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NFL Draft No. 2 in the John Lynch-Kyle Shanahan regime presents a drastically different outlook than in Year 1.
Last offseason, the Lynch-Shanahan brass inherited a 2-14 team with holes all over the field. The 49ers lacked a franchise quarterback, had minimal offensive playmakers, and needed to revamp its lines on both sides of the ball.
One year later, the 49ers have filled most of those holes. They signed Jimmy Garoppolo to a five-year deal earlier this offseason, replaced Carlos Hyde with the more versatile Jerick McKinnon, and restructured the offensive line. The Richard Sherman signing addressed the bleak cornerback situation, with Ahkello Witherspoon returning as the only returning starter at the position.
The 49ers are prepared to win now, which has become the expectation after winning their final five games of the 2017 season. But the San Francisco roster is far from a finished product.
Lynch and Shanahan will look to round out the squad in the 2018 NFL Draft, beginning on April 26 in Dallas. The 49ers have nine picks in the upcoming draft, including four selections in the first three rounds.
Let’s take a look at the prospects the 49ers should target with each of their nine picks, starting with the No. 9 overall selection.
Round 1, pick 9: Harold Landry (edge rusher)
San Francisco’s lack of a game-changing edge rusher is the one glaring weakness remaining on the current 49ers roster. The 49ers ranked fifth-worst in the NFL with 30 sacks last season. Lynch chose not to re-sign Elvis Dumervil, who led the team with 6.5 sacks.
Last month, the 49ers acquired former Charger Jerry Attaochu for reinforcement at the ‘LEO’ spot. Attaochu, who has produced only 10 sacks in four career seasons, doesn’t feel like the immediate solution. Cassius Marsh and Arik Armstead failed to impress last season.
The 49ers should use their No. 9 pick to select a dynamic edge rusher. NC State’s Bradley Chubb is one of the top overall prospects and will likely already be selected. That leaves Boston College’s Harold Landry and UTSA’s Marcus Davenport as the next best options at the position.
Davenport is considered a project with loads of potential. The 49ers need an established edge rusher who can step in and contribute now.
Enter Landry, a 6-foot-3, 250-pound wrecking ball with tons of burst. At this time last year, he was presented as a potentially top-five pick. The Boston College product led the country with 17 sacks and six forced fumbles in 2016, while adding 22 tackles for loss.
He chose to return for his senior year. Landry failed to produce the same prolific results, largely because of an ankle injury he suffered in the seventh game of the 2017 season. Prior to that, however, he produced five sacks in six games, continuing his dominance from one season prior.
Questions surrounding Landry highlight his lack of strength and whether his ankle injury will hinder his explosiveness— to which he has a rebuttal.
“There’s no doubt in my mind I would have had double-digit sacks if my ankle didn’t get hurt,” Landry told reporters at the NFL Combine. “My confidence in my talent level hasn’t slipped one bit.”
Landry put on a clinic at the NFL Combine, recording a 4.19-second short shuttle time (tied for the best among edge rushers) and 6.88-second three-cone time (the second-best mark for edge rushers).
The list of 250+ pound D-Linemen drafted in R1 with sub 6.9 3-cones at combine since 2000:
DeMarcus Ware
JJ Watt
David Pollack
Melvin Ingram
Joey Bosa
TJ Watt(Soon to be) Harold Landry
— Mike Renner (@PFF_Mike) March 5, 2018
The presence of a dynamic edge presence provides so much worth to any defense, whether that means forcing turnovers or applying pressure on third-and-long situations. The 49ers defense struggled to get off the field last season, allowing opponents to convert on 43 percent of third downs.
Even more startling, the 49ers haven’t had a player finish in the top 28 of single-season sack leaders since Aldon Smith produced 19.5 sacks in 2012, the second-most in the league.
The 49ers selected defensive end Solomon Thomas with he No. 3 overall pick last year to help address this long existing void. His rookie year offered mixed results. He finished second on the team with 10 tackles for loss, but he produced only three sacks, partly due to a knee injury he suffered in Week 8.
While Thomas is an effective interior rusher, Landry’s explosive skill set fits wells at the ‘LEO’ spot, where he can benefit from defensive tackle DeForest Buckner’s disruption.
With four teams potentially selecting quarterbacks prior to San Francisco’s No. 9 slot, Landry will likely drop to the 49ers. They should select the Boston College product and watch the sacks follow.
Round 2, pick 27 (via New Orleans): Leighton Vander Esch (inside linebacker)
Selecting an inside linebacker would provide valuable insurance amid the Reuben Foster saga. We still don’t know whether the Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office will pursue criminal charges against Foster following his arrest for domestic violence, threats, and possession of an assault rifle. One month earlier, Foster was arrested for marijuana possession in his home state of Alabama.
49ers CEO Jed York’s patience appears to be running thin with the second-year linebacker.
Leighton Vander Esch produced one of the best defensive season in 2017 during his junior campaign at Boise State. He won the Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year Award after compiling 141 tackles — 8.5 for a loss— with four sacks and two interceptions in 2017.
Vander Esch is an outstanding tackler with enough athleticism to cover in space. Despite his 6-foot-4, 256-pound build, he clocked a solid 4.65 in the 40-yard dash. He also clocked a 39.5-inch vertical, 10-foot-4 broad jump, and 6.88 seconds in the three-cone drill — all outstanding results.
The 49ers had discovered their next star linebacker in last year’s draft, when they drafted Foster with the No. 31 overall pick. He blossomed as the 2017 season progressed, winning November’s Defensive Rookie of the Month Award after amassing 30 tackles in three games.
