Sunday 21 December 2008

How Sunday's fixtures could affect draft position

The penultimate weekend of the NFL regular season is underway and today the draft picture should become a little clearer in terms of selection order. Seattle are hosting the New York Jets at Qwest Field in the third 'Holmgren & Favre farewell' bowl. A win for the Seahawks would put them at 4-11 with one to play.

Cincinnati travel to Cleveland in a game that will heavily affect draft position. If the Bengals win for the second week in a row they could be picking 6th overall by the end of today. It remains to be seen what benefit a poor outfit like Cincy would gain from climbing too high in these rankings. Should the Browns win, they move to 5-9 and would likely end any chances of selecting in the top five.

The Detroit Lions are losing to the New Orleans Saints today. Roll on 0-16 and a first overall pick. The Cowboys capitulation also means their other first rounder is becoming more and more valuable.

In an all NFC West encounter the 49ers travel to St. Louis. The Niners are currently 5-9 but could push themselves out of the top 10 if they keep winning. At 2-12 the Rams look good for the second overall pick and don't really stand to gain anything but pride by winning either of their remaining two games. The Rams need a big overhaul in the front office and roster.

Kansas City host Miami. The Chiefs did a good job of gift wrapping an early Christmas present to the Chargers last week (a result that stopped Seattle being in position to select 4th overall). The Dolphins have a lot to play for but the Chiefs have proven they are no push overs when they aren't busy giving away wins in the last minute. A Kansas win would be good here for the Seahawks if you're interested in picking as high as possible.

Finally, Houston tackle Oakland in a game I personally hope Matt Schaub dominates for fantasy football league value. The Raiders are currently in a tied situation with Seattle in terms of draft ranking but the 'Hawks own the tie breaker on strength of schedule. I think the Seahawks will have to 'lose out' to pick ahead of the awful Raiders.

Predictions on how draft order will look after today? Click here.

Detroit 0-15
St. Louis 2-13
Kansas 2-13
Seattle 3-12
Oakland 3-12
Cincinnati 3-11-1
Cleveland 4-10
Jacksonville 5-10
Green Bay 5-10
San Francisco 6-10

The current rankings can be found in the latest SDB mock draft on the right hand side bar. A new mock will be published following this weekends schedule.

1 comment:

Aaron Weinberg said...

I'm with you on Matt Schaub, I also have Andre Johnson and Owen Daniels... looks like the Rams have a chance of winning, they are about to score again in the 4th quarter.