The San Francisco 49ers hold 12 picks in the 2016 NFL Draft and 10 more (with chance for 11th via comp pick) in the 2017 NFL Draft. The team likes their picks, but also needs to find some impact players as the re-building process develops.
As always, mock drafts that don't factor in trades (thus most of them) are not accurate indicators of a lot of things. In Dan Kadar's latest 2016 NFL mock draft, he has the 49ers picking Carson Wentz with the No. 7 pick. He has Jared Goff going No. 2 to the Cleveland Browns and Myles Jack going No. 5 to the Jacksonville Jaguars. His mock has OT Ronnie Stanley and pass rusher Shaq Lawson as two of the more notable names available when the 49ers pick.
Here's what Dan had to say about the 49ers pick:
An argument can be made that Wentz needs to sit and learn a year, but team's aren't often afforded that luxury anymore. With a new regime in place in San Francisco, the offense can be catered to Wentz and built around his strengths.
If Wentz is there are No. 7, do the 49ers move down? If they are planning on going defense in the first round, moving down leaves some significant talent, and potentially allows them to get a boost in the middle rounds. Last year, the 49ers moved down two spots to select Arik Armstead. They swapped first round picks with the San Diego Chargers, and also acquired the Chargers 2015 fourth and 2016 fifth round picks.
If the mock draft goes anything like what we see in Dan's, would it make sense for the 49ers to move back? If they want to get an impact pass rusher, an inside linebacker, or a cornerback, a move back would leave some quality names on the board. The 49ers would actually need to do something with those later picks they might acquire, but as always there is value to be had in adding more options in the draft.