49ers' Rooting Guide for 2021 NFL Draft Implications of Week 17

While there is still one game left to be played, the 2020 season is essentially over for the San Francisco 49ers. All that's left is a chance to play spoiler to the Seattle Seahawks or potentially move up in the 2021 NFL draft order.

Beating the Seahawks wouldn't mean much in the playoff race, as Seattle has already claimed the NFC West. It would keep them from getting the conference's No. 1 seed—Seattle needs a win, a Green Bay Packers loss and a New Orleans loss or tie.

If the 49ers are more interested in improving their draft positioning, they'll want to lose on Sunday, but they'll also need help. San Francisco will need several other games to go its way if it's going to jump significantly in the draft order.

Here, we'll run down which games 49ers fans should be following in the regular-season finale, with draft implications at the forefront.

First, let's take a look at the current draft order.

1. Jacksonville Jaguars, 1-14

2. New York Jets, 2-13

3. Miami Dolphins (from Houston, 4-11)

4. Atlanta Falcons, 4-11

5. Cincinnati Bengals, 4-10-1

6. Philadelphia Eagles, 4-10-1

7. Detroit Lions, 5-10

8. New York Giants, 5-10

9. Carolina Panthers, 5-10

10. Denver Broncos, 5-10

11. Dallas Cowboys, 6-9

12. Los Angeles Chargers, 6-9

13. Minnesota Vikings, 6-9

14. New England Patriots, 6-9

15. San Francisco 49ers, 6-9

16. Las Vegas Raiders, 7-8

17. Arizona Cardinals, 8-7

18. Indianapolis Colts, 10-5

19. Washington Football Team, 6-9

20. Chicago Bears, 8-7

21. Jacksonville Jaguars (from L.A. Rams, 9-6)

22. Cleveland Browns, 10-5

23. Miami Dolphins, 10-5

24. Baltimore Ravens, 10-5

25. Tennessee Titans, 10-5

26. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 10-5

27. New York Jets (from Seattle, 11-4)

28. Pittsburgh Steelers, 12-3

29. New Orleans Saints, 11-4

30. Buffalo Bills, 12-3

31. Green Bay Packers, 12-3

32. Kansas City Chiefs, 14-1

*From Tankathon

At 6-9, the San Francisco 49ers are currently stuck in the middle of Round 1. They hold the 15th pick as of now, but the good news is that they cannot fall further as long as they lose to Seattle. That feels likely, as the Seahawks are determined to claim that first-round bye.

"We're playing for it, because it's good for you, it's good for your body and all that, so we're going to try to take care of business and get that thing if it's possible. So we're going all-out again this week," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said, per Liz Mathews of Seahawks Wire.

The 49ers are not going to face backups in Week 17.

If San Francisco takes care of business and loses, the next step will be getting help from teams higher in the draft order. The New York Giants, Carolina Panthers, Denver Broncos and Detroit Lions all sit at 5-10 and can fall into a tie with San Francisco with wins.

While it would be unlikely for these five-win teams to emerge victorious, it's not impossible. None of the 5-10 squads will play each other in Week 17.

Four other teams share San Francisco's 6-9 record, and their games will be the most important. If they win and the 49ers lose, San Francisco will jump them in the draft order and land just outside the top 10.

Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants (Sunday at 1 p.m. ET, Fox)

Washington Football Team at Philadelphia Eagles (Sunday at 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC)

This is an interesting situation, as the NFC East is still up for grabs. If the Washington Football Team loses to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night, the winner of the Giants and Dallas Cowboys game will head to the postseason.

For San Francisco, wins by Philadelphia and New York would be ideal here. The Giants would then be locked into a bottom-14 draft slot as a playoff team. Since the 49ers lost to both the Eagles and Cowboys this season, San Francisco would get the higher draft position based on head-to-head tiebreakers—assuming Philadelphia loses and all three finish 6-10.

Rooting Interest: Go, Giants and Eagles!

    

New York Jets at New England Patriots (Sunday at 1 p.m. ET, CBS)

The 49ers cannot catch the 2-13 New York Jets in the draft order. However, they can jump the 6-10 Patriots if the Jets are able to pull off their third consecutive win. Seeing as how the Patriots have stumbled in recent weeks, that's fully within the realm of possibility.

It appears the Patriots will roll with Cam Newton at quarterback once again, which could be a boon to San Francisco's draft hopes. Newton has been borderline unwatchable recently and could help hand the Jets another win.

Seeing as how the No. 1 draft pick is out of reach for New York, expect to see the Jets play for the victory here.

Rooting Interest: Go, Jets!

     

Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions (Sunday at 1 p.m. ET, Fox)

This is another interesting situation, as both the Lions and the Minnesota Vikings are ahead of San Francisco in the draft order. Neither team has much to play for here, so we could see a fair number of backups on both sides.

The Vikings, for example, have already ruled out star running back Dalvin Cook.

The good news is that the 49ers should move up a draft spot as long as this game doesn't end in a tie. A Vikings win would put Minnesota at 7-9 and behind the 49ers. A Lions win—and a San Francisco loss, of course—would put Detroit and the 49ers at 6-10.

Detroit would have the better conference record, though, as both teams currently sit at 4-7 in the NFC.

Rooting Interest: No Overtime!

     

Los Angeles Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs (Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET, Fox)

The Los Angeles Chargers can fall below the 49ers with a win over the rival Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. The good news for the 49ers faithful is that the Chiefs have absolutely nothing to play for in this game.

Kansas City has already locked up the No. 1 seed in the AFC and a first-round bye. The Chiefs have already announced that Chad Henne will start in place of Patrick Mahomes, and we could see other starters rest as well.

If the Chargers can hold off Kansas City's B-team, the 49ers can jump up another spot in the draft.

Rooting Interest: Go, Chargers!