Trading Down--the 49ers' 1986 Draft

Three questions:

1. How deep is this draft--that is, how good will the talent be in rounds three in particular and even four?

2. How good do we think our personnel people are?

3. Will there be a player still at 15 who fills a major need and who we think will be special?

If the answers are respectively deep, yes and no, then were I running the organization, my model for this year's draft would be San Francisco's 1986 draft when Bill Walsh had too many energy drinks and produced one of the great drafts in NFL history without (after trades) a first round draft pick and only one second round pick.

In that draft, San Francisco picked in the second round Larry Roberts; in the third Tom Rathman, Tim McKyer and John Taylor; in the fourth Charles Haley, Steve Wallace and Kevin Fagan; and in the sixth Don Griffin.

Walsh made six trades. He swapped first round picks, dropping down two spots and picking up a fifth round pick. He traded his first round pick and a 10th round pick the following year for second and third round picks. He traded a second round pick for a lower second round pick and a third round pick. He traded a second round pick for a first round pick the following year and a 10th round pick. He traded a third round pick for two fourth round picks. And he traded quarterback Matt Cavanaugh for second and third round picks. You get the idea.

Suppose at 15 we traded down to 19 and picked up a third round round pick. Suppose at 19 we traded down to 24 and picked up a third round pick. Suppose at 24 we traded down to 30 and picked up a third round pick. Suppose at 30 we traded down to 39 and picked up a third round pick. At that point, we would have a high second round pick and five third round picks. To make those trades, the Saints admittedly would need much luck and suitors willing to trade a third round pick to move up a few slots to select a targeted player.

But suppose we traded down three times instead of four times and ended up with the 39th pick and a total of four third round picks (the three third round picks obtained in trades and our own), I still would like the idea of trading down to get more picks.

The bottom line is this: In recent drafts, for several reasons--trades and sanctions--we have not had our allotted number of draft picks. As a result, the Saints have a number of weaknesses that need to be addressed if we want to truly compete for championships. We need a number of good players. Were I running the Saints, I would not play it safe, and I would consider trading down for additional picks until the early or middle portion of the second round. Let's give ESPN and the thousand bloggers something to talk about.