Continuing with my previous post about strength of schedule and the outlook for the Vikings' draft position, I thought I'd keep us up to date on the full NFL draft order. This of course will vary game by game for each team because of the strength of schedule tiebreakers, and I will not include any divisional standing/playoff consideration as those will change--all non-playoff teams constitute the top 20 picks, regardless of record--- but this is the updated current NFL draft order for 2012:

1. Indianapolis Colts (0-13; SOS of .550)
2. St. Louis Rams (2-11; SOS of .556)
3. Minnesota Vikings (2-11; SOS of .574)
4. Carolina Panthers (4-9; SOS of .479; owns conference record tie-breaker)
5. Washington Redskins (4-9; SOS of .479)
6. Cleveland Browns (4-9; SOS of .497)
7. Miami Dolphins (4-9; SOS of .509)
8. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-9; SOS of .533)
9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-9; SOS of .550)
10. Kansas City Chiefs (5-8; SOS of .479)
11. Philadelphia Eagles (5-8; SOS of .491)
12. Buffalo Bills (5-8; SOS of .503)
13. Arizona Cardinals (6-7; SOS of .467)
14. Seattle Seahawks (6-7; SOS of .485)
15. San Diego Chargers (6-7; SOS of .509)
16. Dallas Cowboys (7-6; SOS of .467)
17. Tennessee Titans (7-6; SOS of .497)
18. New York Giants (7-6; SOS of .515)
19. Cincinnati Bengals (7-6; SOS of .521); This pick is currently a coin flip between Cincinnati & Chicago
20. Chicago Bears (7-6; SOS of .521)
21. Oakland Raiders pick (7-6; SOS of .533) Traded to Cincinnati Bengals (Carson Palmer trade)
22. Atlanta Falcons (8-5; SOS of .473) Traded to Cleveland Browns (Julius Jones trade)
23. New York Jets (8-5; SOS of .503)
24. Denver Broncos (8-5; SOS of .515); This pick is currently a coin flip between Denver & Detroit
25. Detroit Lions (8-5; SOS of .515)
26. San Francisco 49ers (10-3; SOS of .450) This pick is currently a coin flip between SanFrancisco & New England
27. New England Patriots (10-3; SOS of .450)
28. New Orleans Saints (10-3; SOS of .462) Traded to New England Patriots (Mark Ingram trade)
29. Houston Texans (10-3; SOS of .467)
30. Baltimore Ravens (10-3; SOS of .497)
31. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-3; SOS of .509)
32. Green Bay Packers (13-0; SOS of .444); worth noting GB has had the easiest schedule in the entire league this year so far.

As for the Vikings' draft position/Strength of Schedule battle with St. Louis, it stands as:

Minnesota Vikings current opponents' strength of schedule: 97-72; SOS of .574

St. Louis Rams' current opponents' strength of schedule: 94-75; SOS of .556

Factoring in remaining schedules:

St. Louis Rams: Cincinnati (7-6), Pittsburgh (10-3), San Francisco (10-3)

Minnesota Vikings: New Orleans (10-3), Washington (4-9), Chicago (7-6)

So when those are factored in we get:

Minnesota Vikings' current opponents' strength of schedule including remaining games: 128-90; SOS of .587

St. Louis Rams' current opponents' strength of schedule including remaining games: 129-89; SOS of .592

That means that ONE game separates the Rams and Vikings in the "projected" strength of schedule. Keep in mind that if they tie in overall strength of schedule, the next tiebreaker is conference record, and the Vikings are currently 2-7 with the Rams being 1-10. We lose that tiebreaker. It's going to be really, really close, folks. As a reminder of what to be watching for: Uncommon games on our schedules:

St. Louis: Philadelphia, New York Giants, Dallas, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Seattle (2x), Arizona, San Francisco (2x)

Minnesota: Carolina, Tampa Bay, Atlanta, Kansas City, San Diego, Oakland, Denver, Chicago (2x), Detroit (2x), Green Bay

So again, we should be rooting for the teams of the NFC East, AFC North, and AFC West, and against the teams of the NFC South, the AFC West, and the NFC North if we want the #2 pick. And of course rooting for St. Louis.

I will continue to update this order throughout the season (including playoffs).