Until the DA’s office makes a decision, however, no one knows when or whether Foster will return.
Regardless of the outcome in the Foster saga, selecting Vander Esch provides stability to a precarious situation. The 49ers expect Malcolm Smith to return in 2018 after missing all of last season with a torn pectoral. Inside linebacker Brock Coyle was extended to a three-year deal last month.
The 49ers will also look to add cornerback depth in the upcoming draft. Auburn’s Carlton Davis — who has been compared to Sherman — is a strong, physical cornerback that fits the Sherman-Witherspoon prototype in Robert Saleh’s 4-3 base defense. If Davis is still available in San Francisco’s second-round slot, he would be difficult to pass up.
Round 3, pick 6: Equanimeous St. Brown (wide receiver)
Shanahan and Lynch seem content with the current receiving corps. Under Garoppolo’s charge, the 49ers were one of the top passing offenses in the league as they closed out the 2017 regular season on a five-game winning streak. After producing a career year, Marquise Goodwin signed a three-year extension last month. Pierre Garcon will return to the field after losing the latter half of his 2017 campaign with a neck injury.
Speed is likely San Francisco’s biggest strength at receiver, but the group lacks a big red-zone target. St. Brown stands at 6-foot-5 and measured a 33-inch wingspan at the 2018 NFL Combine.
His Notre Dame career produced mix results, likely due to his quarterback play. Two seasons ago, he jelled with DeShone Kizer, compiling 58 receptions, 961 receiving yards, and nine touchdowns. St. Brown’s production regressed under quarterback Brandon Winbush this past season, totaling 33 catches for 515 yards and four touchdowns.
Quarterback play shouldn’t be an issue in San Francisco, with Garoppolo locked up for the next five years. St. Brown’s length would add another dimension to a budding San Francisco offense.
Round 3, pick 10 (via Chicago): Braden Smith (guard)
Lynch and company revamped the 49ers’ interior offensive line last month. They replaced center Daniel Kilgore with Weston Richburg, then acquired guard Jonathan Cooper, who started 13 games last season for the Dallas Cowboys.
Left guard Laken Tomlinson will compete to retain his starting position, alongside Erik Magnuson and a slimmed down Joshua Garnett.
Protecting Garoppolo is paramount, which is why the 49ers will likely bolster the guard position to promote even more competition for the two starting guard spots. Smith, who is 6-foot-6 and 315 pounds, is on the bulkier side for a lineman in Shanahan’s scheme, which requires offensive linemen to move swiftly into the second level. But Smith has outstanding length and good athleticism.
This year’s guard crop takes a dip after Notre Dame’s Quenton Nelson, who could be an option for the 49ers if he is still available at No. 9 overall. Nelson is regarded as one of the top guard prospects in years, and despite his 325-pound frame, tested very well at the NFL Combine.
If the 49ers can’t secure Nelson, they will likely add another guard prospect with later picks, such as Smith.
Round 4, pick 28 (via Pittsburgh): Kevin Toliver II (cornerback)
At 6-foot-2, 192 pounds, Kevin Toliver II fits the big, physical mold that Saleh covets in cornerbacks.
Toliver was dubbed the nation’s top defensive back prospect coming out of high school three years ago, but his college career was riddled with knee and shoulder injuries. When he stayed on the field, however, Toliver was swift and physical, routinely knocking receivers off the line of scrimmage.
Sherman, who just turned 30, is coming off a ruptured Achilles injury suffered last November. Questions loom about whether he will return to his All-Pro form.
Adding depth at cornerback should be one of Lynch’s priorities ahead of the draft.
Round 5, pick 6 (via Jets): Tony Brown (cornerback)
The Alabama prospect has immense potential, standing at 6-foot, 195 pounds and blazing to 4.35 40-yard dash time. He provides San Francisco with another exceptional athlete who could learn firsthand from Sherman.
Round 6, pick 10: Ike Boettger (tackle)
Trent Brown and Joe Staley are firmly entrenched as San Francisco’s starting tackles. Staley will turn 34 before the season begins and Brown enters the final year of his contract, however, which begs the need for young talent at the tackle position.
Boettger, originally a tight end recruit, had experience at both tackle positions and left guard at Iowa. At 6-foot-6, 310 pounds, Boettger has solid measurables and good strength.
Round 7, pick 9: Tre Flowers (safety)
The 49ers are stocked with three starting caliber safeties in Jimmie Ward, Adrian Colbert, and Jacquiski Tartt. With Ward entering the final year of his deal, however, Lynch may look to add depth to the safety group in the late rounds.
Flowers posted good numbers at Oklahoma State this past season, including 79 tackles, two interceptions, and eight pass breakups. He recently ran a 4.45 40-yard dash, but concerns over poor tackling have dropped his projected stock into the later rounds.
Last year’s draft provided proof that the 49ers can still find safety value late in the draft. They selected Colbert in the seventh round. He stepped in, played well when all of the team’s safeties went down with injuries, and has played himself into a potential starting role ahead of the 2018 season.
Round 7, pick 22 (via Kansas City): Ethan Wolf (tight end)
Garrett Celek and George Kittle played their best ball late in the season, when Garoppolo took over the offense. The 49ers could use a blocking tight end to complement the Celek-Kittle duo.
Wolf recorded 246 yards and three touchdowns last season at Tennessee. At 6-foot-6, 258 pounds, he translates as a blocking option at the next level.
