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49ers Mock Draft 3.0: Final mock sees San Francisco land game-wrecker in trade down

By

Jacob Hutchinson

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© Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports

We are one day from the NFL Draft. It will be all virtual, and we hope, with some technical difficulties. The weirder, the better. The 49ers will be making at least one trade on Thursday night, but the question is, how many. General manager John Lynch said Monday that the 49ers would like to trade back and are exploring their options. I would bet it’s more than once.

Trade with Denver Broncos

49ers get: Round 1 – Pick 15, Round 3 – Pick 77

Broncos get: Round 1 – Pick 13: Jerry Jeudy

The 49ers and Broncos do business yet again, and yet again, it involves a receiver. This time, it’s the 49ers recouping a third round draft pick (the Broncos’, not their own), in order to move back two spots. The Broncos get route-running stud and Alabama standout Jerry Jeudy. Why make the trade? Because there are other wide receiving prospects the 49ers would be equally high on (Ruggs and Lamb are off the board), and this allows them to acquire a valuable Day 2 pick.

Round 1, Pick 15: Javon Kinlaw, DT, South Carolina

The scenario plays out as so: the 49ers see a board with Ruggs, Kinlaw and one of the top four tackles remaining. They’re confident that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will take a tackle, and they know how badly the Broncos want Ruggs. In Kinlaw, they find an interior disruptor who can challenge the quarter back on an every down basis. The concerns with Kinlaw are that he’s sometimes erratic and isn’t the most polished prospect, and he has knee tendinitis (like Dee Ford, who has struggled with tendinitis his whole career, and it caught up with him last season).

The reason that Kinlaw is the choice is because the 49ers have proven, time and time again, that they believe a dominant defensive line is necessary. They can find value at other positions lower on the board. The issue I run into when looking at trades down in the first round is that many of the other projected picks aren’t that valuable to San Francisco, and the best way to get value is actually to trade into the mid-late 20s. That’s not out of the realm of possibility, but I have a hard time believing they’d trade that far back. Also, Kinlaw said on a Bleacher Report ask-me-anything forum, that he wants to be drafted by the 49ers.

Trade with New York Jets

49ers get: Round 2 – Pick 48, Round 3 – Pick 68

Jets get: Round 1 – Pick 31: Tee Higgins, WR, Clemson, Round 6, Pick 210: TBD

The Jets get a wide receiver after going tackle with the 11th pick, and now the 49ers have a second and two third-round picks. The value bets are in full swing.

Round 2, Pick 48: Michael Pittman Jr., WR, USC

Pittman’s catch radius is absolutely outstanding. You will almost never see him lose a contested catch opportunity, and when he does, he’s usually being held. He doesn’t have insane speed (ran a 4.52-second 40-yard dash at the Combine), but he plays faster in games and has elite hands. He’s also 6’4″, 223, which is a lot to handle. He’s physical, and loves to block (room to improve) which is something I’d imagine the 49ers are looking for more after the Dante Pettis experiment looks to be failing.

One of the main concerns with him is lack of wiggle. He can appear like he doesn’t have ideal flexibility at times, but he has a certain level of intelligent deception that he’s been able to use to get himself open if his first step or move doesn’t do it. Will that translate to the NFL? He’s the son of Michael Pittman Sr., a former 11-year NFL veteran. He seems to have the aggression and makeup to want to follow in those footsteps and he’s training with former NFL wide out T.J. Houshmandzadeh. And of course, he has the production to back up the NFL body, leading the PAC-12 with 101 receptions and 1,275 yards. Oh, he also had 11 TD.

As his dad explained to him: “You’re going to be tall. You’re going to be explosive. You’re going to end up playing receiver. And you’re going to be known as one of the best in the country.”

Round 3, Pick 68: Bryce Hall, CB, Virginia

I refuse to stop mocking Bryce Hall to the 49ers. Thus far, he’s the only player I’ve had mocked to San Francisco in every mock draft. Availability is the question. I could very well see the 49ers moving up a few spots to get him, but he and Ohio State’s Damon Arnette are projected around the same time, and it may be worth waiting to see when one is drafted before moving up to get the other. What I’m saying is Arnette would be another solid option here, but Hall is the perfect fit. This is much the same evaluation I had of him in my Mock Draft 1.0, and the same spot.

