San Francisco 49ers 2020 mock draft: Full 7 rounds
By Conor Dorney
The San Francisco 49ers enter the 2020 NFL Draft without much draft capital. Can they come away with enough talent to repeat as NFC champions?
After falling heartbreaking short in the Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs, the San Francisco 49ers face a critical offseason and NFL Draft.
While general manager John Lynch has added a number of playmakers via the draft and free agency in the last several years, they now have limited cap resources (and draft capital) heading into the 2020 NFL Draft.
Entering the offseason with just one pick in the first four rounds, Lynch traded DeForest Buckner to Indianapolis for the 13th overall selection. Who will the Niners target with that selection, and who could be on their radar as they attempt to acquire more draft capital?
Let’s find out with this remarkably-accurate Niners seven-round mock draft.
1st round
The fourth quarter of the 49ers’ Super Bowl loss to Kansas City had to have left an awful taste in the mouth of former defensive back John Lynch.
So as tempting as it is to give San Francisco a playmaker on the outside like Henry Ruggs III, Jerry Jeudy or CeeDee Lamb, I think Lynch likely trusts Kyle Shanahan enough as a play-caller to refrain from using a top pick on a wideout in such a deep class.
This is how the Niners wind up with former Florida standout CJ Henderson. Henderson has continued a steady ascent up draft boards over the last few months and it seems unlikely he makes it out of the top 15 picks on draft day.
Trading for this pick with Indy essentially gives San Francisco the ability to be ahead of teams most in need of wide receiver and cornerback help. With the expectation that they will trade back their second first-round pick, they really need to nail this one and could do so with the selection of Henderson to begin the potential succession plan for Richard Sherman.
Without picks in rounds two, three and four, it’s a foregone conclusion that San Francisco will trade down out of this pick. I’m not projecting trades in any of my mocks and focusing on player fits, so the guy I think the Niners could very well target after the trade down is Alabama’s Raekwon Davis.
Trading DeForest Buckner left a spot wide open in the middle of the Niners’ defensive line that will be tough to replace, but Davis offers a similar build and skill-set that should work well in the San Francisco defense.
Davis’ production took a hit in his senior year, but there’s no denying the flashes he shows on tape. Expect the 49ers to trade down, potentially a couple of times, before scooping up the former Crimson Tide star with their next selection.