After the Cleveland Browns make the first pick, the 2017 NFL Draft is shaping up to be a wild affair. A report from Charlie Campbell of WalterFootball.com stated that the San Francisco 49ers are not only willing to trade the No. 2 pick but are “desperate” to do so.
“With Cleveland appearing to be settled on Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett with the No. 1 overall-pick, the 49ers’ selection at No. 2 is the first mystery pick of the 2017 NFL Draft,” the report said. “WalterFootball.com reached out to sources from teams across the league to gauge what they are hearing about the 49ers. One general manager of a NFC team said the 49ers are ‘desperate to trade down.'”
Campbell also stated that “four different teams think San Francisco will take a quarterback at No. 2 if they are unable to move down. The quarterback they think the 49ers would take there is North Carolina’s Mitch Trubisky.”
It’s always important to remember how hot the rumor mill can be. San Francisco has also been strongly linked to LSU running back Leonard Fournette, which you can read about here.
In theory, trading down is the most sensible play. Outside of Garrett, there’s a great deal of parity among the other top picks. So, someone who the 49ers could draft in he 10-16 range is probably not much worse than who they could draft at No. 2.
The problem, of course, is that other teams know this. That knowledge will have a significant impact on the kind of haul that San Francisco could land. A quarterback needy team would likely be more willing to give a bigger haul for someone like Trubisky (cough Bills! cough).
Still, it’s a virtual consensus that this is a mediocre quarterback draft, especially at the top of the class.
Regardless, this is certainly something to watch. What the 49ers — and other teams picking high — might do, is very much in flux.