With the 28th pick in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft, the San Francisco 49ers select Stanford offensive guard Joshua Garnett.
Garnett Grade: B-. He was on my Better-Than list. So I like him, but trading up to get him?
— Pete Prisco (@PriscoCBS) April 29, 2016
The Chiefs traded out of the 28th pick, allowing the 49ers to move back up into the first round. But it wasn't to take quarterback Connor Cook; instead, first-year coach Chip Kelly selected Garnett. You definitely saw that coming, right?
David Shaw, Garnett's coach at Stanford, was on the NFL Network set and he couldn't have been more effusive in talking about his former player.
"You know what you get in Joshua Garnett? You get a brilliant young man, he's a biology major and you're going to get a tough son of a gun. This guy loves football. He's physical, he's nasty, he's got some work to do as a pass protector, which he improved every single year, but right now you're going to get one of the best physical run blockers you're going to see come out of college the last couple years, and I can't wait to see this young man play. ...
"What a lot of people don't understand about Chip Kelly -- Chip Kelly and I have become friends the last couple of years -- Chip Kelly loves to run the football," Shaw continued. "He loves nasty guys with attitudes up front and that's what they're getting in Joshua Garnett."
The maximum Joshua Garnett will get in his 4-year rookie deal is $9,304,312, which includes a signing bonus of no more than $4,966,772.
— Joel Corry (@corryjoel) April 29, 2016
The 49ers' offense ranked 28th last season, according to Football Outsiders' metrics, though that was under coach Jim Tomsula, who was fired after the season. And while Kelly is tasked with fashioning an offense with either Blaine Gabbert or Colin Kaepernick under center, Garnett allows the 49ers to feature a running game that will include Carlos Hyde. That, more than hoping against hope that the quarterbacks play at something more than replacement level seems like a reasonable plan. And with Alex Boone no long with the team, and Mike Iupati leaving after the 2014 season, restocking the line was an obvious need -- even if Garnett wasn't necessarily an obvious choice at the end of the first round.
More on Garnett from NFLDraftScout.com's Dane Brugler and Rob Rang: "Physically, Garnett has the look of a Coke machine with limbs. His stout core and long arms make him an intimidating interior blocker whose girth can overwhelm defenders. He has enough quickness to pull and block at the second level. When Garnett does reach his intended target, however, it was often a win for the Cardinal as he has strong mitts to latch onto opponents and looks to pancake them. ... Garnett has been a steadily ascending prospect. He fires off the snap and rolls his hips at the point of attack to drive his man with his lower body. He does a nice job turning his frame to wall off run lanes and control blocks with his proper hand use inside the jersey of defenders."
