January Post-Season Mock

Believe it or not...the 49ers are an attractive destination for NFL players now. You have stability across the FO and coaching staff levels, a young and promising franchise QB entering his prime, a cohesive unit that's proven to survive through adversity, and an owner that will have your back if you stand for something (e.g. Reid, Kaepernick). More importantly, you have a potential HOF at GM and an offensive wizard at HC.

John Lynch stated that you use FA to address critical holes, and you use the draft to elevate your talent. The 49ers will come out swinging in 2018 free agency. Even after signing guys like Garoppolo and Hyde, the 49ers should still have 70-80 million in cap room remaining. This is my proposal on how the team should execute their offseason.

Resign:

Garoppolo, Hyde, Reid, Coyle, Marsh, Kilgore | JG gets a LTD. Reid's market is flat in FA. Kilgore signs a team friendly deal.

Restructure:

Ward | He receives a 1 year extension, but his salary gets cut in half. Saves $4M for the 49ers.

Release:

Beadles | He's our modern version of Adam Snyder - offers utility, but not strong at any particular position. $3M savings.

Free Agency:

Tier 1 - Andrew Norwell (G, CAR), Ryan Jensen (C, BAL) | Norwell will get paid LT money for shoring up the LG spot. However, I really think Norwell can play LT once Staley retires. He has the athletism and size to be a dominant tackle in the league. Jensen is a no brainer in the ZBS, and a big upgrade to Kilgore.

Tier 2 - Trent Murphy (DE, WAS), Bryon Maxwell (CB, SEA), Johnson Bademosi (CB, NE), John Brown (WR, ARI) | Murphy is a no brainer signing to me. A big base LEO at 6-6 280 coming off a torn ACL. Bay area ties make us a likely signing for him. Bademosi is depth. Brown is speed with better size than Taylor Gabriel. Maxwell is a short-term starter, but a significant upgrade to Johnson opposite of Witherspoon.

NFL Draft:

Picks 1-9: Darnold, Rosen, Chubb, Barkley, Mayfield, C. Williams, Fitzpatrick, R. Smith, J. Jackson | 49ers are picking 10th in this mock.

*TRADE* 49ers trade 1st and 2nd (via NO) for the Bengals 1st and 2nd round picks. Bengals trade up for Q. Nelson - OG - Notre Dame.

*TRADE* 49ers trade 1st (via CIN) and 4th (via PIT) for Chargers 1st and 2nd round draft picks. Chargers trade up for Josh Allen - QB - Wyoming.

R1: Marcus Davenport - EDGE - UTSA (via LAC) | Raw coming into the NFL, but will be used strictly for our 4-2-5 passing down situations. Oozes with potential and has a great coaching staff and peers to onboard and mentor him into the league.

R2: Isiah Oliver - CB - Colorado (via CIN) | There's a lot of CB talent in this draft, and Oliver is no exception. I think an RB run in the 2nd round will push him here thanks to our pick swap with CIN. Similar to Witherspoon, Oliver will be a reserve but competes with Maxwell for the starting job.

R2: Auden Tate - WR - FSU (via LAR) | A tall weapon similar to Fuchness, Tate gives the 49ers a new type of threat on offense. He has a lot of work to do when it comes to his route tree, but give it 1-2 years, and Tate will develop to be Garcon's natural successor on the outside.

R3: Jamarco James - OT - Ohio State (via CHI) | Swing tackle that can slide to both guard roles if needed. Could be Brown's replacement in 2019. Better pass blocker than run blocker, but he's athletic enough to be a good fit in the ZBS.

R3: Micah Kizer - LB - Virginia | I see Kizer being a great fit at any 3 LB positions on our team. Great tackler and excellent blitzer. Saleh and Norton can get creative on how to utilize him effectively. He also provides much needed boost in depth with our LB unit.

R5: Godwin Igwebuike - S Northwestern (via NYJ) | ST duties and depth at SS; I see him as a potential gunner in ST duties.

R6: Coleman Sheldon - T/G/C - Washington | Competes with Tomlinson as part of the 3 depth OL on the final 53 man roster.

R7: Nic Shimonek - QB - Texas Tech | Good frame and throwing power. Very raw, but could be a potential backup after 1-2 years on the PS.

R7: Dimitri Flowers - TE/FB - Oklahoma (via KC) | Competes with Paulsen and Hikatini for the a spot on the final roster.

Depth Chart:

QB: Garoppolo/Beathard (PS - Shimonek)
HB: Hyde/Breida/Williams
FB: Juice
TE: Kittle/Celek/Flowers

WR: Garcon/Tate
WR: Goodwin/Brown
WR: Taylor

LT: Staley/Jones
LG: Norwell/Tomlinson
C: Jensen/Kilgore
RG: Garnett (PS - Sheldon)
RT: Brown

RE: Thomas/Armstead
NT: Mitchell/Jones
DT: Buckner/Day
LE: Murphy/Davenport/Dumervil

LB: Harold/Marsh/Watson
LB: Foster/Kizer
LB: Smith/Coyle

CB: Witherspoon/Bademosi
CB: Maxwell/Oliver
CB: Williams
FS: Tartt/Colbert/Ward
SS: Reid/Igwebuike

ST: Gould, Pinion, Nelson

Nice job GEEK. I think you kept it realistic and filled a lot of needs. Especially that offensive line would be sick if we could pull off getting Norwell and Jensen. I'm also a fan of bringing in a guy like Byron Maxwell on a cheaper deal to get some experience at CB.

I am working on a Mock Offseason and had a number of moves similar to this. Again, great job!

