We decided to get in on the mock draft action and do a seven-round mock that we cut up by round. Chances are the 49ers make some trades and don’t use all 11 of their scheduled selections, but for our purposes we stuck with the 11 picks to get a feel for what types of players San Francisco might target in which round. We used the Pro Football Focus mock draft simulator to execute the mock, and made the picks for the 49ers. Here’s the fifth round:
The fifth round has been the money round for San Francisco during general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan’s tenure. Trades earlier in the draft could change their urgency some in Round 5, but it’s hard to argue with any selections they come up with on Day 3 of the draft given their strong track record of finding talent there.
With the way this mock shook out, adding depth at a couple spots with just some quality football players felt like the easy call to make. A pair of players dropped to the 49ers in the fifth round who may not make it past the third or fourth round when the draft actually takes place. Finding talent that slips through the cracks is how San Francisco can win a draft where they don’t pick until the No. 99 selection. That’s also how they can keep their strong Round 5 history going.
Other rounds:
Round 3