The 2017 SB Nation mock draft is officially under way, and we are closing out the first round. You can track the entire mock draft here.
With the second overall pick, I selected Ohio State safety Malik Hooker. I think he fits an ideal combination of need and talent. The 49ers might decide Jimmie Ward is the answer at free safety, in which case Solomon Thomas, Reuben Foster, or Marshon Lattimore all make sense with the pick. Dan agreed that there were arguments to be made for a host of players in discussing my selection:
The last paragraph in the above description is the most interesting part. You can make just as good of an argument for any of those players as you can for Hooker. Because of that, it might be smart for the 49ers to see if they can trade down, get an extra pick, and still get a top player. If they stick at No. 2, Hooker is the smartest choice. He may rate below Allen and Adams for me, but from a scheme standpoint, he’s the right choice.
We have published the first 21 picks, and the most recent saw the Detroit Lions select defensive end Taco Charlton. We have seen 30 total picks submitted, and I will be back on the clock sometime tomorrow. With that in mind, I thought I would open the floor to who we should consider with the next pick.
Here is a list of every player taken, sorted by position. I don’t want to give away who selected which players after 21, so I just combined them all in this list. Based on all this, who do you think could be best available when the 49ers are back up at No. 34? Three people are waiting to submit picks in front of me, so feel free to drop in a short list of three or four names.
QB: DeShaun Watson, Mitchell Trubisky, Patrick Mahomes, DeShone Kizer
RB: Leonard Fournette, Dalvin Cook, Christian McCaffrey
WR: Corey Davis, Mike Williams, John Ross
TE: O.J. Howard, David Njoku
OT: Ryan Ramczyk, Garrett Bolles
DL: Solomon Thomas, Malik McDowell, Jonathan Allen
Edge: Myles Garrett, Derek Barnett, Taco Charlton, Takkarist McKinley, T.J. Watt
LB: Reuben Foster, Haason Reddick, Zach Cunningham
CB: Marshon Lattimore, Gareon Conley
S: Malik Hooker, Jamal Adams, Jabrill Peppers