New York Giants (2-13)
2. New England Patriots (3-12)
3. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-12)
4. Tennessee Titans (3-12)
5. Cleveland Browns (3-12)
6. Las Vegas Raiders (3-12)
7. Carolina Panthers (4-11)
8. New York Jets (4-11)
9. Chicago Bears (4-11)
10. New Orleans Saints (5-9)
11. San Francisco 49ers (6-9)
12. Miami Dolphins (7-8)
13. Indianapolis Colts (7-8)
14. Cincinnati Bengals (7-8)
15. Dallas Cowboys (7-8)
16. Arizona Cardinals (7-8)
17. Seattle Seahawks (8-7)
18. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-7)
