© Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
With the second round of the draft about to get underway, and the 49ers having filled most of their needs this offseason, there is no clear consensus as to what position the 49ers will target first. It really is a rare situation where drafting the best player available makes loads of sense. While corner depth absolutely needs to be addressed, and San Francisco probably needs help in the slot, there’s no need to overpay early for any position.
Here are the 49ers’ remaining picks:
Round 3, Pick 102
Round 4, Pick 117
Round 5, Pick 155
Round 5, Pick 172
Round 5, Pick 180
Round 6, Pick 194
Round 7, Pick 230
One thing I would expect is for San Francisco to try and close the gap it has from the 43rd pick to its 102nd pick. A handful of players projected to go in the first fell out of it, and with teams always desperate for receivers, edge rushers and tackles, I have a feeling they could get some interest at their spot.
One potential option that intrigues me is moving from 43 to 48 with the Raiders, who have back-to-back picks in the third round at 79 and 80. I could see the 49ers picking up that 80th pick to move down, and sending back either their fourth-rounder at 117, or their first fifth-rounder at 155, depending on how desperate the Raiders are, if at all.
Below, I’ve addressed the main positions of concern.
Running back is not included, but drafting one wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest; it’s just not a pressing need, especially after the addition of Wayne Gallman, and given the fact they always seem do find a diamond in the rough from the UDFA pool. The same goes for safety, but it’s a particularly bad safety class and the 49ers have added a significant amount of depth there this offseason.
I also didn’t mention tackle, but that would not be a surprising selection either; though, with Trent Williams and Mike McGlinchey locked in, it seems like Justin Skule and Shon Coleman are the viable swing tackle candidates, and both have shown well at one point or another.
And the same goes for linebacker where, if a superbly talented player like Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah falls, you should probably take him, and then have Fred Warner/Dre Greenlaw insurance for if/when one of them leaves. Otherwise, there’s not too much of a need there.
Interior offensive line: Earliest in the Shanahan-Lynch era?
In the past, the 49ers haven’t prioritized interior offensive linemen, especially not early in the draft. In fact, their only interior line pick was Colton McKivitz in the fifth last year, and Shanahan said they initially viewed him as a tackle.
But they’ve also never drafted a franchise quarterback. There’s a basic thesis to drafting a franchise quarterback, which is this: protect him.
The Jets drafted Zach Wilson, then traded up for USC’s Alijah Vera-Tucker.
San Francisco line clearly has a weakness at right guard, with McKivitz, Daniel Brunskill and the recently re-signed Tom Compton currently the group set to compete for the spot on paper. But Alex Mack, at age 35, is an expiring clock, and this strikes me as a prime opportunity to add an impact right guard in the present, and move that player to center, as Mack’s successor, when the time comes.
Creed Humphrey, from Oklahoma, strikes me as an enticing option. He’s an absolute man-mover who has one of the greatest relative athletic scores in NFL history, with a perfect 10.00 grade. He’s 6’4″, 302 pounds with a 33-inch vertical, who ran a 5.11 40-yard dash. He’s a monster.
Landon Dickerson of Alabama is an option too, though his injury history is terrifying. One semi-sleeper is the Division III stud from the University of Wisconsin, Whitewhater, Quinn Meinerz. The kid is another athletic freak and a bulldozer. The concerns are obvious, but the 49ers just drafted a small school, athletic freak who didn’t play last season, so why not Meinerz?
He looked dominant in reps at the Senior Bowl and has been working for the last year on snapping to become a center and doing hilarious drills a la Kyle Juszczyk’s last offseason, breaking down trees and carrying them in the woods of Canada.
Corner: Early, and possibly late, too
If the 49ers don’t take a center who can play guard in round two, it’s likely they opt for a corner. Besides Jason Verrett, Emmanuel Moseley and K’Waun Williams, they are very thin.
I would suspect they try and replenish that depth and increase their odds of hitting on a corner by drafting two this year. In the second round, Kelvin Joseph from Kentucky and Paulson Adebo from Stanford both stand out to me. Neither Asante Samuel Jr., from Florida State, or Tyson Campbell, from Georgia, are expected to be available (though who knows with only 11 picks ahead), and both Joseph and Adebo fit the mold.
Some enticing later-round options who have athleticism that’s worth taking a bet on despite concerns (whether it’s competition faced, production, or otherwise) are Florida’s Marco Wilson and Central Arkansas’ Robert Rochell, who project as fourth-through-sixth-round picks.
Wide receiver: Any time is a good time
At some point, and for the 19th-straight year, the 49ers will draft a wide receiver. Kendrick Bourne’s departure left a glaring hole in the slot, and it’s unlikely that Mohamed Sanu is viewed as a comfortable enough option for them to eschew that need.
When might they draft a wide receiver?
