At this point in the offseason with the days counting down to the NFL Draft, it's fun and sometimes even useful to get creative with mocks. Heck, even Niner Noise has gotten creative, suggesting mocks that have the San Francisco 49ers grabbing nothing but edge rushers with every pick or players from a single conference, such as the SEC.
That's what ESPN's Bill Barnwell did in his latest mock draft, one that forces every team to make a trade in Round 1.
Even the top-drafting Las Vegas Raiders, which won't happen. Period.
As for the Niners, who own the No. 27 overall pick, one might speculate Barnwell would have them trade down and out of the first round, given they have just six picks and desperately need to infuse younger talent into a gradually aging roster.
Nope. That's not the direction general manager John Lynch goes, at least according to Barnwell's wild mock.
ESPN mock has 49ers trading up for a WR they could probably get anyway
Barnwell had San Francisco trading up, not down, striking a deal with the Philadelphia Eagles for the No. 23 overall pick, sending Nos. 27, 127 and 133 overall back to Philly.
The theory is teams will be jumping over each other at this point in the draft for wide receiver help, and that could theoretically be the case for the 49ers despite signing Mike Evans and Christian Kirk in free agency last month.
As for the pick, the Niners grab Washington wideout Denzel Boston:
"The 49ers could move up here for someone such as Washington receiver Denzel Boston, who could serve as a valuable YAC producer and eventual Mike Evans replacement on the outside in San Francisco."
Boston, no stranger to earlier San Francisco mocks before the NFL Combine, could go in the late teens. Or he could slip out of Round 1 and into the mid-30s, too. There's a good deal of fluidity with receivers at this point in the draft. And several pundits feel the realistic target here for the 49ers would be Texas A&M receiver KC Concepcion anyway.
And he'd likely be had without the Niners having to part ways with two of their fourth-round picks.
Either way, while it's fun to theorize about San Francisco potentially getting aggressive for a player it truly wants, with limited draft capital, it doesn't make that much sense. Especially when there's solid alternate talent available at the position all around the end of Round 1.