2016 NFL Draft: Niner Noise Consensus Picks for San Francisco 49ers in Round 1
By Peter Panacy
The San Francisco 49ers hold the seventh-overall pick in the upcoming 2016 NFL draft. With so many needs across the board, it’s difficult to gauge which prospect the Niners will land. Fortunately, Niner Noise gives you some insight in this Round 1 consensus mock selection.
The San Francisco 49ers enter the 2016 NFL draft with more needs than selections. While the Niners look to have 12 picks for the upcoming draft, the needs of this team far outweigh the number of selections general manager Trent Baalke will have when the draft rolls around in late April.
Will the 49ers be targeting a quarterback in Round 1? Or should the Niners look to reinforce holes within their defense? Perhaps a playmaking wide receiver will be atop San Francisco’s wish list.
It’s anyone’s guess at this point. The 49ers have far too many needs to limit a mock to just a handful of possibilities.
So the staff here at Niner Noise decided to come together and compile each writer’s top choice for San Francisco in Round 1. The answers are as varied as the needs. Yet each Niner Noise contributor offered up a detailed explanation as to why that individual prospect should fit into the 49ers’ first-round plans.
Selections won’t go into too much detail about whether or not any particular prospect will be on the board when the 49ers select. Nor will we discuss if San Francisco should trade up or down to land its collegiate player of choice.
Let’s dive into the picks.
Peter Panacy, Co-Editor — @PeterPanacy
The Pick: WR Laquon Treadwell, Ole Miss
The 49ers are in need of offensive playmakers after the team’s offense came in dead last in standings in 2015. True, there are a number of needs on the Niners’ roster. But San Francisco has to figure out a way to be more dynamic on this side of the ball.
Ole Miss wide receiver Laquon Treadwell is the best receiver in this draft. He’s big-bodied, has excellent hands and can run NFL-style routes.
Should the 49ers part ways with veteran wide receiver Anquan Boldin via free agency this offseason, Treadwell would be a perfect long-term addition to ensure head coach Chip Kelly’s offense has the tools it needs to improve upon last year’s rankings.
Doug Totten, Co-Editor — @Doug_Totten
The Pick: CB Vernon Hargreaves III, Florida
Presuming the 49ers keep Colin Kaepernick satisfied in the Cardinal and Gold quarterback will not be a strong need for Chip Kelly’s new team. His old team, however, will still be looking for a new man under center.
With no prospects standing above the crowd at number seven, Baalke will once again pull the trigger and collect an extra draft pick or two while still managing to grasp a very highly-touted player in Vernon Hargreaves.
Hargreaves had an immediate impact for Florida as a true freshman and he would have an immediate impact for a 49ers secondary that lacks talent at cornerback.
Aggressive in coverage and run support, Hargreaves would bring a fire to the 49ers defense that has been sorely missing. Though not particularly short for a cornerback, he is slightly undersized at 5’11”, especially considering Seattle’s height at the position — Richard Sherman is 6’3” and DeShawn Shead is 6’2”. This should not be the biggest concern for the 49ers, however, as they are in desperate need for some help in coverage.
Vernon Hargreaves III can provide that help and be a key piece of the rebuilding puzzle. Getting Hargreaves and an extra pick — say, a second or third rounder — would be an excellent move for the 49ers.
Jerod Brown, Staff Writer — @JerodBrown62
The Pick: QB Carson Wentz, North Dakota State
Wentz has all of the measurables that teams will look for in a franchise quarterback. He’s tall, athletic and has a strong arm to make all of the throws on the field. Most importantly, Wentz has been the leader of a highly successful program at NDSU for the last two years.
He’s routinely communicating with receivers and standing out as far ahead of the other quarterbacks in attendance. The knock on Wentz is that he hasn’t competed against top competition. His showing at the Senior Bowl can go far in erasing some of the doubts that people have in his ability to be productive against elite players that he’ll face at the NFL level.
Wentz, if drafted, should not be expected to start immediately for any team. The 49ers should draft Wentz with an eye for the future in mind. They can let Kaepernick and Gabbert battle to be the starter for a year or two while Wentz continues to develop into an NFL level quarterback.
Rob Lowder, Staff Writer — @CenCalFaithful
The Pick: WR Laquon Treadwell, Ole Miss
At 6’2”, 210 pounds, Treadwell’s last name reflects his play style. While he certainly isn’t slow, Treadwell wins with physicality and positioning over speed.
The former Ole Miss product has a knack for using his weight to box out smaller defenders, as well as leaping above them to make the catch.
