49ers: 5 predictions for John Lynch, 49ers in 2020 NFL Draft

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General Manager John Lynch San Francisco 49ers (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images) /

No. 4: John Lynch will make at least 3 draft-day trades

It’s no secret one thing the 49ers need a few more of during draft weekend is opportunities to select players.

They currently have seven draft picks heading into Round 1, which isn’t a terrible number on the surface. But once you look at how they are spread throughout the draft, the story changes a little.

John Lynch and his staff currently hold two picks in each of the first, fifth and seven rounds, with one additional sixth rounder in the cadre. Essentially that means, barring any trades, the 49ers can twiddle their thumbs all day on April 24 and for the first part of the day on April 25, since they don’t have any picks in those rounds at present.

Yet I have little reason to believe that those seven selections will be the only picks the Niners will make during the course of draft weekend.

Since his first draft, where he flipped the No. 2 overall pick for the No. 3 overall pick and a trio of additional picks (two that year, one the next), fleecing the Bears in the process, Lynch has shown a willingness to move around the draft board.

In 2020, Lynch has an ever-important asset as his disposal to help with his propensity for draft-day trades: a second first-round pick.

Before the DeForest Buckner trade, the 49ers sat at No. 31 overall and it felt pretty likely they were going to have to find another way into the middle rounds of the draft, since trading away their one first rounder might have been a tough sell.

But by grabbing another first-round selection, they gave themselves to option to still secure a first-round talent at either No. 13 or No. 31, use both or use the draft position to wheel-and-deal their way back to being players in Rounds 2 through 4.

Once they add to the quiver, there’s a good chance Lynch will use some of those picks to move either up or down at various points in the draft in order to grab a player he and Kyle Shanahan like for the team.

In the end, three may seem like underselling the number of trades the 49ers make, but it seems like a good delineation point given Lynch’s history.