Niners Nation :: 2012 NFL Mock Draft: Should The 49ers Trade Up?

We all know NFL Mock Drafts have a relatively limited value when it comes to projecting the future. In reality, mock drafts are meant more as simply tools for generating discussion. When you talk about a team like the 49ers that is down at the 30th pick of the first round, it makes them even less valuable for predictive purposes.

At the same time, we can still use them to get a better handle on what we think the 49ers might do. A lot of people try and project out how the front office will handle the draft, but as we have seen just in free agency, the 49ers are rather unpredictable. When we think they are going to zig, they zag. I have to think it will play out the same way in the draft, which means I have no idea how it will play out.

Mocking the Draft has a variety of writers put together mock drafts, and Brad Wells from Stampede Blue put together this one, which features a 49ers trade up. Brad has the 49ers trading their first and second round picks to the Steelers to move up in the first round and draft highly touted offensive lineman Cordy Glenn.

I spoke with Brad a few days ago and the 49ers draft came up. In discussing the 49ers options, I told him my gut was telling me the 49ers would deal from their first round pick. I didn't provide specifics on where they might trade, but I discussed needs with him and he responded accordingly. While I think a deal down to get a future pick is more likely, a trade up would not surprise me either if the 49ers think there is a guy worthing making such a move.

At the same time, the 49ers have made it very clear they will not overpay beyond their pre-determined value of an asset. They were able to make some moves last year (making separate trades to net Colin Kaepernick and Daniel Kilgore), so they can get deals done even with such a firm handle on value.

We can't really predict a trade, but how high could the 49ers potentially move if they had an eye on somebody in the first round? In a perfect world I would love to see the 49ers land Stanford guard David DeCastro, but this is far from a perfect world. He struggled a bit trying to show some center skills at his Pro Day, but as a guard he has been lights out throughout the draft process. But that doesn't mean the 49ers can't land another solid guard a little lower down if they feel so compelled.

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