2020 Mock Draft: San Francisco 49ers

I’m going to use the Mock Draft Machine provided by thedraftnetwork.com to do mock drafts for all NFL teams.

A few disclaimers:

1. I will use a new draft for each team and have Mock Draft Machine’s predictive board draft for the other teams so the same players will go to different teams in different drafts. This isn’t one mock draft where I draft for each team, this will be 32 separate mock drafts.
2. I’m not an expert, I will use a mix of team needs (according to The Draft Network), “professional” mock drafts, and my own gut instinct to select players. I’m going to try and draft the players I think each team should draft, not necessarily what I think they’re going to draft.
3. There will be no trades, so these mock drafts will certainly not mimic the real thing, this is just for fun.

Here’s a link to my last post, 2020 Mock Draft: Miami Dolphins

Team: San Francisco 49ers

Team Needs: CB, WR, IOL, IDL, OT, LB, RB, WR, CB, EDGE, S

The Draft

Round One (13): CeeDee Lamb, WR, Oklahoma

With Emmanuel Sanders gone, the 49ers could really use a WR, and there are a couple of great options here with CeeDee Lamb and Jerry Jeudy. You really couldn’t go wrong with either one, but Lamb seems to have slightly better hands and most mock drafts have him gone before 13, so we’ll grab our #1 WR for the next decade, CeeDee Lamb.

Round One (31): Noah Igbinoghene, CB, Auburn

Although we’re set at CB for the season, Richard Sherman isn’t getting any younger and their other two potential starters, Emmanuel Mosley and Ahkello Witherspoon are both unproven and free agents after the 2020 season. The top two CB prospects at 31 are Noah Igbinoghene from Auburn and Trevon Diggs from Alabama. Diggs is the more NFL-ready player, given that Igbinoghene began his Auburn career as a WR, but Igbinoghene has a higher ceiling. Since we don’t need him to start right away, we’ll go with Igbinoghene and hope he develops into a star CB in a couple of years. He’ll also immediately contribute on special teams as a returner

Round Five (156): Kyle Murphy, IOL, Rhode Island

San Fran doesn’t have a second, third, or fourth round pick, but the good news is they don’t really need any other 2020 starters outside of WR, so it’s all about providing depth. They need some OL depth, both IOL and OT, so it’s time to decide between OT Terence Steele of Texas Tech, IOL Michael Onwenu of Michigan, and IOL Kyle Murphy of Rhode Island. We’ll go with Murphy here, because he is the most versatile of the three, and should be able to play at either guard spot or right tackle.

Round Five (176): Khalil Davis, IDL, Nebraska

We need IDL depth, and there’s a clear favorite here, Khalil Davis out of Nebraska. He’s a 300+ pound lineman with a great initial burst and should have instant impact on 3rd down passing situations. He’s limited physically with his length, so he’ll probably never be an every down lineman, but finding a pass rushing IDL prospect near the end of the fifth round that fills an area of need is a big win.

Round Six (210): Mohamed Barry, LB, Nebraska

It’s time for a LB, and there’s three value options here at 210: Justin Strnad from Wake Forest, Mohamed Barry from Nebraska, and Francis Bernard out of Utah. Strnad is athletic but has trouble tackling, Barry is physical but lacks a starting NFL LB skill set, and Bernard is small for the position and started his career as a RB but he has the high IQ and skill set needed to play LB in the NFL. We’ll go with our previous draft pick’s teammate out of Nebraska, Barry, because we can use his physical mindset on special teams and work to develop his skills. If Bernard is still available in a few picks we might grab him too.

Round Six (217): Francis Bernard, LB, Utah

Our gamble paid off and Bernard is still available. Without a value option at OT or EDGE here, we’ll grab the former BYU running back and hope that his physical limitations can be overcome by his IQ and skill set.

Round Seven (245): Jon Runyan, OT, Michigan

Runyan doesn’t have the potential that you might expect, given his Pro Bowl lineage, but he’s a versatile lineman who can provide depth at tackle and guard. He’s got a high IQ and should develop into a solid run blocker.

Summary

• (13) CeeDee Lamb, WR
• (31) Noah Igbinoghene, CB
• (156) Kyle Murphy, IOL
• (176) Khalil Davis, IDL
• (210) Mohamed Barry, LB
• (217) Francis Bernard, LB
• (245) Jon Runyan, OT

Recap

Biggest Steal: Davis might wind up to be our steal, but I’ll go with CeeDee Lamb, because many think he’s the best WR in the draft and we got him later than most projected.

Biggest Reach: Noah Igbinoghene is only a two-year start at CB, and we spend a first-round pick on someone who can’t start year one. However, his physical talent was too impressive to pass up, and we don’t need him to start right away.

Biggest Miss: We could have used a strong safety to play next to Jimmie Ward, but there never seemed to be a good value option available. Hopefully only drafting one cornerback and zero safeties won’t come back to haunt our secondary in years to come.