San Francisco 49ers: Round 1 big board for 2021 NFL Draft

The 49ers are locked into the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, but their first-round big board will extend far beyond just one player.

In 2017, the San Francisco 49ers also owned the No. 3 overall pick in that year’s NFL Draft and had defensive end Solomon Thomas ranked second on their big board only behind the player the top-drafting Cleveland Browns selected, EDGE Myles Garrett.

The Niners’ subsequent two trades in the round, first from moving down from No. 2 overall and then again to move back up into Round 1 for linebacker Reuben Foster, displayed a bit about what then first-year general manager John Lynch’s big board looked like with both Thomas and Foster ranked awfully high.

Of course, Lynch and Co. are hoping the 2021 draft yields better results than 2017, particularly with San Francisco’s full intention of this year’s No. 3 overall pick being for a quarterback.

But even that selection will have its own big board. There are easily four or perhaps five prospects the 49ers could rank out at No. 3 overall.

And as was the case back in 2017, we can’t rule out the possibility of Lynch trading up from the team’s second-round pick to get back into Round 1 for some of the other high-profile non-quarterback prospects who likely won’t slip to San Francisco in Round 2.

While there’s no exact science to any of this, and the 49ers are either keeping their intentions close to the vest or, at the very least, leaking out smokescreens, let’s go through and break down a Niners first-round big board, starting off with what the plan is for the No. 3 overall selection.