SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- For weeks there have been rumblings that the San Francisco 49ers have legitimate interest in LSU running back Leonard Fournette in the NFL draft.

That interest seemed to gain some steam Monday when ESPN's Adam Caplan confirmed that Fournette is set to take a pre-draft visit to the Bay Area this week. NBC Sports Bay Area first reported on the visit.

Of course, for the Niners to land Fournette, they would almost certainly need to spend the No. 2 overall pick or take him after a trade down just a few spots. As is always the case at this time of year, it's hard to separate fact and fiction when it comes to a team's interest in a prospect. That's certainly the case here.

The 49ers already have Carlos Hyde in place. Hyde is a talented if oft-injured back who is set to become a free agent after the season. Last week, Niners general manager John Lynch was asked about Hyde and offered an endorsement while also making it clear that more will be expected of Hyde moving forward.

"I think as a player, one of the great things about this league, and frankly what drove me to get back into it, is you are always proving yourself and I think in particular when there’s a new regime," Lynch said. "I hope Carlos feels that way, but I can also tell you that we are really high on him and what he might be able to do in this offense. We think he can be a high productive player. But we’re eager to see. You have these thoughts as to do these skills translate to what we do and I think he’s a very talented young man and we are very excited and hopeful through the interactions we have had that he’s come ready to play."

For what it's worth, Hyde said he'd be happy to embrace competition from Fournette if the Niners chose to go that direction.

On the surface, it's easy enough to dismiss the Niners' interest in Fournette as run-of-the-mill smokescreen. This draft isn't flush with top quarterback prospects, and since the Niners are "open for business" to trade the No. 2 pick (as general manager John Lynch reiterated last week), Fournette would be a logical player to pump up in order to try to find a trade partner.

Beyond that, the history of coach Kyle Shanahan and his father, Mike, indicates that they have been able to find productive running backs well beyond the reaches of the top of the draft. In Denver, Mike Shanahan turned guys like Terrell Davis, Olandis Gary and Mike Anderson into household names. Kyle Shanahan has squeezed big numbers out of players like Arian Foster, Devonta Freeman and Alfred Morris. Given that, it's hard to imagine Shanahan would want to use a top two pick on any running back, Fournette included.

But just because there are sound reasons why the Niners would pass on Fournette doesn't mean there aren't strong counterarguments to be made as well. Hyde is entering the last year of his contract, and his propensity for injuries -- he's missed 14 games in three seasons -- makes it understandable that the 49ers would be interested in a replacement.

And while the 49ers have more pressing needs at other positions, there is no greater need on the roster than star power. If the Niners have the chance to acquire the type of foundational player they currently lack, they have to take a long, hard look, regardless of the position. The roster in its current state simply doesn't have enough.

It's something Lynch acknowledged when I asked him about it at the league meetings a couple of weeks ago.

"We'd love to come out of this draft with some game-changing players," Lynch said. "I think at No. 2 you have that opportunity and that's your goal. You really want to do that at -- you look at Tom Brady, that's a game changing player -- so that's why every pick is so important.

"We need some stars. We need some of those guys, but I think you go about that like anything else, through exhaustive preparation, looking at every place, every player. That's what we need."

So as the Niners head toward the draft with plenty of options available, it's probably best not to rule out the possibility that they go after Fournette if they believe he's a notch above the other players on their board.