There was a lot of movement late in Round 1 of the 2026 NFL Draft. The San Francisco 49ers had the No. 27 overall pick coming into the night, but DeMeco Ryans and the Houston Texans traded up to the No. 26 overall spot to select left guard Keylan Rutledge out of Georgia Tech.
After that happened, the Niners swung a trade with the Miami Dolphins, which dropped them to the No. 30 overall pick and also landed them the No. 90 overall pick before jumping down again to No. 33 overall in a trade with the New York Jets.
This suggests the Niners may have liked Rutledge a lot. But Ryans, perhaps knowing this, swooped in and snagged him.
If that is how things played out, that is a pretty shrewd move by Ryans and his Texans. 49ers fans will remember him from when he served as the team's defensive coordinator in 2021 and 2022. He is seemingly still close with Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan and probably still has some connections in the building.
That's not to say he was leaked any insider info, but it is to say Ryans knows how they think and knew that left guard was a definite weakness for San Francisco. As things currently stand, the 49ers would probably have a competition for left guard between Connor Colby, Brett Toth and others as general manager John Lynch said that there is no frontrunner.
Ultimately, San Francisco decided to trade out of the first round altogether and will now have the first pick in the second round at No. 33 overall. The 49ers could still go after a left guard with that pick. Emmanuel Pregnon out of the University of Oregon could be an option. He meets the specific criteria of what former Niner Donte Whitner wants to see in a left guard, so maybe they will go with him or another guard.
Or maybe they were in love with Rutledge and felt that after Ryans and the Texans swooped in and snatched him, then they were content to move down a few spots because they did not think any of the players on the board were that special.
As it all worked out, at least the 49ers got more draft picks out of the madness. That may be the best thing to happen overall so the Niners can get more players and maybe hit on a couple of them.
Ryans has to be feeling good though especially since he was able to swoop in and get his guy before San Francisco got him.
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