With great hands and a large catch radius, Treadwell is the type of receiver that is rarely truly covered. Whomever the 49ers’ starting quarterback is in 2016, he will be able to target Treadwell with confidence.
If you want a pro comparison, look no further than Dez Bryant.
Treadwell excels at every facet of what it takes to be a wide receiver in a Chip Kelly offense.
In addition to the dominant play and scheme fit, Treadwell has no character concerns, something that the 49ers, through trial and error, have grown to covet.
Bryan Knowles, Staff Writer — @BryKno
The Pick: QB Paxton Lynch, Memphis
While the 49ers have a large number of needs — including multiple spots along the offensive line — there’s no more important position in football than quarterback, and the 49ers do not have a solid starter at the position.
No, I’m not entirely giving up on Colin Kaepernick, but it would be negligent to not take a quarterback at some point in the first few rounds of the draft, regardless of whether Kaepernick is on the roster.
Paxton Lynch has the highest upside of any passer in the draft. Lynch uses his athleticism to extend plays and find targets downfield, rather than pulling the ball down to run.
He’s comfortable in and out of the pocket, with a natural feel for when things are collapsing around him, and makes good decisions with the ball, remaining calm under pressure.
While there is some valid criticism that Memphis’ scheme makes Lynch look sharper than he is, Chip Kelly’s offensive philosophy is very similar to Memphis’ heavy use of screens and short passes to keep things moving.
Memphis had the 14th-most plays per game in football last season, so Lynch could be a kindred spirit for Kelly’s offensive mojo.
Lynch is not a guarantee to be available at pick seven, but more mocks than not have him falling that far.
Nicholas McGee, Staff Writer — @nicholasmcgee24
The Pick: DE Shaq Lawson, Clemson
The 49ers have so many needs to address, but perhaps the most frustrating aspect of their play in 2015 was a lack of a pass rush. Clemson’s Shaq Lawson could help fix that.
Noah Spence is arguably a better prospect than Lawson but comes with significant character concerns, making him a risky pick at No.7.
Lawson does not have such baggage and has proven to be a force coming off the edge both as an outside linebacker and with his hand in the ground on the defensive line.
His addition would allow the 49ers to pair Lawson with Aaron Lynch and give them an exciting duo of edge rushers.
Quarterback may be seen as the top priority but by the time the 49ers pick at No. 7, Jared Goff and Carson Wentz may be off the board, addressing the pass rush by bringing in Lawson is the next best alternative.
Trevor Irvine, Staff Writer — @trevor_irvine
The Pick: OLB Leonard Floyd, Georgia
The anemic San Francisco 49ers pass rush was a major reason for their 27th-ranked pass defense in 2015, where they could only muster up a terrible 28 total sacks, which only three other teams could not get to.
The Super Bowl Champion Denver Broncos showed just how important having an impact pass rush is – they led the league with 52 sacks, and this pass rush led by Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware carried the defense and the offense to its third Super Bowl.
Floyd, at 6’3″ and 232 pounds, just needs to add strength to his frame. He had 17 sacks in his career at Georgia, and possesses the speed, agility and hand power to be a successful NFL pass rusher.
Per NFLDraftScout.com, Floyd is their 27th overall ranked prospect, and fifth OLB. Fellow OLBs in Ohio State’s Joey Bosa will not be available at No. 7, UCLA’s Myles Jack and Notre Dame’s Jaylon Smith will both be coming off torn ACLs from last season, and we all know the dreadful results from the 49ers other ACL draft picks in recent years.
Additionally, Ohio State’s Darron Lee (No. 17 overall) doesn’t possess the size at 6’1″, 235 pounds to be an elite pass rusher, and per Dane Brugler of NFLDraftScout.com is not effective at blitzing and cannot shed blocks at the line of scrimmage.
OLB Aaron Lynch needs help from the other side of the line, and Floyd is the best prospect in this year’s class to help in that role, and the 49ers likely don’t need to draft him at their current position.They can trade down and get even more draft picks to address the other needs with this team.
There you have it, folks — the staff over here at Niner Noise has given you its selections for the 49ers at No. 7 overall in the 2016 NFL draft. And there’s a bit of variety there as well, which speaks to the numerous needs San Francisco has in the draft.
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It’s hard to speculate which prospect the 49ers will target on draft day. It’s possible none of these selections make their way onto the Niners’ roster in 2016.
Still, we can get a glimpse into what people are thinking regarding San Francisco’s potential targets as the draft approaches.
Next: Post-Super Bowl 7-Round Mock for the 49ers
All statistics, records and accolades courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com and Sports-Reference.com unless otherwise indicated. Additional draft information courtesy of CBS Sports.