49ers Post-Combine: 7-Round Mock Draft
With the NFL Combine in the rearview mirror, the picture for the San Francisco 49ers’ upcoming draft is a little clearer. This also means mock draft season is officially in full swing! Among others, the 49ers have needs at wide receiver, interior offensive line, and defensive back, all of which will be addressed below.
But before I dive into the picks, there are a few housekeeping items to address.
To execute this exercise, I used The Draft Network’s mock draft machine. All selections made by the other 31 teams are subject to the site’s simulator. I’ll explain who was and wasn’t on the board at the time of the pick, as well as my rationale for each selection.
The draft order is as is, meaning no trades were made. Personally, I don’t like assuming trades in mock drafts because I feel that adds more assumptions to an already presumptuous process. Other people might start wheeling and dealing with their predictions, but that’s just not my style and that’s the beauty of being the author, I get to make the rules!
I’m assuming all pending free agents will not be back. Most notably, this means Arik Armstead, Jimmie Ward, and Emmanuel are out of the equation, altering the perceived priority of San Francisco’s team needs. After free agency, I’ll be back for another mock draft and adjust each selection accordingly.
Now that all of that is out of the way, it’s time for the picks!
Round 1 Pick 31: Jalen Reagor, WR, TCU
Unfortunately, the two wide receivers who I originally had in mind were off the board. LSU’s Justin Jefferson went the Eagles at 21, and Baylor’s Denzel Mims was selected by the Packers the pick the before 49ers’. However, Jalen Reagor is a very good consolation prize.
While Reagor’s 4.47-second 40-yard dash at the combine was somewhat disappointing, that’s still a good time and shouldn’t erase all of the explosiveness he showed in college. At 5’11” there might be some concerns about his height, but a 42-inch vertical that was the second-highest among wideouts at the combine will make up for his shortcomings.
The former Horned Frog has the versatility to play outside and in the slot, which head coach Kyle Shanahan seems to covet and makes him a great replacement for Emmanuel Sanders.
Clemson wide receiver Tee Higgins was also available but he breaks the mold of Shanahan receivers and lacks the versatility that Reagor possesses. Minnesota safety Antoine Winfield Jr. was also on the board, but a first-round pick seems like a steep price to pay for him.
Round 5 Pick 138: Michael Onwenu, G, Michigan
Fortunately, 49er fans can go out and enjoy their Friday night during the draft but unfortunately, that also means the team’s first two selections are about 100 picks apart from each other.
Admittedly, I was kicking myself for taking a wide receiver in round one because USC’s Michael Pittman Jr. was available in this spot, but what’s done is done and any team would take Reagor over the former Trojan, player for player. With that, this selection where I think the team will look to add an interior offensive lineman and Georgia’s Solomon Kindley and Michigan’s Ben Bredeson came off the board early in the round. That left Bredeson’s teammate, Michael Onwenu as the best fit for the Red and Gold.
At 6’3” and 350 pounds, Onwenu is load and can hold his ground against bull rushers in pass protection. According to TDN’s Kyle Crabbs, he struggles when blocking the second level which will have to change in San Francisco. Luckily, the former Wolverine can probably afford to shed a few pounds to help overcome his deficiency without losing too much of the strength that helps him set the anchor as a pass protector.
John Simpson from Clemson was another player who I considered at this spot, but his profile on TDN is very specific that he wouldn’t be a good fit in a zone-blocking scheme and he doesn’t seem to be as good against bull rushers as Onwenu is. While the latter certainly has work to do as well, he appears to have more upside than the former.
Round 5 Pick 158: Nevelle Clarke, CB, UCF
San Francisco almost got lucky as Pittman Jr. nearly fell to the team again, but Detroit ended up swiping him off the board four picks earlier. Temple cornerback Harrison Hand was another player who caught my eye in this round, but the Texans took away that opportunity. Ultimately, I ended up going with another player at the position from the American Athletic Conference, Nevelle Clarke.
Two things sold me on Clarke, his size and zone coverage skills. At 6’1” he has the ideal length for a corner in today’s NFL and Crabbs states that the former Knight has shown good ball skills when playing shallow zone or bail techniques. That should translate pretty well in San Francisco’s cover three heavy defense.
Clark tips the scale at just under 180 pounds so he’ll have to add some weight to be successful at the next level but at this point in the draft, no prospect is perfect and most general managers are looking for projects who can start in a year or two. With Richard Sherman turning 32-years-old later this month, the thin defensive back could be in the mix to be his replacement.
Cornerback Lamar Jackson from Nebraska was the other player I considered here. However, TDN analysts Drae Harris and Joe Marino both had questions about his positional flexibility which scared me away.
Round 6 Pick 190: Geno Stone, S, Iowa
Finally, a safety! A run early in the round had me a little worried that Stone wasn’t going to fall but luckily, he slid just enough.
Stone projects more as a strong or box safety, so he wouldn’t exactly be a replacement for Jimmie Ward, but defensive coordinator Robert Saleh can get a little creative to make him fit in the system. Jaquiski Tartt played a significant amount of snaps at free safety last season, so Saleh can experiment with him as the deep middle defender and have the former Hawkeye cover the underneath zones. Unfortunately, there haven’t been very many true free safeties available so far, so if Ward does leave, the 49ers will have to get creative to replace him.
Pro Football Focus’ Austin Gayle has been raving about Stone recently, and with the video below, it’s easy to see why.
Round 7 Pick 194: Lynn Bowden, WR, Kentucky
I was hoping that Oregon’s center Jake Hanson would survive the three picks that separate the 49ers’ sixth and seventh-round selections, but the Colts ruined my plans. Nonetheless, San Francisco gets a legitimate offensive weapon with the pick.
To say that Lynn Bowden is versatile is a bit of an understatement. He was a swiss army knife in college who took snaps as an inside and outside receiver, running back, kick returner, and even filled in at quarterback for half the season. That amount of positional flexibility is something Shanahan could use very effectively.
The downside of the Kentucky product playing multiple positions is he never got to really refine his skills at one particular spot. However, his skill set could be dangerous in the Red and Gold’s offense and is hard to find this late in the game.
Round 7 Pick 222: Joshua Kelley, RB, UCLA
With the second to last pick in the draft, there weren’t a whole lot of options. With Oregon’s Calvin Throckmorton and Michigan’s Jon Runyan off the board, I didn’t particularly care for the rest of the offensive linemen who were available. Wide receiver Jauan Jennings from Tennessee was tempting, but after taking two players at the position already, a third would have been overkill.
Instead, the 49ers add another running back to the mix with Joshua Kelley. Shanahan loves to use multiple ball carriers and with Matt Berida and Jerrick McKinnon likely on their way out, Kelley could serve as the power back to spell Tevin Coleman and Raheem Mostert. The UCLA product may never develop into an every-down back, but he could be a nice niche player in short-yardage situations.
