John Lynch Says 49ers TE Brayden Willis Will Be a Good Player

"It shouldn't come as a surprise that the 49ers let backup tight end Charlie Woerner sign with the Falcons a few weeks ago and didn't sign anyone to replace him."

ORLANDO -- The 49ers think they may have found their heir apparent to George Kittle.

General manager John Lynch discussed his roster this week during the NFL Annual Meeting, and unprompted he praised second-year tight end Brayden Willis.

"Brayden really siezed that opportunity and I think he's going to be a good player," Lynch said when discussing the backup tight ends. "He helped us a lot on special teams, but then played meaningful snaps at the end of the season. I think he has a chance to be a good player for us."

Which means Willis has a chance to become a starter one day.

The 49ers drafted Willis in the seventh round last year -- he was nearly Mr. Irrelevant -- and he was the second tight end they drafted after Cam Latu in Round 3. But Latu was so bad in training camp and preseason, the 49ers shut him down for the entire season by putting him on the Injured Reserve List before the regular season started. He just might be a bust.

As opposed to Willis, who didn't catch any passes as a rookie, but appeared in 7 regular season games, played 48 snaps on offense and 101 snaps on special teams. Clearly, the 49ers liked him enough to put him on the field as a rookie, even in the Super Bowl. That's something they don't always do.

So it shouldn't come as a surprise that the 49ers let backup tight end Charlie Woerner sign with the Falcons a few weeks ago and didn't sign anyone to replace him. Willis is the replacement.