4. Are the 49ers the biggest wildcard?
Flush with a first-year head coach and a rookie general manager, San Francisco’s plans in the upcoming draft are not known. This is somewhat magnified by the fact that GM John Lynch had never worked in an NFL front office before being hired from the broadcast booth earlier in the offseason. Simply put, other teams have no idea what the 49ers’ plans are here.
There’s a couple ways this could impact the 2017 NFL Draft. First off, San Francisco picks No. 2 overall. What it does with that selection could have a trickle-down effect of epic proportions as the rest of the first round plays out Thursday.
Secondly, Lynch is a former member of the media. He also comes from the John Elway school of teaching, which means smoke and mirrors leading up the draft is likely the name of the game in Santa Clara. So when reports surface that the 49ers are desperate to trade down, like Jamal Adams, would consider Leonard Fournette and are seriously contemplating a quarterback, you have to take it with a grain of salt.
What we do know here is that the 49ers are coming off a franchise-worst two-win season. And while they were the most-active team in free agency, it’s a roster that remains pretty barren across the board. This leads us to believe that a trade down makes the most sense.
Unfortunately for other teams, there’s no indication in which direction San Francisco might go at two should it stay put. This makes trade discussions all that much more interesting and could lead to a doozy of a deal when the 49ers find themselves on the block at two. Then again, the team could simply look to find Kyle Shanahan his franchise quarterback, creating even more confusion for teams in need of help at that position. Yeah, what the 49ers do will be among the biggest questions come draft day.