2020 NFL Draft: 3 dark-horse targets for 49ers first pick in Round 1

There’s a general consensus the San Francisco 49ers will select a wide receiver with their first pick, No. 13 overall, in the 2020 NFL Draft. But what if they don’t? Here are dark-horse players who could be targets instead.

It wasn’t cheap for the San Francisco 49ers to wind up with the No. 13 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Previously, their first selection this year was at No. 31 overall. But by giving up Pro Bowl defensive tackle DeForest Buckner to the Indianapolis Colts, general manager John Lynch now owns two picks in the first round.

Before the trade, there were plenty of top prospects who were well out of the Niners’ draft range. Getting that No. 13 overall pick changes everything in that regard. Especially when looking at some of the top-name wide receivers, such as Oklahoma’s CeeDee Lamb and Alabama’s Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs III.

There’s a great chance Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan target a wide receiver at No. 13. After all, it checks off a box for a massive offseason need, made only bigger after losing veteran wideout Emmanuel Sanders to free agency.

But what if San Francisco doesn’t follow to conventional thought?

It’s not without precedent. In 2018, a popular thought was the 49ers would target someone like now-Los Angeles Chargers safety Derwin James at No. 9 overall that year. James would have fit the need, and he was easily a consensus top-10 player.

Instead, however, the Niners grabbed Notre Dame offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey.

That was an out-of-the-box, dark-horse selection. And there’s always the possibility, perhaps even probability San Francisco takes a similar course of action in this year’s draft, too.

Here are three players the 49ers could select at No. 13 who fit that bill.