3 reasons why 49ers have to trade Deebo Samuel now

Reason No. 2: Exceptional NFL Draft class to replace Deebo Samuel

If Deebo Samuel is traded elsewhere, then the 49ers picked a good year to do so given that one of the few positional groups that aren’t weaker than usual in this draft is the wide receiver group.

This draft is considered to be weaker than usual, but this doesn’t apply here, and the Niners have quite a few names to pick from.

For argument’s sake let’s say San Francisco made the following trade:

There’s quite a few avenues to explore here. With No. 10, the 49ers could pick Garrett Wilson from Ohio State, a player who has many skills similar to Samuel who could take on that role. They could also take someone like Drake London from USC, who has real mismatch potential with his height and speed, or be patient and take Jameson Williams from Alabama, who would be the surefire top receiver off the board if he didn’t get hurt in the National Championship game.

Or the 49ers could package the other picks to move back into the first round and pick quarterback Trey Lance’s college teammate in North Dakota State wideout Christian Watson, a player who wouldn’t need to wait to find chemistry with his new signal-caller.

Alternatively, the team can stand pat and pick someone at the top of the second round. Calvin Austin from Memphis and George Pickens from Georgia would fit in with this scenario.

There’s a lot of receivers to like in this class, and the 49ers have had a knack for hitting on most of their receiver picks to varying degrees in past drafts.