The San Francisco 49ers are slated to pick 11th overall in the 2025 NFL draft, but NFL Media draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah made the case for trading out of that spot.
Jeremiah did say the 49ers would be able to get a good player at No. 11. That may be the preferred route for the team.
However, he also gave a scenario where they could find a really nice fit at defensive tackle – one of their top positions of need.
“The player who is a great scheme fit for them,” Jeremiah said, “which I think would be more of a trade back than necessarily taking him right there at 11 would be Walter Nolan, who with their jet front and they like to play up the field. Kris Kocurek. They want to really get off the ball and penetrate and go, and he is really, really twitched up. Walter Nolan to me would be someone if you — maybe if you slid down a little bit just to get more value that would be a defensive tackle that I think would be a fun fit for that group.”
Given their history with a very similar type of move, it’s easy to make the counterargument that they shouldn’t try and get cute. They’re already expected to have 10 picks, so trading back isn’t a necessity if the plan is to move around the board later.
In the 2020 draft, San Francisco traded back one spot with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs took All-Pro offensive lineman Tristan Wirfs. The 49ers took defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw.
On the other hand, they did use some of the capital acquired in the trade back to later move up in the first round to snag wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk.
Knowing what we know about how the team has jumped around the draft order during the Kyle Shanahan-John Lynch era, it wouldn’t be a surprise at all if they liked Nolen and moved back to an area where they could still take him while also acquiring some extra assets in the process.
They just need to hope it works better than the last time.