49ers land LSU safety Grant Delpit in Mel Kiper mock NFL Draft

ESPN’s Mel Kiper didn’t change his San Francisco 49ers selection in Round 1 of the 2020 NFL Draft, giving the Niners LSU safety Grant Delpit at No. 31 overall.

The San Francisco 49ers don’t have a ton of needs this offseason, yet the ones they do have are pretty notable.

Wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, defensive end Arik Armstead and safety Jimmie Ward are some of the top Niners names heading towards the free-agent market, and San Francisco has only limited cap resources to re-sign all three without some serious moves elsewhere.

And with only one pick — No. 31 overall — in Rounds 1 through 4, the 49ers aren’t exactly laden with a bevy of selections to make up for potential losses.

Not surprisingly, ESPN NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. (h/t David Bonilla of 49ers Webzone) pointed this out when he broke down his second mock draft for 2020.

For San Francisco’s selection, he sticks with his first mock draft assessment, naming LSU safety Grant Delpit to the 49ers at No. 31:

"As I mentioned last month, the 49ers have to get this pick right because they don’t have another selection until the fifth round. No pressure, general manager John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan. Delpit struggled through an ankle injury last season and needs work as a tackler, but I’m betting on his upside as an athletic, versatile safety. The Niners could lose Jimmie Ward in free agency, and Delpit would help fill that void. Wide receiver is also an interesting position to keep an eye on for San Francisco, which could let free-agent Emmanuel Sanders walk and replace him with a playmaker from a super-deep class."

Delpit made Niner Noise’s rankings for team options at safety, coming in at No. 2 overall behind Alabama’s Xavier McKinney.

That seems to be a plausible trend, as Delpit fell out of a potential top-10 selection and behind McKinney in many an NFL Draft assessment. Delpit’s production and abilities slipped a bit in 2019 after a tremendous sophomore campaign the previous year.

This could push Delpit’s draft stock down a bit. And as Kiper pointed out, a fall could wind up pushing him right towards San Francisco’s first selection on April 23.

The Niners don’t necessarily have to go safety with their top pick, even if they wind up trading down and out of Round 1 altogether. Two-year pro defensive back Tarvarius Moore appeared to be receiving some hefty grooming for the position in training camp and the preseason in 2019, so he’s an option. Another realistic choice would be to move strong safety Jaquiski Tartt to free safety — a position he’s played before — then moving two-year pro Marcell Harris into a full-time starter’s role in Tartt’s vacated position.

Re-signing Ward is also a possibility, too.

But if the 49ers elect to pass on Ward, who could possibly command in the area of $8 million per year, annually, it would be hard to envision a situation where the team avoids using an early pick to address the loss.