2023 NFL Draft: Still-available prospects 49ers desperately hope slip
By Peter Panacy
No. 2: 49ers can hope offensive tackle Cody Mauch continues to fall
Yes, there still is a possibility that quarterback Trey Lance, rumored to be on the move via a trade in the draft, winds up seeing his former North Dakota State teammate, offensive tackle Cody Mauch, in the red and gold this season.
Albeit a slim one.
Mauch, who owns arguably the best smile in this year’s NFL Draft, has been a massive riser since the Senior Bowl, and it wouldn’t have been overly insane if he ended up becoming a late first-round pick.
He’s safely a second-round selection, though, but Lance and the rest of San Francisco’s brass can hope the well-moving lineman falls deeper into the second round and to a point where the 49ers could engineer some sort of trade-up.
In doing so, they’d answer the glaring question at right tackle that they have in the wake of Mike McGlinchey’s free-agent departure to the Denver Broncos.