‘Trader John’ makes his mark in 1st draft with 49ers

Published 2:48 pm Monday, May 1, 2017

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan shunned a conservative approach during their first NFL draft together as the new leadership of the San Francisco 49ers.

The 49ers never stopped trading all the way to the final day of the draft, adding three prospects on each side of the football Saturday to complete what new general manager Lynch and new coach Shanahan believe will be a significant step in the rebuilding of the team.

San Francisco orchestrated six trades during the three-day draft, allowing the 49ers to select 10 new prospects and collect second- and third-round picks for 2018 in the process.

“I had no idea I was going to trade that much,” Lynch said. “I thought I was a fairly conservative guy and we were just going to have a calm draft. But the opportunity came our way.”

The 49ers began dealing near the start of the draft, trading with Chicago to move down one spot to No. 3 in the first round. The 49ers then selected Stanford defensive lineman Solomon Thomas while adding extra picks in the third and fourth rounds this year and a 2018 third-rounder.

San Francisco did not wait long to package one of the extra picks from that deal with its own second-rounder in a trade with Seattle to grab Alabama linebacker Reuben Foster at No. 31 in the first round.

Two trades Friday and two more Saturday left the 49ers with the same number of picks with which they began the draft.

“The philosophy is, if you trade, you usually end up getting fewer players,” Shanahan said. “To still get our goal of 10 players and adding other picks for ammo next year, I don’t think that happens very much.”

San Francisco also added veteran running back Kapri Bibbs in a trade with Denver on Saturday that also netted the 49ers a draft pick they used to select Louisiana Tech wide receiver Trent Taylor in the fourth round. Taylor had an NCAA-best 1,803 yards receiving last season, when he was second in college football with 136 receptions.

Seahawks

John Schneider and Pete Carroll seem to be preparing for a time when the Seattle Seahawks secondary may not include Kam Chancellor, Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman, even if it is likely a few years away.

That was a clear statement from Seattle’s 11 selections made over the final two days of the NFL draft. The Seahawks used four of their first eight picks on the secondary, the most they have spent on that position group under Carroll and Schneider.

And all four of the selections addressed different spots. Seattle took cornerback Shaquill Griffin and strong safety Delano Hill on Friday, and free safety Tedric Thompson and safety Mike Tyson on Saturday. Seattle said Tyson will transition to being a cornerback. The four selections expressed the importance of replenishing and discovering the next generation of the 
Seahawks’ secondary.

“It will be really fun to see how these guys fit in. They’re all really competitive guys and great players in their programs. We’ll see how they fit in with our guys,” Carroll said Saturday. “But it’s a very competitive room and we would not take guys that were not going to be able to handle that. They’re going to add to it.”

The secondary was a need because the Seahawks are getting older and more expensive. Chancellor is 29 and entering the last year of his contract. Sherman just turned 29 and has been the subject of trade rumors during the offseason. Thomas is about to turn 28 and is coming off a serious leg injury that cost him the final month of last season. DeShawn Shead suffered a serious knee injury during the playoffs and will not be ready for the start of the season.

Schneider said the focus on the secondary was just how the draft board broke down.

“It was really a defensive back-heavy draft and it was just how the board came off. We didn’t want to start jumping players. That’s when you get in trouble,” Schneider said.

And how do you top Seattle’s first sixth-round pick of Tyson? He said it is a regular occurrence that he gets asked if he is any relation to the famous boxer of the same name. But Tyson is the third generation of his family to have the name.

“When they ask me ‘Who is the real Mike Tyson?’ I tell them that both are real,” Tyson said. “It’s just that he boxes and I play football.”

Raiders

Oakland used its top three picks on defenders to strengthen the secondary and interior line before finally addressing its most glaring need by drafting Wake Forest inside linebacker Marquel Lee with a fifth-round pick Saturday.

In all, the Raiders used six of their nine picks on defensive players, with Lee, first-round cornerback Gareon Conley, second-round safety Obi Melifonwu and third-round defensive tackle Eddie Vanderdoes all expected to press for significant playing time.

The Raiders needed plenty of help on defense after finishing near the bottom of the league in all significant categories last season. Oakland finished last with 25 sacks, allowed more 20-yard receptions than any team and gave up 4.5 yards per carry.

Lee fills perhaps the biggest need on Oakland’s roster as a middle linebacker who can help shore up the run defense. Perry Riley played that role last season but is a free agent and has not signed a deal. The Raiders have not added anyone else at that spot and hope Lee can do the job. He had 20 tackles for loss last season and is expected to compete right away with Ben Heeney for a starting spot.

The Raiders made their Day 3 picks from their future home in Las Vegas. Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval announced the fourth-round pick in front of the Las Vegas sign with Raiders cheerleaders right behind him. NFL Network then did not show the fifth-round pick live because anchor Rich Eisen said it was too “harsh” to Oakland fans to show the picks from Las Vegas.

College

Oregon State’s Sean Harlow and Treston Decoud were the only two players from Oregon colleges to be drafted.

Harlow, a standout offensive lineman, was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the fourth round, while Decoud, a cornerback, was selected by the Houston Texans in the fifth round.

Oregon had no players selected for the first time since 1985.