Mid-November is probably too early to start earnestly diving into the NFL draft for the San Francisco 49ers.
Some teams are already eyeing April’s three-day selection event, and while the 49ers playoff chances are dwindling, they still have the talent to turn a corner and make a run at the postseason.
Until the 49ers turn that corner though, we have to operate like they’re not going to, thus leading us to take a quick peek at the 2025 NFL draft order.
Next year’s draft will be particularly important for a 49ers club that’s may be entering a transition stage where they need to supplement their roster with some top-end talent to fill some starting jobs and shore up depth on a top-heavy roster.
The problem for the 49ers goes back to what we just talked about up top — they’re not bad enough to worry about the draft yet which means they’re in the purgatory that sits between a playoff berth and a premium draft pick.
Here’s where things stand in the NFL draft order (non-playoff team edition) after 11 weeks according to Tankathon:
1. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-9)
2. Tennessee Titans (2-8)
3. Cleveland Browns (2-8)
4. New York Giants (2-8)
5. Las Vegas Raiders (2-8)
6. New England Patriots (3-8)
7. New York Jets (3-8)
8. Carolina Panthers (3-7)
9. Dallas Cowboys (3-7)
10. New Orleans Saints (4-7)
11. Cincinnati Bengals (4-7)
12. Miami Dolphins (4-6)
13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-6)
14. Chicago Bears (4-6)
15. Indianapolis Colts (5-6)
16. Seattle Seahawks (5-5)
17. Los Angeles Rams (5-5)
18. San Francisco 49ers (5-5)
That’s right. The 49ers, who are last in the NFC West by way of tiebreaker, would also pick last out of the three 5-5 NFC West teams because of the strength of schedule tiebreaker.
Because the 49ers, Rams and Seahawks all have 5-5 records, the strength of schedule tiebreaker kicks in. The team with the lower strength of schedule gets the earlier draft pick. San Francisco’s opponents have a .549 winning percentage. Seattle’s is .531, and LA’s is .534.
It’s worth noting those numbers are based on season-long percentages. The 49ers have the lowest strength of schedule after 11 weeks.
Ideally the 49ers will turn their season around and find their way into the postseason. For now, we’ll continue keeping track of where they stand in the NFL draft order.
