Chances are the 49ers aren’t going to use their No. 2 overall pick on an interior defensive lineman. It just doesn’t make a ton of sense given their needs and current roster construction.
Alabama defensive lineman Quinnen Williams is a player who’s been tied to the 49ers in numerous mock drafts over the last few months. Despite a dominant third season and the possibility that he could be the No. 1 overall pick, Williams told Sirius XM NFL radio that isn’t fretting over where he gets drafted in April.
“It’s not really important to me to go number one,” Williams said according to Pro Football Talk. “I just really want to go. I’m just blessed to be in this draft class with these guys and meeting these top athletes and stuff like that. I’m just really not thinking about going number one, number two. I just want to be the best player that I can be for that team that I’m on and just create my craft.”
This is a pretty stark contrast to Kentucky outside linebacker Josh Allen, who’ll be incredulous if he doesn’t go first overall.
It’s a good thing Williams is taking this approach to the draft because there’s a very real chance he slips past the 49ers at No. 2 if the Cardinals don’t take him with the top pick.
Pass rushers who can wreck games off the edge are arguably the most important players on a defense in today’s NFL. While Williams was a tremendous interior pass rusher in college, it’s very difficult to regularly make an impact there in the NFL. The number of interior linemen who can affect the game the way a top-three pick should is very small.
Perhaps Williams is one of them, but with an EDGE class as deep as the one in this year’s draft, teams may pass on the interior player in favor of a player on the perimeter. That’s certainly a possibility for the Cardinals at No. 1, and the 49ers at No. 2 no matter what Arizona does.
He may not get much further than the Jets at No. 3, but either way it’s good news for Williams that he’s not focused on being a top-two pick, because the 49ers probably aren’t looking to go that direction.
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