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

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Will Connor Cook be the 49ers’ next quarterback? Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports /

Quiet the Quarterback Questions

Last offseason, a significant portion of the off-season chatter revolved around whether or not Colin Kaepernick could bounce back from a sub-par 2014 season. This offseason, a significant portion of the off-season chatter has revolved around whether Kaepernick will even be on the team next season.

With very few exceptions, good NFL franchises do not have quarterback questions. They either have their guy in place, or have their developmental guy they’re trying to build up. If not, they’re looking to acquire a player, because in the modern NFL, if you do not have a long-term plan at quarterback, you do not have a long-term plan as a franchise.

By the end of the draft, the 49ers need to be able to say, confidently, that the 2017 opening-day starter at quarterback is on the roster. They could have answered that question had Chip Kelly come in and said from day one that Colin Kaepernick was their starting quarterback—there’d still be an argument as to whether or not that was the best plan, but at least the franchise would have a plan.

As it stands, Kaepernick might not be the answer for 2016, much less the future—they’re still talking about potentially trading him. Blaine Gabbert is not someone you can count on as your long-term option; he might well be the best option to start in 2016, but he’s not someone you look at and decide that your quarterback position is set for the future.

There are only four quarterbacks in this year’s draft who I feel are promising enough to guarantee the 49ers won’t be looking for a long-term answer at quarterback at this point next year. That doesn’t mean that all four quarterbacks will turn into long-term starters and Pro Bowlers; such is the nature of the draft lottery. Any of the four, however, would indicate a long-term plan at the position, and move questions to how well the players will play, not who the players will be, and that’s a step forward for the franchise.

More from SF 49ers Draft

The four quarterbacks in question are North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz, California’s Jared Goff, Michigan State’s Connor Cook and Memphis’ Paxton Lynch. For me, any successful draft for the 49ers ends up with one of those four names on their roster.

I would not trade up for either Wentz or Goff. The cost of moving up in the first round is prohibitive, and neither feels like a sure-fire Andrew Luck-esque prospect. If the 49ers desperately decided that tackle Laremy Tunsil or defensive end Joey Bosa was the best player in the draft, you could make an argument that they should move up and try to grab them. These quarterbacks, on the other hand, are not worth the draft capital to make the move, in my opinion.

The only player I would take over Wentz or Goff with the seventh pick would be Tunsil, but if both quarterbacks are gone, the 49ers would be better served working on the offensive or defensive line or trading back from pick seven—it doesn’t make sense to mortgage more picks to try to grab one or the other.

It may, on the other hand, make sense to move up for Cook or Lynch. In a perfect world, the 49ers could sit back at pick 37 and see which one drops to them, but that does run the risk of either or both being gone before the 49ers made their pick. If one goes off the board and the team gets angsty—or the team is convinced that one or the other is significantly better—I could get behind a small move into the back half of the first round for either player. I wouldn’t want the 49ers to move more than ten picks up from their second round pick; neither player is worth giving up, say, their second and third-round selections. But if they have to give a small package of third-day selections to answer their quarterback situation for the time being, that’s a price worth paying.

Next: Protecting the Pocket