SF 49ers NFL Draft: 5 players who impressed most during CFB Playoff
By Peter Panacy
SF 49ers Draft Target No. 1: Wide Receiver DeVonta Smith, Alabama
Like, seriously… who else?
The SF 49ers wouldn’t take a wide receiver with their top pick in the NFL Draft, right? At least not with up-and-coming wideouts Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk in the fray.
And especially not a player who was a total stud over the entire season and again on Monday night, Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith, who’ll likely be the No. 1 receiver selected on draft day and is about as surefire a producer at the pro level there is in this particular class after securing the Heisman Trophy.
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He sure produced Monday night and then some.
Smith was all over the place during the championship game, racking up 12 catches for 215 yards and three touchdowns, and it was something of a shock to see Ohio State not coming up with consistent answers trying to cover him. Only a finger injury could slow Smith down.
It certainly was fun seeing Smith tearing up the field and his rapport with Mac Jones throughout the game, though.
But Smith comes into play for San Francisco in another means. Considering how many quarterback-needy teams there are in the draft, it’s possible the small-but-speedy Smith could fall out of the top 10 and perhaps in the range where the SF 49ers have their first pick.
Perhaps Smith’s performance could be enough to entice a team selecting after the No. 12 overall pick to trade up with the Niners for the 175-pound receiver, thereby maximizing San Francisco’s draft stock and options.
If the SF 49ers don’t engineer their own trade up, this particular outcome wouldn’t be bad at all.