CHICAGO (Diya TV) — The San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders completed their respective selections during Thursday night’s first round of the 2016 NFL Draft. For the Niners, newly minted head coach Chip Kelly was reunited with a familiar face from his days at Oregon.
With the No. 7 overall pick, 49ers general manager Trent Baalke selected Oregon’s DeForest Buckner, a 22-year-old, 6-foot-7, 287-pound defensive end. He was recruited to the Ducks by Chip Kelly during his tenure as head coach at Oregon.
Buckner is an ideal fit in the 49ers 4-3 defensive scheme, a formation which consists of four defensive linemen and three linebackers. Last season, Buckner was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year after he recorded 10.5 sacks, 16 quarterback hits and 39 hurries — last season, San Francisco finished the season ranked 29th in the league with just 28 sacks on the year. He has been widely touted as a strong defender against the run game.
Welcome to the family, @DeForestBuckner! #49ersDraft pic.twitter.com/CrstGQ6haH
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) April 29, 2016
Additionally, San Francisco completed a trade nearing the end of the first round to obtain an additional draft pick. Baalke sent their second-round (No. 37), as well as picks in the fourth (No. 105), and sixth (No. 178) to the Kansas City Chiefs for their No. 28 overall pick.
With the pick, Baalke selected Stanford guard Joshua Garnett. He is a human biology major, and wishes to be a trauma surgeon after his football career concludes.
“We looked at the next seven or eight picks and who was sitting there and their needs, and for us, why not?” Baalke said. “We like the guy. We like him a lot. We had that kind of value placed on him. Let’s go get him and let’s not sweat it out over the next seven picks.”
Like his draft counterpart, Kelly revealed Thursday evening he had spent significant time attempting to recruit Garnett to the Ducks while at Oregon.
“He’s an extremely driven person in everything he does, whether it’s academics or athletics,” Kelly said. “I think that’s what you’re looking for, that’s what attracts you to people like Josh, that someone no matter what the challenge is ahead of him, he’s going to attack it with everything he has. I look at that as a positive.
“Josh loves football. The fact that he is actually a very intelligent young man who wants to go to med school doesn’t take away from the fact he loves football.”
The 49ers missed the playoffs for the second time in as many seasons last year, and finished at the bottom of the NFC West table for the first time since the 2005 season.
Across the Bay, the silver and black elected to use their first-round pick to further bolster their defense by drafting West Virginia safety Karl Joseph with the No. 14 overall pick.
Joseph’s selection is an obvious choice to add more meat to a diminished secondary after the retirement of Charles Woodson. Additionally, Oakland added safety Reggie Nelson to the secondary this offseason through free agency, as well as cornerback Sean Smith.
Joseph is regarded as a hard-hitting safety, and a Swiss Army type that can defend against both the run and the pass from inside of the box. He played just four games last season before undergoing season-ending knee surgery. Joseph had five interceptions last year and nine in 42 career games in college.
With the 14th overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, we've selected…
Karl Joseph, DB from West Virginia!https://t.co/VB5t890vxD
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) April 29, 2016