It has been a week since 49ers general manager Trent Baalke told the media that the front office had one guy they were certain would be around when they picked at No. 30. The media and fans have spent the last week speculating who that person might be, and we all have come up with a laundry list of possibilities.
The name mentioned a bit more frequently in recent days is Midwestern State offensive lineman Amini Silatolu. He is a small school offensive lineman that many people think can slot into the guard position and find immediate success in the NFL. He will face a curve in moving up to the NFL, but he would appear to have as much upside as any guard in the draft.
In the latest edition of our 49ers mock draft database, Amini Silatolu makes his first appearance, with three mocks listing him. I'm sure there was a mock somewhere out there with Silatolu, but in our modest little look, he had not made an appearance before this week. The other big riser this week was Coby Fleener, who remained in first, but added three more mock appearances to his total.
If Silatolu is Trent Baalke's guy, one has to wonder if that increases the odds of the 49ers moving down into the top of the second round. If he is sitting there at No. 30, does the team risk someone else having a similar idea? It only takes one other team liking a player to screw up the 49ers potential plans if they were to move down. If Silatolu is the guy on Baalke's mind, should they just lock him down at 30 and move on?