One spot, a gazillion picks and three letters: LOL. If you’re following the draft you probably know those descriptions pertain to the San Francisco 49ers trade with the Chicago Bears to move back one spot.

One spot. Two (2) to three (3). And in exchange the 49ers receive a third, a fourth, and a future third. Just to wait another 10 minutes to take their guy. Who do we thank? Paraag Marathe.

Not general manager John Lynch, not head coach Kyle Shanahan, this was all Marathe’s doing. The 49ers executive has received a lot of slack as of late for his love of analytics, and his role in the 49ers head coach search, but there’s little to not praise in this steal of a deal. John Lynch confirmed the role in a recent podcast with KNBR saying they put Marathe in charge of trades.

Whether John Lynch is giving his man credit for encouragement or Marathe’s contract negotiation skills are carrying over in negotiating draft picks only means one thing: a ninja is back in the organization. We’ll figure out who it is soon enough.