I like the 5 guys you pick in the top 3 rounds, but I will say that trading down twice prevents us from really getting an elite talent. Ideally, we won't be picking here for awhile, so I want to maximize it as much as possible.

That being said, Davenport may end up being that guy, it's just hard to tell. The senior bowl/combine process hopefully will flesh some of this out.

Originally posted by Kalen49ers:

Nice job GEEK. I think you kept it realistic and filled a lot of needs. Especially that offensive line would be sick if we could pull off getting Norwell and Jensen. I'm also a fan of bringing in a guy like Byron Maxwell on a cheaper deal to get some experience at CB.

I am working on a Mock Offseason and had a number of moves similar to this. Again, great job!

Thanks man. Definitely, agree. Look forward to seeing your mock soon!

Originally posted by NinerBuff:

I like the 5 guys you pick in the top 3 rounds, but I will say that trading down twice prevents us from really getting an elite talent. Ideally, we won't be picking here for awhile, so I want to maximize it as much as possible.

That being said, Davenport may end up being that guy, it's just hard to tell. The senior bowl/combine process hopefully will flesh some of this out.

Understand the concern regarding the double trade down. I see the elite talent being Nelson, Chubb, R. Smith, J. Jackson, and Barkley in the top 10. If the board plays out like it does in my mock, then we are basically left with Nelson. After signing Norwell and Jensen, we have Kilgore, Tomlinson, and Garnett all competing for the RG spot. With Nelson not an ideal scheme fit, it makes sense to trade down and target the first round of very good players.

But you can find great talent throughout the draft. We got Foster at the bottom of round 1. Witherspoon was a 3rd rounder. So if we can finish the 3 days with a similar draft of talent that emerges as starters and strong role players, then we've addressed a lot of cracks in the 49er foundation.

Awesome job. I'd be good with it.

A few notes: I'd love a vet CB1 opposite Spoon. I'm not sure if Maxwell/Oliver is the answer there. Maybe.

I vastly prefer Fusco to Tomlinson for interor oline depth. Dude outplayed Tomlinson all year despite a ruptured biceps tendon.

Also I like Gabriel's history with shanahan.

Lastly, we need an answer at SAM. Harold is not good. No excuse for starting him again next season.

Trades like that rarely happen, but it was a very smart way to mock it, and I'd take it in a heart beat if presented to us come draft day.

I really like: Davenport, Oliver, Shelton, and Flowers. Would have went a different direction with the others .

Good mock! Totally agree that SF will be a destination for FAs this year and going forward. With the cap room they have your FA list may be reasonable. Lot of picks to like. A couple of these guys will go much higher, but if you use the position as a placeholder I believe it can still be reasonable. In other words, CBS Board has Center Shelton in the late second, early third round. But do the niners need to upgrade at center? Yes! And you list FAs as well as use the draft for that need. Thumbs up!

Love the o line additions. I could see a team maybe trading up for a qb if he falls but not for Nelson.

Geek, like the mock. But if we get Jensen and Norwell in FA, and Roquan Smith is on the board at 8, I'm trading up two spots to get him.

So if you're doing this, you have to really like Davenport. Which is fine if you do.

HOWEVER, to make a Super Bowl run THIS YEAR, we need to hit in the first round and Davenport is not a guaranteed hit and has risk. Smith and Nelson are prob the most sure things in this entire draft and getting Smith is close to a 100% hit in the first round.

Pass rush is necessary though so I like that you addressed that. Davenport better pan out as we passed on a small trade up to get an elite LB next to Foster for a decade.

Did you ever consider a trade up for Smith?

Good job with the mock btw.

Originally posted by Ezekiel38:

Geek, like the mock. But if we get Jensen and Norwell in FA, and Roquan Smith is on the board at 8, I'm trading up two spots to get him.

So if you're doing this, you have to really like Davenport. Which is fine if you do.

HOWEVER, to make a Super Bowl run THIS YEAR, we need to hit in the first round and Davenport is not a guaranteed hit and has risk. Smith and Nelson are prob the most sure things in this entire draft and getting Smith is close to a 100% hit in the first round.

Pass rush is necessary though so I like that you addressed that. Davenport better pan out as we passed on a small trade up to get an elite LB next to Foster for a decade.

Did you ever consider a trade up for Smith?

Good job with the mock btw.

That's a great point, and something I considered before finalizing the mock. The decision could end up being similar to the Patrick Willis vs. Adam Carriker consideration in 2007, and we all know how that ended up. With the Bears picking at #8 and the mock picking Smith, there could be some trade potential to be had for the Bears to recoup their lost 3rd round pick.

However, the new HC and Pace know it's still another 1-2 years for the rebuild to be complete. With Fangio still as DC, he would salivate to have another Willis in his front 7.

If we could package something like #10, Armstead, and 4th (via PIT) for #8, I would be on-board. They would trade back, get a starting caliber 3-4 DE, get a Ridley/Sutton at WR, and get a 4th round pick. However, I think the Bears would demand their 3rd round pick to be returned if they are going to pass on Roquan Smith. And I'm not sure if we want to lose that pick.

Most notably, we'd have to do another trade up in order to get a solid EDGE player in this draft. 2 trade ups and a smaller draft class...not sure if Lynch and Shanahan would want that. They said last year that it's not about 1-2 players. While we won our last 5 games, the rebuild is far from over.

If we are super aggressive in FA and snag guys like Allen Robinson, Ryan Jensen, Andrew Norwell, Trumaine Johnson, AND the 2nd tier guys, I could see aggressively trading up for the right players. But that seems a bit unrealistic even though we have the cap room to get it done.