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2016 NFL Draft: 6 Simple Steps for a Successful 49ers Class

By Bryan Knowles

May 8, 2014; New York, NY, USA; A general view of the stage and podium before the start of the 2014 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
May 8, 2014; New York, NY, USA; A general view of the stage and podium before the start of the 2014 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports /
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Trent Baalke has been adept at getting good value for trades. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Trent Baalke has been adept at getting good value for trades. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

Make Smart Trades

With 12 picks in the draft, the 49ers can afford to move around the draft board quite freely. If there’s a player they want, they can afford to make a move up and go get them. There’s limits to this, of course—the 49ers have a wide variety of needs, so they are more looking for a large number of contributors rather than that one player who can single-handedly turn a franchise around—but with 12 picks, they can afford to pick and choose their spots more than, say, the Atlanta Falcons can with their five remaining picks.

I don’t think they should trade up in the first round—I wouldn’t have traded up at all for either of the top two quarterbacks, and I’m a little stunned the Los Angeles Rams gave up so much for the right to take one or the other—but with so many picks, I could easily see the 49ers moving back up into the back half of the first round from pick 37. They could use their first overall pick on a lineman—say Notre Dame’s Ronnie Stanley on offense or Oregon’s DeForest Buckner on defense—and then use a package of picks to jump back into the end of the first round for a Connor Cook at quarterback.

They could go both directions, as well. If the top six picks feature runs on quarterbacks and linemen, the 49ers don’t have to stay put and reach for Paxton Lynch, like Chad Reuter at NFL.com suggests. By all means, trade back, gather more picks and re-group. If quarterbacks start flying off the board like wildfire, by all means, trade up and grab one. Find the positions of scarcity and maneuver around the board in the best way to maximize the talent you get at the positions you need.

I’ll even go so far as to say that if the 49ers make all 12 picks at the spot they are currently projected to pick, then they haven’t drafted well. The odds against value and need exactly matching their current draft position are so unlikely that even calling them astronomical seems somehow selling things short. With so many extra picks, the team should not be afraid to move and grab what they need to take.

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