The San Francisco 49ers hold the ninth-overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft, and there has been a ton of speculation as to which players the 49ers may be choosing from. On Friday, 49ers play-by-play announcer Ted Robinson joined the Fitz and Brooks podcast and gave his thoughts on the draft.
On Sam Darnold vs. Josh Rosen - 13:30 mark
"This is going to be interesting. And I'll go back to what I've heard. And I've seen them both quite a bit, Rosen and Darnold. I have never seen Josh Allen live, but I've seen the other two guys. So, there's no question. Like, if you just talked about purely throwing the ball, like a pitcher, purely the ball coming out of a pitcher's hand, Josh Rosen is the winner by a landslide. I mean this guy is one of -- he's a gifted thrower of the ball. But everything else in the package is Sam Darnold. Everything else. So, I think in the NFL, the everything else part weighs, I think pretty significantly. So, that's why I would be in agreement with most of the mocks that seem to have, whoever picks Darnold, he's going to go ahead of Rosen. That would be the way I would sense it, from what I've heard.
"That just everything else around Sam Darnold, the respect he has from everybody that he was with. And you know how this goes. Managers, equipment people, trainers, cooks in the kitchen, everybody that loved this guy, that's going to weigh really heavily in his favor."
On the 49ers ninth-overall pick - 16:56 mark
"Now I personally would be shocked if the 49ers don't draft defense at nine. That would surprise me."
The conversation about the ninth pick was sparked as former Penn State running back Saquon Barkley's name was brought up. Robinson went through scenarios, assuming quarterbacks would be pushing top-end talent down the board, like Barkley being the apple of the New York Jets' eyes. He asked the question, "Who falls?"
To get an idea of who the 49ers could be selecting from, David Bonilla wrote about the "Top four prospects among mock drafts for 49ers' first-round pick." Notre Dame guard Quenton Nelson is a player many 49ers and other NFL team's fans want, but he was not among the four players discussed. A lot of analysts feel Nelson will be long gone by the time the 49ers pick at nine.
The 49ers brought in offensive guard Jonathan Cooper, a former top-10 selection of the division rival Arizona Cardinals, to be a potential starter on the new-look O-line. Laken Tomlinson and Cooper are expected to open the team's offseason program as starters at guard, while the former 28th-overall pick of the 2016 draft, Joshua Garnett, is set to compete for a starting job.
Sounds like the #49ers will open OTAs with Laken Tomlinson at left guard and Jonathan Cooper at right guard.
Joshua Garnett will have the opportunity to compete at both spots.
— Joe Fann (@Joe_Fann) March 27, 2018
You can listen to the entire talk show below.