What if you were to hit the reset button on NFL rosters? Imagine every single player is a free agent, and the 32 teams participated in a fantasy-football style draft — with a few catches.
ESPN conducted the exercise, asking its staff of team writers to make the selections for their respective squads. For the San Francisco 49ers, that is Nick Wagoner.
Each team is allowed just four selections and must pick a quarterback, a non-QB offensive player, and a defensive player. They can do whatever they choose with the remaining choice. The rest of the roster would be filled with "average-level NFL talent," making the four selections even more critical.
ESPN used the initial (before trades) 2020 draft order to determine when its writers would make their selections. Of course, the reigning Super Bowl MVP, quarterback Patrick Mahomes, was the first selection off the board. He went to the Cincinnati Bengals.
So, how did the 49ers fare in the exercise? Here are Wagoner's four selections:
- Round 1 (31): George Kittle, TE
- Round 2 (34): Myles Garrett, DE
- Round 3 (95): Jameis Winston, QB
- Round 4 (98): Grady Jarrett, DT
The first two selections seem like solid choices. Teams selected 20 quarterbacks before the 49ers selected Kittle, with four signal-callers going in the top four picks.
Wagoner doesn't have San Francisco selecting a quarterback until his third selection and has the team grabbing Winston.
"I would have waited to take Winston with my final pick," Wagoner explained, "but Kansas City still needed a quarterback, and he was the clear best option at that point. Finally, I would have preferred a top corner with my last selection, but Jarrett is one of the most underrated players in the league, and I liked him better than any of the corner options available. So I figured I'd give Garrett a running mate to get after quarterbacks."
Where did other current 49ers land?
Defensive end Nick Bosa was the highest selected Niner, going No. 10 overall to the Cleveland Browns. Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo went No. 19 overall to the Chicago Bears, where he would play in front of his hometown crowd.
Ironically, offensive tackle Trent Williams went to Washington in the third round with the No. 66 overall pick. Defensive end Arik Armstead also went to the Minnesota Vikings in the third round with the No. 89 overall pick.
Click here to peruse through the entire exercise over at ESPN.