2018 NFL Draft: Giants potentially drafting Saquon Barkley could help 49ers
By Peter Panacy
There’s a buzz the New York Giants will take Penn State running back Saquon Barkley at No. 2 overall in the NFL Draft, which would actually help the San Francisco 49ers out a bit.
An early run on quarterbacks in the 2018 NFL Draft is supposed to help the San Francisco 49ers, who own the No. 9 overall pick.
Yet the New York Giants, who’ll eventually be looking for a successor to incumbent veteran Eli Manning, could throw a bit of a monkey wrench into that notion.
According to ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay (h/t Ed Valentine of Big Blue View), Giants general manager David Gettleman and Co. are pretty enamored with Penn State running back Saquon Barkley, who is widely viewed as the top runner in this year’s draft class.
San Francisco 49ers
It could be the proverbial “smoke and mirrors” campaign. There are always plenty of those leading up to the draft. Yet it’s not hard to find reports the Giants feel they can get two or three more years out of Manning.
So, Barkley to New York makes some sense.
The 49ers, of course, aren’t looking to draft a quarterback. Not with Jimmy Garoppolo entrenched at the helm. So, the theory goes, the more non-QB prospects pushed down the draft board, the better for San Francisco. Barkley going to the Giants, presumably, would hurt the Niners’ chances to get a top prospect they like at No. 9.
Well, not exactly.
49ers Can Benefit by the Giants Taking Saquon Barkley
For starters, San Francisco wouldn’t take Barkley either if he fell that far in Round 1. Signing former Minnesota Vikings tailback Jerick McKinnon to a lucrative four-year deal all but crosses off that notion.
Instead, what a Barkley-to-New York move would do is push yet one more prospect quarterback down the draft board.
To understand this, let’s look at the current top-10 draft order. The Cleveland Browns own pick Nos. 1 and 4, and one of those will go to a quarterback. New York, at No. 2, could take Barkley. Meanwhile, the New York Jets (traded up to No. 3 overall with the Indianapolis Colts) are all but guaranteed to take a QB.
The Denver Broncos (No. 5) could do the same or trade out. But the Indianapolis Colts and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Nos. 6 and 7, respectively) aren’t going to grab a quarterback. Neither will the Chicago Bears at No. 8.
Looking at CBS Sports’ list of top quarterbacks, the upper tier could see one or two prospects pushed well beyond the top five picks.
All of a sudden, that No. 9 pick becomes pretty valuable.
The Miami Dolphins (No. 11), Buffalo Bills (No. 12) and Arizona Cardinals (No. 15) could all be in on the market for a quarterback. If one or two prospects fall deep enough, this could create a two- or three-team race. And the Niners could wind up being a likely trade partner.
Niner Noise has discussed some trade-down ideas in the draft already, and it’s easy to come up with one or two easy-to-make deals general manager John Lynch could execute.
Team X, in need of a quarterback, leapfrogs QB-hungry competition, while the Niners stockpile additional and much-needed draft capital.
Next: 3 best-value picks for the 49ers in the 2018 NFL Draft
It could happen regardless of the Giants possibly picking Barkley. But by pushing another quarterback down the draft board, the 49ers may wind up fielding more offers for the No. 9 pick than they otherwise would have expected.