2018 NFL Mock Draft: Impact of recent trades and signings

The San Francisco 49ers should have two priorities at No. 9 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft. One should be improving an offensive line that struggles mightily beyond Joe Staley and the other should be improving the linebacker corps in light of Reuben Foster’s uncertain future.

I desperately want to list an offensive lineman here, but the reality is that Tremaine Edmunds is the best player on the board by a significant margin when compared to the offensive linemen.

Even if Foster returns to the field and cleans up his act off of it, Edmunds makes the most sense for the 49ers. Despite being oversized at just under 6’5″ and 253 pounds, his 40-yard dash time of 4.54 seconds ranks in the 91st percentile amongst linebackers.

Edmunds also has gigantic arms and a massive wingspan that both rank in the 97th percentile amongst linebackers, which makes him an on-paper nightmare.

Any player who has both elite speed and dream-like length should be a dominant tackler in the NFL. Edmunds certainly displayed that potential in college, with marks of 202 tackles, 30.5 tackles for loss, and 10.0 sacks over the past two seasons alone.

Beyond the numbers, Edmunds has the tools to become one of the most dominant defensive forces in the NFL—and the 49ers could potentially pair him with another rising star in Foster.