SF 49ers: Full 7-round New Years Day mock 2021 NFL Draft
By Robert Smith
As the SF 49ers season winds down and the new year begins, Niner Noise looks at another potential 2021 NFL Draft mock for all seven rounds.
When the SF 49ers suffered a 41-34 loss to the Dallas Cowboys back in Week 15 that dropped them to 5-9 on the season, their slim playoff hopes became nonexistent, officially so when paired with the team the Niners last played, the Arizona Cardinals, pulling off a win that same week.
San Francisco’s Week 16 win over those same Cardinals was only some slight solace, as it was merely a spoiler game. Nothing more.
While convincing professional athletes to lay down and lose games for the benefit of the team’s future is a tough sell, one need only look at the circumstances surrounding the 2018 season. After ending the previous season on a five-game winning streak with newly acquired quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, the team entered 2018 with playoff expectations.
Unfortunately, Garoppolo went down with a season-ending knee injury three games after signing his new lofty contract to be the Niners’ centerpiece.
The team subsequently finished just 4-12 and were gifted EDGE Nick Bosa with the second overall pick.
The magical 2019 season ended with a disappointing Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, but the team was predicted to challenge for the Lombardi Trophy once again this season.
Then Bosa went down. And defensive end Solomon Thomas. And that was just Week 2. What followed was a litany of devastating injuries to players unseen before in the franchise’s storied history.
The Niners could potentially land in the top 10 of the upcoming 2021 NFL Draft depending how the final week of the regular season pans out. And while that may not be high enough to land a franchise quarterback, it could realistically be parlayed into a day-one starter and difference-maker at a number of positional needs on the team’s roster.
With the team expected to have as many as 40 players entering some form of free agency, and with a diminishing salary cap expected across the league, replenishing the roster with young and affordable talent will be of paramount importance.
With that said, we take a look at a seven-round mock NFL Draft on the verge of the new year that addresses many of the team’s needs.
Compensatory picks (not yet announced) and trades are not factored into this mock.