All 49ers

NFL Mock Draft: 49ers Pick "Ideal Complement to Nick Bosa"

The 49ers can't get this pick wrong.
Grant Cohn|
Feb 27, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Tennessee defensive lineman James Pearce (DL59) participates in drills during the 2025 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Feb 27, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Tennessee defensive lineman James Pearce (DL59) participates in drills during the 2025 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

In this story:

San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers desperately need to draft a defensive end.

They released Leonard Floyd who had 8.5 sacks last season so they could try to sign Joey Bosa. But Bosa ultimately signed with the Bills for more money than the 49ers were willing to offer him, and then Floyd signed with the Falcons. So the 49ers were left with nothing.

That's why CBS Sports Draft Analyst Chris Trapasso projects the 49ers to take Tennessee defensive end James Pearce Jr. with the 11th pick in Round 1.

"The 49ers call this pick in immediately," writes Trapasso. "Pearce is the ideal complement to Nick Bosa in San Francisco, and the 49ers need that defender after losing Leonard Floyd in free agency."

Pearce certainly has the potential to be the ideal complement to Bosa. Pearce was a highly productive pass rusher in college who ran a blazing 4.47 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine last month. He's oozing with upside.

But he also has character concerns according to reports. And the last two times the 49ers spent first-round picks on players with character concerns, they drafted Reuben Foster and Javon Kinlaw.

The 49ers can't afford to whiff like that again. They have to draft someone who's as close to a sure thing as possible, and that's not Pearce. No more risks on questionable players. That's how the 49ers got themselves in their current predicament.

The 49ers need a great draft to bounce back to the playoffs after finishing 6-11 last season. They can't get their first pick wrong.

More 49ers news

Published
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.

Share on XFollow grantcohn
Home/News