San Francisco 49ers: 5 dream picks in 2020 NFL Draft
By Peter Panacy
The San Francisco 49ers, armed with two first-round picks in the 2020 NFL Draft, need to land some top-quality players, yet there are a handful of dream scenarios, too.
The San Francisco 49ers‘ blockbuster trade of defensive tackle DeForest Buckner to the Indianapolis Colts was a hard pill to swallow. But landing the No. 13 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft in return provided a nice consolation prize.
Especially considering that pick can now be used to address one of the Niners’ handful of notable needs this offseason.
Wide receiver is arguably the biggest need, and there’s no shortage of top-tier wideouts in this year’s class. Cornerback is also a need, too, and there are plenty of those. And with two first-round picks, the other being the 49ers’ own No. 31 overall selection, general manager John Lynch has an excellent chance to land some immediate-impact players right out of the gate.
But the Niners aren’t currently scheduled to pick again until Round 5. So that opens up the always-possible scenario of a trade down.
Either way, Lynch and the 49ers front office can hope for dream scenarios, banking on players winding up in San Francisco’s collective lap.
If one of these five dream prospects is available when the Niners’ number is called, Lynch won’t be able to get the selection in soon enough.
. Cornerback. Cornhuskers . Lamar Jackson. 5. player. 810
Not all the dream-player scenarios are in Round 1.
The first on this list is Lamar Jackson, not the Baltimore Ravens quarterback, rather the up-and-coming, yet still under-the-radar cornerback out of Nebraska, who seems to be a perfect fit for the kind of needs San Francisco has within its secondary.
At 6-foot-2 and 208 pounds, the Northern California native is a likely third- or fourth-round pick, putting him out of range of the 49ers barring a trade down.
Unless Jackson slips into Round 5, where the Niners own the 10th pick in the round from the Denver Broncos.
Jackson isn’t the fastest corner. But he’s physical and patient, showing some solid prowess in zone coverage. With San Francisco looking at the possible free-agent departures of boundary cornerbacks Richard Sherman and Ahkello Witherspoon in 2021, getting a sleeper pick like Jackson would be a dream scenario.