SF 49ers: Trade-heavy 7-round mock 2021 draft
By Mark Ross
The SF 49ers have the third pick in the 2021 NFL draft. But what if they make some more big trades and drop back down the order?
Draft season is upon us, and the SF 49ers have certainly made it far more interesting. A trade with the Miami Dolphins saw the Niners move up from the 12th spot in the draft to No. 3. A move that cost them two additional first-rounders but could have secured them their heir apparent to quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
When you send multiple first-round picks to move up in the draft, you are doing that to get a quarterback. Especially in this NFL Draft class. The quarterback position is hugely sought after this year, and the value of the higher picks seems to have exploded.
San Francisco decided it was time to make a move for a new quarterback and didn’t think staying at No. 12 was the right option. Probably a sensible idea given the Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Jets, Denver Broncos, Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons, and maybe even the Detroit Lions could all have been in the quarterback market.
With three truly exceptional quarterbacks available — Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence, BYU’s Zach Wilson, and Ohio State’s Justin Fields — and then another two in North Dakota State’s Trey Lance and Alabama’s Mac Jones, this draft class is stacked. And staying at No. 12 might not have landed you any quarterbacks. With five quarterbacks poised to go inside the top 10 picks, the time is now if you want to get your man.
The SF 49ers decided to pull the trigger and get their man.
Where does that leave them for the rest of the draft? Well, they still have a further eight picks in the draft, including three in the fifth round. Nine picks in total and one of them at No. 3 is a great start to the draft, but will it stay like that?
In this mock draft, we take a look at what might happen if the Niners decided to go trade-heavy and make the draft even more interesting.