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CBS Projects the 49ers to Draft Arizona WR Tetairoa McMillan

McMillan is a matchup nightmare who's extremely difficult to jam and cover one-on-one.
Grant Cohn|
Nov 30, 2024; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Detailed view of the jersey of Arizona Wildcats wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (4) against the Arizona State Sun Devils during the Territorial Cup at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Nov 30, 2024; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Detailed view of the jersey of Arizona Wildcats wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (4) against the Arizona State Sun Devils during the Territorial Cup at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

Most draft analysts expect the 49ers to address the trenches with their first-round pick.

But these are the 49ers we're talking about, and neglecting the trenches is what they do. They want players who score touchdowns. And they've already traded Deebo Samuel this offseason and could trade Brandon Aiyuk in the next few days if they find a trade partner. Aiyuk is due a $22.5 million option bonus on April 1.

That's why CBS Sports NFL Analyst Chris Trapasso projects the 49ers to take Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan with the 11th pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.

"The 49ers will look a lot different in 2025, but with another first-round receiver on board, they can still be dangerous in the NFC," writes Trapasso.

Not a lot of analysis in that blurb from Trapasso, but the pick is interesting, so I'll analyze it for him.

If the 49ers intend to trade Aiyuk, they will need a starting X receiver to replace him. The X receiver is the one that lines up on the line of scrimmage and faces the most press coverage. The Z receiver is the one who lines up a yard behind the line of scrimmage and often goes in motion to get a free release.

Deebo Samuel was the Z, and now Ricky Pearsall will replace him. Pearsall is not built to beat press coverage on the line of scrimmage as an X.

That's why Aiyuk could do before he tore his ACL and MCL. And that's what McMillan can do. He's 6'4", 219 lbs. and he ran a 4.48 at his Pro Day according to Jordan Schultz. He's a matchup nightmare who's extremely difficult to jam and cover one-on-one.

You could argue that taking a wide receiver in Round 1 for the second draft in a row would be a luxury for the 49ers, and you'd be right. But they're luxury shoppers. They have no time for meat and potatoes.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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