49ers Acquire Pick 121 From Colts
The 49ers have traded up in the fourth round. Matt Barrows of The Sacramento Bee tweets that the team has acquired the 121st pick from the Colts. NFL Network is reporting that Indy will be receiving a fourth-rounder (#143) and a fifth-rounder (#161) in the trade (via Twitter of IndySportsCentral.com’s Mike Chappell).
The 49ers ultimately used the pick to select Utah running back Joe Williams. 2016 was a breakout season for the senior, as he ran for 1,407 yards and ten touchdowns. He also added another nine receptions for 107 yards. Williams had one of his best outings during the Foster Farms Bowl, running for 222 yards and one touchdown on 26 carries.
49ers Acquire 177th Pick From Broncos
The 49ers have made yet another draft trade. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter), San Francisco has acquired pick #177 from the Broncos. Running back Kapri Bibbs will also be headed to the 49ers. In return, Denver will be receiving a 2018 fourth-rounder from the 49ers.
Bibbs, a former undrafted free agent out of Colorado State, spent the past three seasons in Denver. In 13 career games, the running back rushed for 129 yards on 29 carries. He also added another two receptions for 75 yards and one touchdown.
Vikings Approached 49ers About Pick #104
- The Vikings reportedly approached the 49ers about trading for the 104th pick, according to Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area (via Twitter). However, San Francisco wanted to guarantee that they’d get Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard, so they rebuffed Minnesota’s advances. Ironically, Minnesota was previously in possession of that pick.
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49ers Acquire 104th Pick From Vikings
The 49ers have acquired the 104th pick from the Vikings in exchange for the 109th and 219th selections, per Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area (Twitter link).
San Francisco is using the pick on a quarterback, Iowa’s C.J. Beathard, who became the Hawkeyes’ full-time starter in 2015. Beathard totaled 17 touchdown passes in each of his two seasons at the helm and combined for 15 interceptions, 10 of which came last year. The 6-foot-2, 215-pounder has a “very good” arm, observes Pro Football Focus, though the outlet only expects him to develop into a third-stringer at the NFL level. That figures to be his immediate role in San Francisco, which features Brian Hoyer and Matt Barkley as its top two QBs.
Saints Acquire 67th Pick From 49ers
The Saints have acquired the 67th overall pick from the 49ers, tweets Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle. New Orleans will give up a second-round pick in 2018 and a seventh-rounder this year, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
The Saints had been working to move back into the second round in order to draft a pass rusher. But the second ended without a trade for the club, which will instead settle for an early third-rounder. Surprisingly, the Saints will select Tennessee running back Alvin Kamara with the newly acquired pick.
The 5-foot-10, 215-pound Kamara was a dual threat as a member of the Volunteers, with whom he averaged 6.2 yards per rush, caught 74 passes and combined for 23 touchdowns over two seasons. It’s unclear how many touches he’ll receive during the early part of his pro career, though, as the Saints already have Mark Ingram and Adrian Peterson as their top two backfield options. Of course, a timeshare won’t be anything new for Kamara, who coexisted with Jalen Hurd at Tennessee.
Saints Would Have Picked Reuben Foster
- When the 49ers called Reuben Foster to inform him they were selecting him 31st overall, he was on the phone with the Saints at the time. New Orleans, which picked 32nd, was already welcoming Foster to the organization. But once Foster got word that he was going to San Francisco, he hung up on the Saints (Twitter links via Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee).
Did Bears Bid Against Themselves For Trubisky?
The Bears gave up a fortune to move up one spot and select Mitch Trubisky. It’s not immediately clear whether that was necessary, however. 
The Browns, Chiefs, Texans, and Cardinals all had interest in moving up and the Browns and Chiefs in particular coveted Mitch Trubisky, Adam Jahns of the Chicago Tribune hears (Twitter link). Meanwhile, Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links) hears the Niners shopped the pick hard for a week and found no takers. While some teams, like the Bills, had legitimate interest in Trubisky, none were interested in paying the steep price to move all the way to the second pick.
Could the Bears have stayed at No. 3 and selected Trubisky? We may never know for sure, but it sounds like there could be truth in both reports from Jahns and Robinson. The Browns, Chiefs, and other teams may have been after Trubisky, but they were probably unwilling to leapfrog the Bears to get a deal done. 49ers GM John Lynch says that Solomon Thomas and Reuben Foster were two of the top three players on his board and it’s safe to assume that Myles Garrett was the third musketeer, not Trubisky.
The Bears, it seems, got pump faked into paying a king’s ransom when they could have stood pat and gotten their man. At the same time, if Trubisky turns out to be a star who greatly outperforms Thomas, Marshon Lattimore, and other top talents linked to Chicago, none of this will really matter.
Photo courtesy of Pro Football Rumors on Instagram.
49ers GM: Foster Was Top 3 On Board
Lynch managed to get both defenders when Foster took a somewhat unexpected slide. Armed with the additional draft capital afforded to him from the No. 2 and No. 3 swap with the Bears, Lynch moved back up into the late first round to get the Alabama inside linebacker. We’ll never know for sure if the Niners would have seriously considered Foster at No. 3, but it’s hard to deny that they got an excellent value by getting him late in the first.
49ers GM John Lynch says that he came away from Day 1 with two of the top three players on his board. Had the Bears taken Solomon Thomas at No. 2, he says the team might have selected Reuben Foster at No. 3 (Twitter links via Matt Barrows of The Sacramento Bee).
49ers Acquire No. 31 Pick From Seahawks
Who says you can’t trade within your division? The 49ers have acquired the No. 31 pick from the Seahawks. With that pick, they will select Alabama linebacker Reuben Foster. The Seahawks will receive pick Nos. 34 and No. 111 in the deal. 
Foster, at one point in time, was viewed as a top ten pick. However, his stock tumbled due to a handful of red flags.
- Red flag #1: Bad shoulder.
- Red flag #2: Getting into an argument with a hospital worker at the combine.
- Red flag #3: Submitting a watered down urine sample at the combine.
Still, he is immensely talented. If he stays on the right track, Foster could prove to be one of the best values in the entire 2017 draft.
Our first mock draft had Foster going to the 49ers within the top ten. It took a little longer, but Foster has landed in San Francisco.
Falcons, 49ers Looking To Trade Up
The Falcons and 49ers are looking to trade up, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The 49ers, unsuccessfully, tried to pry the No. 21 pick from the Lions just moments ago. If the Falcons go pass rusher, the names to remember are Taco Charlton, Tarell Basham, or Jordan Willis, Tony Pauline of DraftAnalyst.com tweets.
With 22 picks in the books, other notable names remain on the board including Alabama linebacker Reuben Foster, FSU running back Dalvin Cook, UCLA linebacker Takkarist McKinley, and embattled Ohio State cornerback Gareon Conley.
Inside linebacker is a need for the Niners, so they could potentially be looking to move up for Foster. McKinley would be a good fit for Atlanta as they seek a pass rusher that isn’t among the three listed by Pauline.