The 49ers face three teams in direct competition for a high draft pick.
The Arizona Cardinals got thumped on Thursday Night Football to open Week 7, and look very much like a team ready to kick up the competition for the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. They fired offensive coordinator Mike McCoy, so the offense might improve, but for the time being, they’re pretty awful.
As the weekend approaches, I wanted to take a look at the draft pick odds as they stood prior to TNF. The Cardinals improved their odds, but with their loss we can still assess what things looked like heading into Week 7.
Football Outsiders posted their latest playoff and draft pick odds, and the 49ers are sitting third behind the Arizona Cardinals and Oakland Raiders. Prior to TNF, the Cardinals had a 22.1 percent chance of claiming the top pick and 67.4 percent chance of claiming a top five pick. The Raiders were at 18.5 percent and 63.4 percent, respectively. The 49ers were at 17.4 percent and 59.4 percent, respectively. The Raiders are on a bye this week, but if the 49ers lose to the Rams, I can’t imagine the odds changing too drastically.
ESPN offers their own odds using their Football Power Index analytic. They have the Cardinals and Raiders up top, but then have the New York Giants third with an 11.4 percent chance of claiming the No. 1 pick. The 49ers are fourth with a 10.4 percent chance.
It’s really quite fitting that after this week, the 49ers face the Cardinals, then Raiders, then Giants before the bye. I have a feeling the 49ers get a couple wins out of that stretch, but with some tough games after the bye, that three-game stretch could tell us a lot about their draft pick possibilities.
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