Were it not for a horrendous ankle injury, Hall could well be a first-round pick. He’s not projected to drop much further than this, but the second round is projected to be filled with a ton of safeties, offensive linemen, wide receivers, defensive linemen and other, non-injury-concern corners, so there’s a clear path for Hall to get to this point. This fit allows him to be Richard Sherman’s understudy for a season, and take the job in year two when Sherman and/or Ahkello Witherspoon depart (or he wins it over Emmanuel Moseley). He has elite footwork and closes on the ball rapidly with aggressive hands. Not at all a shy tackler and is faster than he’s given credit for. Very high upside. If he’s not here, Damon Arnette of Ohio State would be another fantastic option, and the 49ers could always look to stay in the second round, though that probably would mean a late third-round pick or early fourth rounder. Sidenote: He played with Tim Harris at Virginia.

There’s a fuller breakdown of Hall here, in KNBR’s 49ers draft guide, explaining even more of why he’s the perfect Richard Sherman understudy. He was a projected 1st rounder before his injury, and led the nation with 21 PBUs in his junior year. I refuse to believe he won’t be successful, despite the criticism of his stiff hips. He makes up for that time and time again with intelligence and instinct gained through film study.

Round 3, Pick 77: Ben Bartch, OT, St. John’s

This is the guy who will replace Joe Staley. Just like Daniel Brunskill, he is a convert from tight end to tackle. His main knock is the fact that he’s from Division III St. John’s, but he clearly has the athleticism and technique for the position. More than anything he’ll just need to pack on weight and strength for the position and learn how to deal with physically domineering edge rushers. Doing that under the tutelage of Joe Staley and against the likes of Nick Bosa, Dee Ford and Arik Armstead is the perfect training ground.

There was a recent video of Bartch against my alma mater, Chapman University, in the Division III regional playoffs, which has since been deleted. I talked to Chapman’s head football coach Bob Owens, who said he only got better as the game went on, and was lined up against Chapman’s best player, Dillon Keefe, an edge rusher who’s met with the Chargers, and is a potential PFA option next year. He said that he has little doubt Bartch will make it at the next level and that a situation where he can add strength and wait and learn behind someone like Joe Staley would be a perfect situation for him.

Round 5, Pick 156: Joe Bachie, LB, Michigan State

This is the second-straight time I’ve had Bachie to the 49ers, this time with the pick from the Denver Broncos acquired in the Emmanuel Sanders trade. He’ll make an immediate impact on special teams and can develop as future starter. From KNBR’s Mock Draft 2.0:

Bachie is a technically-sound, reliable linebacker, who cuts down run plays with startling efficiency. The main questions are over his range as a coverage linebacker and his athleticism. He put doubts over that athleticism to shame at the NFL Combine, showing up in all areas but the 20-yard shuttle (3-cone is a more important drill, showcasing lateral agility and hip-flipping ability). He was also suspended on October 31 for a failed drug test, but had great college production outside of that (72 tackles, 9.5 for loss, 3.5 sacks, 1 INT, 4 PBU in eight-game senior season).

Round 5, Pick 176: Dalton Keene, TE/FB, Virginia Tech

That’s clip of Keene stealing the ball away from Hall, who, again, I love. It’s just a freak athletic play. And like Hall, I can’t to stop mocking Keene to the 49ers. He’s everything they want in a tight end, right out of the George Kittle mold: hyper-athletic, an excellent blocker and projectable receiving production which was limited in college due to his position (H-back). I have him ranked as the fourth-best tight end in the draft and believe he’ll quickly supercede Ross Dwelley as the 49ers’ No. 2 tight end. He could also be a future Kyle Juszczyk replacement. Here’s a link to his 3 TD game versus Miami.

Trade with Detroit Lions

49ers get: Round 6 – Pick 183

Vikings get: Round 7 – Pick 217, Round 6: 2021

Round 6, Pick 183: Javaris Davis, CB, Auburn

This is a move to acquire a K’Waun Williams future replacement (his contract expires in a year). Davis has some of the best film of any defensive back prospect, but the knock is that he’s undersized. Outside of that, it’s hard to pinpoint why he’s projected so low, other than the nickel position still isn’t valued at what it should be.

In Davis, the 49ers would be finding their second stud of the draft in the secondary, and easing some concern about the expiring contracts they have coming up next season (Williams, Sherman, Ahkello Witherspoon, Jaquiski Tartt, Emmanuel Moseley (RFA)).

Round 7, Pick 245: Raymond Calais, RB, Lousiana-Lafayette

Calais is fast. That is not in question. And at this point in the draft, you’re not finding a perfect prospect. You look for one thing a player is elite in and grasp hold. Calais’ main concern is that he’s short and not in the bowling ball variety of running backs.

He had 116 attempts, 886 yards, 6 TD, 10 receptions, 67 yards, 1 TD in his senior season. That was a rushing average of 7.6 yards per carry, third-most in the FBS. That’s not something you ignore, nor is the 4.42-second 40-yard dash he ran at the Combine. He hits the hole with speed, and that’s something Kyle Shanahan loves.

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