Will the 49ers draft ANOTHER Defensive Lineman in Round 1??

Considering how the 49ers lost the Super Bowl, they could go a few different directions with the 13th pick in the upcoming draft.

Option A: Take a cornerback, someone who won’t give up deep completions when the pass rush gets tired. Both Emmanuel Moseley and Richard Sherman gave up deep passes in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl.

Option B: Take a wide receiver, someone faster than Emmanuel Sanders, who couldn’t catch up to Jimmy Garoppolo’s incomplete deep pass in the Super Bowl with the game on the line. Sanders signed with the New Orleans Saints and the 49ers could use a replacement.

Option C: Take an offensive lineman, someone who could give Garoppolo more time to throw.

According to NBC’s Peter King, the 49ers are seriously considering Option D: None of the above.

King released a mock draft on Monday and projected the 49ers to take South Carolina defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw.

“Another defensive lineman in the first round?!! This sounds crazy, and maybe it is, after all the first-round defensive-line capital the Niners have used up. (Consider Arik Armstead, DeForest Buckner, Solomon Thomas, Nick Bosa in the last five drafts.) But I hear the Niners are desperate for a space-eating defensive tackle who can threaten the pocket, and that’s what the 315-pound and athletic Kinlaw does.”

It makes sense to look for a defensive tackle to replace DeForest Buckner, whom the 49ers traded to the Indianapolis Colts for the 13th pick, because Buckner was the best player on the defense. His absence will weaken the pass rush, which in turn will weaken the secondary. Buckner made a tremendous impact.

But the 49ers already have four former first-round picks on the defensive line: Bosa, Thomas, Armstead and Dee Ford. It’s not wise to spend a first-round pick on the same position every year.

And King said the 49ers want a “space-eating” defensive tackle. That’s code for a run-defender. When teams take run-defenders with top-15 picks, they typically end up with players like Solomon Thomas. It’s never smart to draft “space eaters” in Round 1.

And the 49ers don’t want “space eaters.” They run a Wide-9 defensive alignment which requires defensive linemen to penetrate the backfield. And the 49ers already have eight backfield penetrators: Bosa, Armstead, Ford, Thomas, D.J. Jones, Ronald Blair, Jullian Taylor, Kentavius Street and Kevin Givens.

No more defensive tackles in Round 1, please.

Add us as a preferred source on Google