Barber: 49ers should trade up, draft Myles Garrett

SANTA CLARA - This is John Lynch's first draft as an NFL general manager. Fortunately, he's getting plenty of help - from his scouting department, his coaching staff, ESPN studio hosts, NFL.com columnists, bloggers, Twitter followers, valet parking attendants, baristas, hairdressers and random motorists on Highway 101.

Everyone with Internet access has advice on the NFL draft and Lynch, with the second overall selection and scant experience in talent evaluation, is receiving more than his share. A lot of that advice is telling Lynch, the new 49ers GM, to trade down, cashing in the No. 2 selection for a collection of lower picks as if breaking a dollar bill at the vending machines.

Well, the 49ers should swing a Day 1 trade. But they need to go in the other direction. Lynch should trade up to No. 1.

Before stating my case, I should tell you that I have seen the 49ers' draft board. I mean, sort of. I saw the margins of the board, though a screen had been lowered to hide the good stuff.

This was Monday in the John McVay Draft Room, on the second floor at 49ers headquarters. It's the team's so-called war room, the same place Lynch and his advisors have been meeting for weeks to watch film, grade prospects and debate their merits. The same place they will assemble for Day 1 of the draft on Thursday. This was an official media session for Lynch, probably his last extended interview before the completion of Round 1.

“I think in life and I think in this league in particular, you've got to play smart but you can't play scared,” Lynch said at one point. “And so I hope that's a quality that you'll see from us, that we're never going to do things because they're safe. We'll try to do things because they're smart, they're well thought out. But I think if you're doing things because you're scared, you're already behind the 8-ball.”

Well, here's a chance for Lynch to back up his words with a bold draft-day move. Come out swinging, as it were.

Not that trading down is such a bad idea. In fact, it's a good one, more sensible than staying at No. 2. As Lynch acknowledged Monday, the 49ers need help at multiple positions - just about every position, really. They need quantity as much as quality, and they could swap the No. 2 pick to get it.

In most years, that would be the 49ers' best-case scenario for Day 1. But this is not most years. In 2017, one player clearly stands ahead of the pack. His name is Myles Garrett, and he is an edge rusher out of Texas A&M.

Garrett is 6-foot-4, 272 pounds and sculpted like a Marvel illustration. He recorded 12½ sacks for the Aggies last year, during a season in which he played through a knee injury and, some were convinced, took plays off to protect his draft status. At the scouting combine in February, Garrett ran the 40-yard dash in 4.63 seconds, bench-pressed 225 pounds 33 times and recorded a vertical leap of 41 inches.

His draft profile on NFL.com includes nuggets like: “Uber-athlete with spring-loaded hips and elite explosiveness. … His first three steps can throw an offense into disarray. … Wicked, whirling, dervish inside spin move that's reminiscent of Dwight Freeney's. … Game-wrecking potential. … Gobbles up grass with long strides in open-field pursuit.”

And how nice would it be for the 49ers to have a defensive player who can throw an offense into disarray, rather than an offense that can throw an offense into disarray?

As debate rages over the best quarterback/cornerback/receiver/fill-in-the-blank in this year's draft, the identity of the overall top prospect is hardly being discussed. There's Myles Garrett, and then there's everybody else. And at No. 2, the 49ers will be forced to reach into the “everybody else” bag.

Except …

Except the owners of this year's No. 1 overall pick are the Cleveland Browns. And the Browns are known to do strange things on draft day.

In 2014 they had two first-round choices and used them on cornerback Justin Gilbert and quarterback Johnny Manziel. Three years later, neither is even with an NFL team. Other Cleveland first-rounders of the past decade include linebacker Barkevious Mingo (2013), running back Trent Richardson (2012), quarterback Brandon Weeden (2012) and defensive tackle Phil Taylor (2011).

This year, the Browns might be the only team that doesn't recognize Garrett as the golden child.

Earlier this month, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that a rift had developed in Cleveland, between those who want to draft Garrett and those who are pushing for North Carolina quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. Just last Friday, Cleveland.com reporter Mary Kay Cabot, who has covered the team for years, wrote that “Mitch Trubisky is still under serious consideration by the Browns at No. 1.”

If Lynch wants Garrett, he has two choices. He can wait to see if the defender falls into his lap Thursday. Or he can be proactive and convince the Browns to swap picks. Go ahead and overpay if you have to. Offer the No. 2 overall, the early-second-round No. 34 and a young starter like Arik Armstead. If the Browns truly are wavering between Garrett and Trubisky, this could be the nudge it takes to convince them to step down one slot and select the quarterback.

Monday, Lynch seemed to be planting the seeds.

Asked if he'd consider a QB at No. 2, the GM said: “I think we've stated from the beginning that a franchise quarterback is something we believe is essential to winning in this league.” And later, answering a question about his old teammate Warren Sapp, Lynch noted that Sapp has “never been short for opinions, as we just learned with Myles Garrett.”

This weekend, Sapp stated publicly that he doesn't think Garrett is worthy of the No. 1 overall.

Are you listening, Browns? John Lynch just whispered that (a) you can't win without a franchise quarterback and (b) at least one Pro Football Hall of Famer believes Myles Garrett is overrated. At a time of year when we're all desperately reading tea leaves, those are some interesting shreds of Darjeeling.

Don't stop there, John. Call your favorite national writer and be the “unnamed NFL source” who claims that Garrett plans to do yoga during the national anthem. Blanket Browns headquarters in Berea, Ohio, with Mitch Trubisky propaganda leaflets. And work that phone like a campaign volunteer when Cleveland is on the clock.

I'm convinced that stealing Garrett is the sort of smart, well-thought-out, not-scared decision that will make Lynch a success. And my barista totally agrees.

Phil Barber is at 707-521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com.