I try to resist talking in any seriousness about the NFL draft until the next calendar year flips. That's right about when several teams' seasons end officially and their draft clocks start unofficially.

So I don't think getting a five-day head start is too bad, considering I normally will break down around conference championship time.

A look at the calendar and the schedule tells me this: By Sunday night, around 7 p.m., we'll know the order of the top 10 picks in the draft.

Right now we know very little. The Dolphins, with their loss to the Patriots last week, have guaranteed the top spot in the draft.

The Rams, Falcons and Jets all have three losses. It would appear that the Rams have the best, or most likely, chance to earn the second pick. A loss to the Cardinals -- a team they lost to at home earlier this season -- would guarantee it because the first tiebreaker, strength of schedule, is in their favor. The Rams' opponents have won 123 games; the Jets' and Falcons' opponents have won 126 and 127, respectively.

If all three lose Sunday, the Rams get the second pick. But if all three win, the Rams might fall as far as fourth. A Jets win over Kansas City likely would put the Chiefs in the driver's seat in that scenario, though the Rams likely wouldn't fall below Oakland even if the Raiders lost.

Confusing? Stay with me.

Let's look at this four-win clubs, plus the luckiest sons of guns in the derby -- the Patriots, who have taken hits with each of the 49ers' two recent wins, pushing their record to 5-10 for now. Even with the 49ers playing the nine-win Browns Sunday, they have by far the easiest schedule of the eight worst teams with 112 opponent wins (in case you live on Jupiter, the Patriots fleeced the 49ers of their top draft pick and are guaranteed no worse than the 10th pick). So if the Raiders (123 opponent wins), Ravens (124) or Chiefs (122) win, they will fall behind the 49ers, er, the Patriots, in the draft order.

Up next, in the 9-12 holes, are four six-win clubs: Cincinnati (110 opponent wins), Denver (126) Carolina (128) and Chicago (133).

I guess it's best to wait until Sunday to sort all this out. Predicting who will beat whom in Week 17 always proves difficult; figuring out win totals thereafter is another chore.

Sunday night, whenever the order has been salted away, I will post it here. And heck -- maybe I'll even do a little fun mock draft that will be deemed garbage by, oh, mid-January. Still fun to guess when the order is fresh.