San Francisco 49ers: Joshua Garnett a wild card for 2018 NFL Draft plans
By Peter Panacy
Third-year offensive guard Joshua Garnett enters a precarious situation with the San Francisco 49ers, who may be looking to upgrade his spot in the 2018 NFL Draft.
We’ll have a pretty good indication just how the San Francisco 49ers feel about offensive guard Joshua Garnett when the 2018 NFL Draft kicks off on Apr. 26.
Garnett, 24 years old, missed all of 2017 while recovering from a knee injury suffered in training camp. This forced the Niners to trade for former Detroit Lions guard Laken Tomlinson who, along with Garnett and free-agent pickup Jonathan Cooper, is one of three starting-caliber guards on the 49ers roster competing for a starting job this season.
The Niners asked Garnett to reshape his body while recovering from his injury. Known more for his power-run abilities at Stanford, Garnett will need to be lighter and more nimble for a scheme fit in head coach Kyle Shanahan’s zone-style offense.
San Francisco 49ers
“He really remade his body and we’re really proud of the work he’s done and looking forward to seeing him get after it in the offseason,” general manager John Lynch said of Garnett, via Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee. “And I think he’s excited about it – feeling sexy, as he says.”
Will that be enough, though?
Garnett’s rookie season was a bit of a disappointment. Pro Football Focus gave the 2016 first rounder a 39.6 overall grade, which is far below average by their metrics.
Missing last season only put him further behind the curve. Needless to say, there’s a lot of pressure on him to make serious strides between now and the regular season.
Lynch’s comments are encouraging. But they should be taken at face value. Adding Cooper is a slight suggestion the Niners aren’t entirely convinced or satisfied with their starting guard options this offseason.
Where we’ll know more, though, is the NFL Draft.
The Niners own the No. 9 overall pick in the draft. It’s followed by the No. 59 overall pick, both parts of nine total selections Lynch has at his disposal.
Should San Francisco use one of these first two picks on an offensive guard, that’s a pretty good indication Lynch and Co. don’t feel confident in Garnett being a long-term solution. Sure, it’s possible the team isn’t comfortable with Tomlinson or, to a lesser extent, Cooper either.
But where Cooper and Tomlinson are both hand-picked additions of the current regime, Garnett is a former holdover from the Trent Baalke era.
And there aren’t too many players left on the roster from that time.
Next: Day-two guard options for the 49ers in the NFL Draft
If the 49ers draft a guard high, it’s not a good sign for Garnett moving forward. Yet if this position isn’t addressed until later, that’s an indication the former is safe for 2018.