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With the Minnesota Vikings, officially, no longer a part of the post-season picture, it's time to start looking at where they might potentially stack up in the 2015 NFL Draft, which will be held in Chicago (not New York) from 30 April to 2 May.
Here, courtesy of the folks from Mocking the Draft, is the full NFL draft order, based on the results of today's action (before the Sunday night and Monday night football contests).
Pick | Team | Record | Strength of Schedule |
1 | TB | 2 - 12 | .479 |
2 | TEN | 2 - 12 | .491 |
3 | JAX | 2 - 12 | .509 |
4 | OAK | 2 - 12 | .585 |
5 | WAS | 3 - 11 | .495 |
6 | NYJ | 3 - 11 | .550 |
7 | ATL | 5 - 9 | .480 |
8 | NYG | 5 - 9 | .511 |
9 | NO | 5 - 8 | .482 |
10 | CHI | 5 - 8 | .518 |
11 | MIN | 6 - 8 | .480 |
12 | STL | 6 - 8 | .536 |
13 | HOU | 7 - 7 | .441 |
14 | CLE | 7 - 7 | .461 |
15 | MIA | 7 - 7 | .516 |
16 | SF | 7 - 7 | .541 |
17 | KC | 8 - 6 | .516 |
18 | SD | 8 - 6 | .518 |
19 | CLE (via BUF) | 8 - 6 | .520 |
20 | DAL | 9 - 4 | .450 |
21 | CAR | 5 - 8 -1 | .495 |
22 | PIT | 9 - 5 | .453 |
23 | BAL | 9 - 5 | .466 |
24 | CIN | 9 - 4 - 1 | .493 |
25 | PHI | 9 - 4 | .471 |
26 | IND | 10 - 4 | .468 |
27 | GB | 10 - 4 | .491 |
28 | SEA | 10 - 4 | .534 |
29 | DET | 10 - 4 | .475 |
30 | NE | 11 - 3 | .518 |
31 | ARI | 11 - 3 | .525 |
32 | DEN | 11 - 3 | .529 |
Remember, in the case of determining who gets which draft position when looking at two teams with the same record, the team with the weaker strength of schedule will get the higher draft choice, presumably because you came up with the same record against lesser opponents. Also, the teams that make the post-season, regardless of record, will pick between #21 and #32. So, whoever comes out of the NFC South (Carolina, in this case) will drop significantly on the draft board compared to where they would pick if that rule wasn't in play.
Per these numbers, the Vikings can not pick any higher than #7 overall, as the teams currently in possession of the top six picks can all win no more than five games, and the Vikings have already won six. They also can't pick any lower than #19, though a lot of teams would have to lose in order for them to drop that far (in addition to the Vikings winning both of their final two games to finish 8-8).
Frankly, I'm hoping that this team can finish 8-8, win these final two games, and let the draft position thing sort itself out later on. But, as I said, it's good to be able to look at this information at this point.