Moving Around in the First Round

I get the general impression that nobody thinks the 49ers will actually be making a selection in the draft with the 31st pick in the first round. Pretty much everybody and their mother think the Niners will wheel and deal their way to a higher or lower pick. Is this, perhaps, a faulty assumption? Absolutely. Who knows what is going to happen? But it just feels like the 49ers are going to move from that spot, yeah?

So, the question then becomes up or down? Would you rather see the 49ers move back into the second round or higher up into the first?

The rumors all suggest that the 49ers are looking to move up in order to snag a player the front office really likes. We talked about this rumor earlier today in conjunction with rumors that some top-12 teams want to move down. Most of the time the 49ers rumor is coupled with the notion that this player is likely Justin Smith's successor. And let me pay the mandatory due deference to Trent Baalke, who seems to be on an ultra-awesome draft run: whomever Mr. Baalke wants on the team is a guy I want on the team, at pick 15 or at pick 31.

That said, I like the idea of trading down from 31 and collecting some extra picks, especially for next year. As we have come to understand this offseason, it is really awesome to have oodles and oodles of picks. The 49ers really are in control of the draft - they have the picks to throw around. It would be awesome to maintain this type of hegemony into the future. Moreover, as everybody argues, this draft appears to be a "deep" draft, not necessarily one with a lot of must-have superstars. Picking up solid players in the second round, who might have been first round players in a less deep draft, could be huge.

But, it seems like a lot of teams are interested in doing something similar. Moreover, when will teams stop wanting to hand out future picks for current picks like candy? Hopefully not this year.

What do you think? In what direction would you like the team to move?