The NFL draft is just a little more than two weeks away, and the 49ers are in great position to get a high-impact player with the No. 2 overall pick.
Most draft analysts believe San Francisco will be positioned to take Ohio State defensive end Nick Bosa.
Yet the 49ers are keeping their options open.
As Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com noted recently, the 49ers leadership trio of CEO Jed York, general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan is “intensely aware of how important it is to get it right with the No. 2 selection.”
That apparently includes the possibility San Francisco could deal the pick on draft day.
ESPN’s longtime draft analysts Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay have written the Niners could trade down from No. 2 to collect more picks, especially since deluxe edge rusher Dee Ford, formerly of the Chiefs, is now on the roster.
If the 49ers move down, they could still land a top defender in Kentucky edge rusher Josh Allen or Alabama tackle Quinnen Williams.
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Bosa, judged to be the top defensive end in the draft, might also be too good to take a pass on, however. As Wagoner wrote, if the Cardinals at No. 1 take quarterback Kyler Murray, San Francisco would have the luxury of getting the best non-quarterback available.
Wrote Wagoner: “Someone such as Bosa could provide Ford a dynamic tag-team partner while giving the Niners another ‘closer,’ as Shanahan likes to call game-altering players.”
The bottom line, says Lynch, is the 49ers are in a great position to add quality to the roster.
“This is when it really gets fun,” he told Wagoner. “You’ve put in all the leg work, all the pro days are happening, so you get new numbers and new information. But you really start to synthesize and bring in all this information and say, ‘Hey, here’s what our mindset is.' ”
On April 25, 49ers fans will find out exactly what they're thinking.
