49ers add Bay Area offensive lineman Aaron Banks in Round 2 of NFL draft
The 49ers added a first-team All American to their offensive line after trading back from their initial second-round pick Friday during the NFL draft.
They took a local product, Aaron Banks, who started 31 games for Notre Dame after playing at El Cerrito High School in nearby Alameda.
Banks (6-5, 325) will presumably compete for the starting job at right guard, where former undrafted free agent Daniel Brunskill saw the most playing time in 2020.
Banks is known for his size and strength as a run blocker, but he’ll need to refine his technique as a pass protector. He’ll rejoin a former college teammate, Mike McGlinchey, who he could play next to along San Francisco’s offensive line that added veteran center Alex Mack in free agency. Banks would join four former first-round picks projected to start.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan during the phone call telling Banks he would be drafted said McGlinchey was advocating for the selection. And after taking quarterback Trey Lance with the third overall pick on Thursday, it was clear the addition of Banks was designed to keep the new signal caller upright.
“I know that offensive linemen are at an all-time value. If you can’t protect your quarterback, you can’t really win games,” Banks said on Zoom after getting drafted.
Banks brings durability to an offensive line that started seven different combinations and four different players at right guard.
The 49ers moved back from pick No. 43 in a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders, according to a report from ESPN, moving back five spots to No. 48 for a fourth-round pick (No. 121) while sending a seventh-round pick (No. 230) to the Raiders. Las Vegas used the pick on TCU’s Trevon Moehrig, whom many considered the best safety in the draft.
San Francisco later in Round 3 traded up with their division rival Rams to take Ohio State running back Trey Sermon with pick No. 88. The 49ers sent picks Nos. 117 and 121 (which they received in the trade back for Banks) to take Marietta, Ga. native.
Sermon (6-0, 215) spent three seasons at Oklahoma before transferring to the Buckeyes. He averaged 7.5 yards per carry in 2020 en route to the national championship game. He’s considered a powerful, inside runner and should be a strong complement to speedy running back Raheem Mostert. The running back group also includes recent free agent addition Wayne Gallman, Jeff Wilson Jr. and JaMycal Hasty.
Sermon is the first running back the 49ers have drafted since Shanahan’s first draft in 2017. Williams, of course, never played a regular season snap with San Francisco after dealing with injuries during his first two training camps and then getting released ahead of the 2018 campaign.
The 49ers finished out their Day 2 by adding a much-needed cornerback with pick No. 102, a compensatory selection for losing defensive coordinator Robert Saleh to the head coaching job for the New York Jets and personnel executive Martin Mayhew to the Washington Football team as general manager.
San Francisco added Michigan cornerback Ambry Thomas, a one-year starter that has promising physical traits and potentially versatility to play outside and inside. Thomas opted out of the 2020 season due to the pandemic after starting 13 games in 2019 when he allowed just a 56.3% completion rate when targeted.
Thomas before the 2019 season came down with colitis, an inflammatory reaction in his colon, that caused him to spend three weeks in bed. He was expected to sit out the season after a stint in the hospital but worked his way back to become a key member of the Wolverines defense.
Thomas will compete for playing time with likely starters Jason Verrett and Emmanuel Moseley, who both signed short-term contracts this spring during free agency.
This story was originally published April 30, 2021 at 5:32 PM.
