2016 NFL Draft: Way Too Early Mock for San Francisco 49ers, Version 1.0A
By Peter Panacy
Apr 30, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announces the number third overall pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
The 2016 NFL draft may be a ways away, but the San Francisco 49ers will be looking to make an impact. Niner Noise takes a look with this mock and focuses on the likelihood of a quarterback being taken in Round 1.
To draft or not to draft a quarterback in Round 1? That seems to be the question for the San Francisco 49ers with the 2016 NFL draft looming in coming months.
All of this hinges on whether or not general manager Trent Baalke and the front office will want to take a big shot at a franchise signal-caller now that quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s tenure with the team seems all but over.
In this mock draft, we assume a number of things. First, Baalke and the 49ers will select a quarterback in Round 1, which has been widely speculated by national NFL analysts and pundits.
Subsequent rounds and picks will be used to address San Francisco’s additional needs.
Per David Fucillo of Niners Nation, the 49ers will have 12 picks in the upcoming draft. Four of these are likely to be compensatory and, while there has been some buzz about the league changing this, such picks cannot be traded.
Baalke has zero problems trading picks during the draft, and fans should expect more transactions this draft as well. But, for the sake of sanity, this mock won’t include any trades. After all, mocks are more about identifying and prioritizing the needs of a team and matching them with some plausible fits.
The last question mark will be exactly where the 49ers end up drafting in 2016. We won’t know until the end of the regular season, but CBS Sports assumes San Francisco will hold the No. 9 pick, overall.
That’s what Niner Noise will roll with right now.
So let’s break down this mock with the assumption San Francisco takes a quarterback with its first pick. Don’t worry, Version 1.0B — a mock without a quarterback in the first round — will be coming out later.
Next: Round 1