Vikings' 2026 draft slot takes another slight hit after latest victory

The Vikings' three-game winning streak has been good for their morale and for J.J. McCarthy's development, but it has come at the slight cost of worsening their position in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft next April.

How much that matters is open to interpretation and debate. Nonetheless, it's not something that can be totally ignored, considering the Vikings are out of playoff contention and will enter next year's draft hoping to add a foundational piece to their roster.

By beating the Giants on Sunday, the 7-8 Vikings fell to the 14th overall pick in the draft. They're just .002 points in strength of schedule — which is the first tiebreaker — worse than the Buccaneers, which means those could easily swap if the two finish with the same record. And if the Ravens lose to the Patriots on Sunday night and drop to 7-8, the Vikings will fall to the 15th pick.

The NFL draft order through the first window of games on Sunday, Dec. 21 | Tankathon.com

The Vikings could still technically pick as high as 8th if they lose their final two games (home contests against the Lions and Packers), though their SOS mark makes picking quite that high extremely unlikely. They could also pick as low as 18th if they win out and wind up with the best record among non-playoff teams.

The likely outcome is that Minnesota will pick somewhere in the middle of 8th and 18th (and closer to the latter). If they had lost at least one of the past three games, they'd be a bit closer to 10th than they currently are.

To be clear, we wrote after last week's win against the Cowboys that J.J. McCarthy's growth and confidence mattered more than a few slots of draft positioning. That is still the case. McCarthy playing well against the Commanders, the Cowboys, and in the first half of the Giants game before leaving with an injury is the most important development for the Vikings' big-picture outlook.

But once McCarthy left Sunday's game at MetLife Stadium with his hand injury and Max Brosmer came in to replace him, the ideal outcome for the Vikings might've actually been a loss.

Of course, the players on the field are never going to try to lose — nor should they. Brosmer was solid with seven completions, including a 21-yard beauty to Justin Jefferson on 3rd and 17 that helped lead to the game-winning Will Reichard field goal. Aaron Jones played his heart out despite being less than 100 percent. The Vikings' defense was dominant all day long.

Minnesota's winning culture has been on display over the last three weeks in a lost season. And that probably does matter more than draft positioning, especially if McCarthy is able to suit up in one or both of the season's final two games.

More Vikings coverage