2016 NFL Draft: 5 Bad Picks for the 49ers

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Nov 14, 2015; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles defensive back Jalen Ramsey celebrates a turnover against the North Carolina State Wolfpack at Doak Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Glenn Beil-USA TODAY Sports /

DB Jalen Ramsey, Florida State

CBS’s Rob Rang has the 49ers taking Jalen Ramsey as a “hekcuva consolation prize” if both Jared Goff and Carson Wentz are off the board by this point. To take Ramsey, Rang passes up on Joey Bosa, as well as Laquon Treadwell and Paxton Lynch.

Jalen Ramsey is definitely a very solid prospect, who could play either cornerback or free safety in the NFL. He’s one of the most dominant athletes in the draft this year—at FSU, he was a sprinter and long jumper on the track and field team, and that athleticism translates to the position. At the combine, he put on a show—a 4.41-second 40-yard dash, a 41.5-inch vertical jump, a 135-inch broad jump and an 11.1-second time in the 60-yard shuttle. Those are elite numbers for his position, and they go with an ideal frame, with long arms and big hands. Those aren’t just workout day numbers, either—they translate onto the field, where he succeeded in press coverage. There’s no questioning his talent, and he’ll be one of the better players taken in this year’s draft.

A talent like that is worth consideration by any team, but if the draft broke like Rang had it, I don’t think Ramsey would be the right pick at all. I think he’s a better fit at safety than at cornerback, unless he slides into a nickel role. Maybe that makes him a versatile player like Tyrann Mathieu, or maybe it makes it a luxury pick when you have Antoine Bethea and three recent high draft picks in Eric Reid, Jimmie Ward and Jaquiski Tartt at the position.

Ramsey would start over any of those players, but would a cornerback, even a great one, be worth more than grabbing the best pass-rushing prospect in the draft in Joey Bosa? There was a point where Bosa was the undisputed top player available in this draft; while he’s been supplanted a bit by other players, he’d still be a dream pick if he fell to number seven. Yes, if Ramsey’s a shutdown cornerback, he’d provide a boost to the 49ers’ pass defense—but so would a duo of Bosa and Aaron Lynch coming off the edge, making nightmares for opposing quarterbacks.

Add in Ramsey’s lack of big-time turnover production at Florida State, and I have a hard time accepting that he’d be the best choice of everyone available with the seventh pick. I’d take him over Myles Jack, but someone will be left who will be a talented fit at a position of bigger need than Ramsey will.

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