Well where would he go?
The San Francisco 49ers will have the entire board minus Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray if everything follows the news and mock drafts that are coming out concerning the Arizona Cardinals and their first pick. The San Francisco 49ers follow at No. 2 and are speculated to take Nick Bosa and behind them, the New York Jets have a shot at getting Alabama defensive tackle Quinnen Williams. Except he might not be there.
Ian Rapoport was on NFL network and mentioned how impressive Williams was on his visits, but went a bit further:
I would be surprised if he is there even for, let’s say, the Jets at three. It’s possible, but it would be a little surprising. I’ve spoken to a lot of people who believe he is the top player in the draft regardless of position. Just talking to teams, asking them who’s number 1 on your board if need was not a factor. Quinnen Williams is No. 1 on several teams I’ve spoken with just on how dynamic he is. Now, there’s differentiation between positions, maybe you might need a pass rusher like Bosa more than a defensive tackle who can be double-teamed, but Quinnen WIlliams is a top-talent and no doubt right now, he is going to be at the very least, a top-five selection
Obviously, this is speculation from when Rapoport talked with teams and he later said Williams is at least a top-five pick. If he doesn’t make it to three that means either the combination of the Cardinals/49ers selects him or another team is ready to dump draft picks to either of them for their respective picks.
There have been some reports that the 49ers were torn between Williams and Bosa. The 49ers need edge help far more than interior help and the selection of Williams would indicate they are ready to move on from Solomon Thomas. Thomas is entering his third year in the league and as the third pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, that’s just a bit early to move on.
The Cardinals could use Williams as well to beef up their defensive interior. That would mean they were ready to work with Josh Rosen at quarterback and Kyler Murray could draw trade interest from other teams at No. 2.
Or there’s another team willing to invest draft capitol to get to the first or second spot and get their guy. Trading to No. 1 is far more expensive than No. 2 is going to cost—it’s the same reasoning I’ve had about quarterback needy teams negotiating with the Jets instead of the 49ers. If the Cardinals take Nick Bosa and Murray/Williams is on the board that would create a massive bidding war for teams to get in front of the Jets and Raiders to get Williams.
If the 49ers don’t take Williams, we can only hope he’s not in the NFC West.
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