At literally any point. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the second round or the sixth. Because the demands of a slot receiver are so much more limited than an outside receiver, you theoretically have a wider pool to choose from, and wide receiver feels like an especially deep position group in this year’s class.
My pick for the 49ers has been USC’s Amon-Ra St. Brown in Round 3 in a trade up. St. Brown was raised by a former Mr. Universe and a family of athletes and averaged 12.8 yards per reception over his college career with 16 total touchdowns. He has solid size (roughly 6 feet, 200 pounds), athleticism and the footwork and short-area quickness that reminds you of Bourne with a higher ceiling.
I don’t believe Ole Miss’ Elijah Moore will make it to pick 43, but he’d be very hard to pass up if he did. Instead of trying to get into the nitty gritty of a massive pool of receiving prospects, here are some that interest me for the 49ers, and the range I think they may land.
Little slot monsters:
- Rondale Moore, Purdue: Freakiest athlete in the class, but undersized at 5’9″. If you liked Julian Edelman, imagine a hyper-athletic version of him.
- D’Wayne Eskridge, Western Michigan: Burner speed with the intricate feints and short-area movements that make him exceedingly difficult to cover.
- Amari Rodgers, Clemson: Great utility tool player, had 77 receptions for 1,020 yards and 7 TDs at Clemson. He’s a very versatile player, in the mold of a mini-Deebo.
Athletic anomalies:
- Nico Collins, Michigan: Collins might be even more appealing than St. Brown, but for the same reasons. He’s got very good size at 6’4, 205 pounds, and moves far better than someone at that size should, with a 6.71 3-cone drill (93rd percentile). He was a big-play guy for Michigan, finishing with a 19.7-yard-per-catch average (727 yards) and 7 touchdowns.
- Simi Fehoko, Stanford: Fehoko is super raw as a prospect and needs a lot of technical work, but at about 6’4″, 222 pounds with a nearly 90 percentile 3-cone score, he’s a tight-end sized option with every physical tool you want.
- Josh Imatorbhebhe, Illinois: He looks like D.K. Metcalf lite, but is much more stiff-hipped. He’s a guy you want on vertical stems, who will win contested catches. I don’t think he’s the best fit for the 49ers, but he’s fun.
Tight end: Have to draft someone, but there’s not much in-between
This is a scary tight end class. At the top, there’s Kyle Pitts. Then there’s the second tier, which is where we stand now. You’ve got Penn State’s Pat Friermeuth, the consensus second tight end, followed by an intriguing group highlighted by Notre Dame’s Tommy Tremble, Miami’s Brevin Jordan and Boston College’s Hunter Long.
After that, good luck.
There’s really that group and then, at least from my view, a pretty massive drop off. Noah Gray from Duke is a guy who I think is maybe the best natural route runner out of the tight end group, but he’s undersized and horrendous blocker, and route-running has been shown to not necessarily be a prerequisite for success.
Briley Moore from Kansas State has limited production and short arms, but is an elite athlete, who, at least theoretically, you can develop into an offensive weapon. And John Bates from Idaho State is a bit clunky, but he’s a solid blocker with prototypical size at 6’5″, 250 pounds, with an elite 3-cone time, an optimistic sign for receiving projectibility.
But as a whole, it’s a weak group. While I haven’t heard the 49ers express too much interest in drafting a tight end early, it wouldn’t surprise me if they did, because there’s not much available. It also wouldn’t surprise me to see them make a trade for Zach Ertz. Remember, Shanahan was interested in Austin Hooper last year before he went to the Browns, and has been not so quietly looking for a partner for George Kittle.
That certainly doesn’t seem to be on the roster at this point, unless Charlie Woerner turns out to be a completely different person from the player we saw last year. Hey, maybe it was just the shortened training camp, but the film didn’t show too many encouraging signs.
Defensive end: Anytime is also fine
The 49ers are founded on the defensive line and running game, so I’d expect they’ll add another edge rusher. But it’s viewed as a notoriously weak edge rushing class, so you’re basically either swinging on the elite athletes in the second round, or flawed prospects who either didn’t produce, or have some knock you think is overrated.
Texas Joseph Ossai would fit in the 49ers’ scheme, and he’d be an enticing pick at 43. He likely needs to add weight and strength, but he’s as athletic as it gets, and projects very well as former outside linebacker in a wide-nine role. Carlos Basham, from Wake Forest, and Azeez Ojulari, from Georgia, are appealing too.
Then you’ve got some project players with either superb get-offs but technical issues like Pittsburgh’s Patrick Jones II, or Northern Iowa’s Elerson Smith, who is light and from a small school, but doesn’t sacrifice power, and is surprisingly polished with his hands.
Because it’s not as glaring as it was earlier in the offseason, the range here is completely open-ended.
