49ers 2019 mock NFL Draft with Quinnen Williams (and a trade)

Round 1, Pick 4: DT Quinnen Williams

The star of today’s mock draft, Quinnen Williams, may not fit the 49ers’ immediate needs. But if Nick Bosa is no longer available, getting Williams may not be the worst move by the 49ers.

San Francisco 49ers

Niner Noise’s Ezechiel Dezine wrote an amazing piece about the benefits of drafting Quinnen Williams. In his piece, he mentions:

"Though the 49ers can’t go wrong by choosing Bosa or Williams in the 2019 NFL Draft, the latter would provide an interior push, which would wreak havoc on quarterbacks for the next decade. If paired with Buckner inside, the two would create a destructive push, which would allow the likes of linebackers Kwon Alexander and Fred Warner to fly into the backfield in the run game and push the pocket, sending quarterbacks into the waiting arms of Ford on passing downs."

If there is one constant in the new NFL, where the seven-step drop back is growing obsolete and misdirection is the name, pass rushes needs to be as efficient as possible. The easiest way to get to a place is to go straight, which a player can do if they rush from the B-gap.

Other than positional value, which is another debate entirely, the only real negative to drafting Williams is his relative inexperience. A redshirt sophomore, Williams broke out this year in a big way, but one-hit wonders are common every year in the draft.

The draft is never a sure thing, so it’s a risk the Niners would have to take.