Should the 49ers Attempt to Trade Into the First Round of the Draft?
Day 1 of the NFL draft is just around the corner.
However, the real “Day 1” for the 49ers is Day 2 of the draft on Friday for Rounds 2 and 3. San Francisco doesn’t have a pick until No. 61 near the end of the second round. Figuring out which players are going to be available at that slot is an absolute grind. And even then, there’s no telling who exactly will be there. They can estimate a group of prospects, but so many other teams could throw a wrench into the process in various ways.
Since it is such a wait until they have their first pick in the draft, the 49ers could seriously consider trading back into the first round. It wouldn’t be a bad option. The team is already going to be tough enough for so many mid-round picks, which is predominantly what the Niners have in draft picks, to make the team. They can benefit from trading a haul of picks for a more assured player in the first-round.
So should the 49ers attempt to trade into the first-round?
Ehhh.
The 49ers are better suited to sit where they’re at for the most part.
Look, in theory it would be fantastic to trade up a slew of picks to get a more refined prospect. A first-round talent should have better chances to make the Niners’ roster. But this draft is not exciting at all. It isn’t just because of a lack of prominent quarterback prospects. This draft is kind of a bore. There are a ton of solid prospects, but none that make you go, “He’s a stud!” or anything like that.
Having a first-round pick this year is pretty dull. The 49ers could not have found themselves picking late at such a convenient draft. Even John Lynch acknowledges that this years draft is more spread out than top-heavy.
“I think when you start talking about a draft that the volume of it is probably the strength, there's a good thought just to stay put and even go back and acquire more picks.”
It’s kind of unnecessary to trade up into the first round. Unless you’re picking in the top 10, and even that’s a bit of a stretch, then the first round isn’t alluring. It’s why I don’t believe the Jets’ No. 10 pick is enough to lead a trade for Deebo Samuel. There just isn’t that “sexy” pick to go after this year. Second-round players will be just fine for the 49ers this year. If anything, they could trade up in the second-round for players they see falling where they want instead of waiting.
“But then I think you also have to take into account when you look at our roster we're already at 76, 77, 78 people, right around there, in terms of what we have right now, there's not a ton of holes as we see it, needs," Lynch said. "And so that gives you the flexibility to go up when you really like a player. And so that's something we haven't hesitated to do in the past and I think it's going to be different.”
Trading up in the rounds after the first is where I believe the Niners enact it. The disparity of talents that are in the first round to the second this year isn’t dramatic as in years past. So the 49ers are better off hitting the snooze button on Day 1. And I believe that is what Lynch and the 49ers are abiding by as well.
“It’s going to be a little boring on Day 1," Lynch said. "We're not used to that. We're used to having some action and we'll see, that might happen again. But, otherwise, we'll kind of sit through and continue to work so that when we get to our pick, whenever that is, we're ready to make it the best move for the 49ers.”
