SF 49ers 3-round mock NFL Draft with Round 1 trade-down

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Commissioner Roger Goodell names a pick by the San Francisco 49ers during the 2016 NFL Draft (Photo by Jon Durr/Getty Images) /

The SF 49ers will have at least three picks in the first three rounds of the 2021 NFL Draft, but this mock has a notable trade down in Round 1.

Right now, only a handful of certainties are known about the SF 49ers and their context for the upcoming 2021 NFL Draft later this April.

For starters, the Niners own the No. 12 overall pick after finishing last season 6-10. After that, San Francisco holds the No. 43 overall pick, the 11th selection in Round 2, and the SF 49ers will also receive a compensatory third-round selection late in Round 3 after the NY Jets hired defensive coordinator Robert Saleh as their head coach.

The Niners don’t have their own third-round pick, having traded that selection away to the Washington Football Team last spring as part of the deal for left tackle Trent Williams.

After those facts and the remaining draft order for the other 31 teams, everything surrounding the draft is pure speculation, rumor and analysis.

It’s likely to be a quarterback-heavy draft, especially early on with as many as five signal-callers going in the first 10 selections. Just outside the top 10, San Francisco might be too hard-pressed to engineer a trade-up if it indeed wants to move on from its current starting quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, this offseason.

With nearly 40 of their own players set to hit free agency, the SF 49ers could afford to stockpile as many draft picks as they can get, looking to capitalize on some prospective talent to round out other areas of the roster.

So, with mock season in full effect, Niner Noise kicks off this three-round mock with the Niners trading down, not up in Round 1 of the 2021 NFL Draft.