When it comes to drafting, teams employ a delicate calculus. For the most part, the conventional wisdom is that it is unwise to draft solely based on need.
Instead, a balancing act between current need, best player available, scheme fit, and other factors is considered when making picks.
John Lynch and the San Francisco 49ers will have their own flavor of how heavily they weigh each consideration while constructing their big board.
Speaking of needs, the Niners' biggest holes have changed a lot after the first wave of free agency. While wide receiver was in consideration for the most urgent position in need of an upgrade. After the additions of Mike Evans and Christian Kirk, you can cross it off the shopping list unless the player in question has a special teams bent to compensate for the loss of Skyy Moore. At the same time, the longer the Trent Williams quagmire continues, the more important it becomes to address the tackle position early.
For this exercise, we're throwing all of those considerations out. Instead, we want to see if the 49ers' draft class would make any sense if all they did was select the best player available.
But first, a couple of ground rules.
To complete this exercise, we'll be using Pro Football Focus' NFL Draft simulator with their big board as the rankings. We will not be making any trades. The only deviation from the best player available strategy is if something blatantly doesn't make football sense. For example, if the Niners draft a quarterback at pick 138, let's not going to draft another one at pick 139, even if the second QB is the top player on the board.
Otherwise, everything is fair game.
How 49ers' 2026 draft class would look if they only select best players available
Round 1 - Pick 27 - CB Avieon Terrell - Clemson
Avieon Terrell is the No. 23 prospect on the board, but for San Francisco, the need in the secondary is at safety and not corner. Interestingly, the three next highest ranked players in order were Texas A&M edge Cashius Howell, Clemson Edge T.J. Parker, and Arizona State tackle Max Iheanachor.
If the 49ers wanted to solve their persistent issues at pass-rusher, they'd have two good options with Howell serving as the better pure pass-rush threat and Parker presenting a more balanced option. Throw in Iheanachor at tackle, and Lynch would have a trio of options at his disposal that fill critical holes and wouldn't be reaches.
Round 2 - Pick 58 - TE Eli Stowers - Vanderbilt
This might be the most interesting pick in the whole mock draft.
There's an argument to be made that tight end is an underrated need, given George Kittle's age and recent injury woes. Eli Stowers is the second-ranked tight end in the class, but the 6-foot-4, 235-pound Vanderbilt product functioned more as a supersized slot receiver than an inline tight end.
Pairing him with Kittle could be lethal. That said, there are more pressing needs.
The next highest-ranked player was Iowa tackle Gennings Dunker. Dunker is an excellent zone blocker and actually could be a nice fit if San Francisco selected one of the edge rushers in the first.
Round 4 - Pick 127 - QB Carson Beck - Miami
Taking Carson Beck could make some sense as a developmental QB regardless of whether or not the 49ers eventually trade Mac Jones. There are bigger needs, though, and Florida edge Tyreak Sapp and Missouri defensive tackle Chris McClellan were the next two highest-ranked players and would have arguments in their favor as better fits.
Round 4 - Pick 133 - Edge Tyreak Sapp - Florida
Sapp stayed on the board and ended up being the pick. At 274 pounds, he's not a pure pass-rusher, but he could serve as a rotational defensive end on running downs. He had eight sacks in 2024, providing some hope that he could develop into at least an average power rusher.
Round 4 - Pick 138 - RB Seth McGowan - Kentucky
Seth McGowan could serve as a Brian Robinson replacement. With that said, the 215-pound back isn't exceptionally agile, nor does he break many tackles. He's the type of guy who gets what is blocked for him, but isn't going to pick up anything extra.
You'd probably want a more explosive understudy for Christian McCaffrey.
Round 4 - Pick 139 - Jack Endries - Texas
Doubling up on tight end isn't a great idea, and Endries isn't terribly exciting. He's more of a traditional in-line guy than Stowers, though he flexes to the slot a decent amount. At 236 pounds, he's a little undersized for the role he'd need to play.
The plus side to his game is his hands. The Texas product was targeted 45 times last season without a drop. He could develop into something, but his 2026 impact will be minimal and even more so with Kittle and Stowers ahead of him. There are better uses for this pick.
There you have it. For what it's worth, PFF graded this draft as a B+. I'd be harsher and come in around D+/C-. The best thing we gleaned from this is that the board could fall in such a way that the 49ers could land talented players to solve pressing needs early and then have the luxury to truly go in more of a best player available direction later to maximize value.