San Francisco 49ers trade for OG Laken Tomlinson
The San Francisco 49ers made a trade for former first round pick Laken Tomlinson of the Detroit Lions in exchange for a fifth round pick…
In less than two seasons’ worth of work, the Detroit Lions had seen enough of offensive lineman Laken Tomlinson, their first round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.
Tomlinson was the 28th overall pick of that year’s draft after the Lions traded down with the Denver Broncos, who moved up in the first round to select outside linebacker/edge rusher Shane Ray.
San Francisco didn’t seem to have an immediate need for an offensive guard, but they only gave up a fifth round selection to get Tomlinson, who could still develop into a starter. The 49ers used a first round pick in 2016 on offensive guard Joshua Garnett, who has so far been a solid selection for them.
The man who drafted Tomlinson — former Lions general manager Martin Mayhew — is now a senior personnel executive in San Francisco. He was the one who drafted Tomlinson in the first place, so he’s giving him another shot to prove he belongs in this league.
49ers pick up Laken Tomlinson 👀 pic.twitter.com/VAAjmCK2Ne
— Christian (@ChristianR_Vill) August 31, 2017
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Coming out of Duke, Tomlinson was obviously praised for his intelligence, but it was his physical, nasty style of play in combination along with it that made him a first round candidate.
He was probably over-drafted at the time, but people still viewed him as a potential decade-long starter at the right guard position.
The writing had been on the wall for Tomlinson in Detroit after some of the moves they had made this offseason, so to get a fifth rounder for him is great work by Bob Quinn. That being said, this has proven to be another disappointing high selection in the 2015 NFL Draft, and he will hopefully straighten things out with two (potentially three) years remaining on his rookie deal.