There has been a lot of movement at the top of the draft order as NFL teams set themselves up to select a franchise signal caller in a quarterback-rich draft class. Sitting at the number nine spot are the San Francisco 49ers, who are more than willing to let teams jump them for rookie quarterbacks.
The 49ers have their franchise quarterback in Jimmy Garoppolo. They are set at the position. All of the movement above them will only benefit general manager John Lynch, head coach Kyle Shanahan, and company.
NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah was on KNBR's Murph & Mac show this morning and explained why the 49ers are in a position to benefit significantly from quarterback-needy teams.
"I think because of these quarterbacks going, I think it's a real possibility we see four of the top six picks being quarterbacks, which you should have a parade in San Francisco if that's the case," Jeremiah said. "Because that's going to drop a tremendous player in your lap.
"A guy like Denzel Ward, the corner from Ohio State who's one of my favorite players in the whole draft. Never would have thought in a million years at the beginning of the process that the Niners would have a chance at him. But once all those quarterbacks go, you mix in a pass rusher like (NC State defensive end Bradley) Chubb and maybe a guy like (Notre Dame guard) Quenton Nelson, man, they're going to get a great player where they're sitting."
With the need to strengthen the pass rush, Jeremiah also discussed outside linebackers and who he feels might be a good fit should the 49ers decide to go that route.
"I love both [Tremaine Edmunds of Virginia Tech and Roquan Smith of Georgia]," Jeremiah said. "I have Edmunds. Edmunds is 19 years old. He's 6-4, 250. He can run all day long. You just don't see guys like that very often, and at 19 years old, he's not even close to being what he's going to become. So I'm a big fan of his, and I think that would be a home run pick.
"Then with Roquan, you get a little bit older guy, and you get a phenomenal leader to go along with what he does on the field. I've compared him to Jonathan Vilma when he was coming out of Miami, and you couldn't go wrong with either of those guys."
You can listen to the entire interview with Jeremiah, which includes his analysis of USC quarterback Sam Darnold's pro day, below.
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