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Trades, trades, trades. The second round of the NFL began with the majority of the teams trading away their original picks and a heck of a lot of moves to get up. And if you thought the 49ers weren’t going to get in on the action, you were wrong.
San Francisco, according to multiple reports, traded down with the Los Angeles Raiders, acquiring a fourth-round pick and giving up a seventh.
49ers receive: Round 2, Pick 48, Round 4, Pick 121
Raiders receive: Round 2, Pick 43, Round 7, Pick 230
The 49ers didn’t acquire one of the Raiders’ back-to-back picks in Round 3 (Picks 79 and 80), but the move down from 43 to 48 was something I mentioned as a possibility, as part of a desire by the 49ers to close the gap from their 43rd pick to their 102nd overall pick. With two fourth-rounders at No. 117 and now No. 121, that gives San Francisco some serious ammunition to close that gap.
With their new, 48th overall pick, the 49ers got help on the offensive line, drafting Notre Dame guard Aaron Banks. As explained in the link above, drafting a starting right guard seemed like a strong possibility. The only question was about whether you take a center who moves to guard in order to one day take over for Alex Mack. It’s unclear if that’s the plan with Banks.
This seems firmly like an immediate, Day 1 right guard upgrade; and it will certainly be welcome to fellow Fighting Irishman, Mike McGlinchey, on the right side. He and McGlinchey spent one year together, in 2017, at Notre Dame, when Banks backed up and eventually replaced All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson.
Banksy!!!!!!!!!!! Let’s go brother! Welcome to the club @bigaaronbanks
— Mike McGlinchey (@mmcglinch68) May 1, 2021
Banks was a first-team All-American and built like he it. He stands at an imperious 6’5″, 325 pounds and posted a nonsensical 31-inch vertical. He also tested well in the 3-cone drill, with a 7.73-second time that ranks in the 75.7th percentile for his position, and bodes well for his short-area quickness in an outside zone scheme. He was a three-year starter at Notre Dame and excelled at the Senior Bowl. This, by all accounts, is a day one starter at right guard.