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The 49ers Could Draft Arizona WR Tetairoa McMillan if He Drops to 11

If McMillan is available, I doubt Kyle Shanahan would be able to pass on him.
Grant Cohn|
Oct 19, 2024; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (4) against the Colorado Buffalos at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Oct 19, 2024; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (4) against the Colorado Buffalos at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

In Dane Brugler's latest mock draft, he projects the 49ers to draft George defensive end Mykel Williams with the 11th pick.

And with the 12th pick, the Cowboys take Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan.

Williams would be a terrific selection for the 49ers, but if McMillan is available, I doubt Kyle Shanahan would be able to pass on him, particularly if he trades Brandon Aiyuk in the next few weeks.

The 49ers just traded Deebo Samuel so they wouldn't have to pay him more than $15 million in cash when his roster bonus kicks in on March 22. Aiyuk has a $22.855 million option due on April 1, which means the 49ers could trade him soon too if they can find a trade partner. Teams reportedly have been poking around about him.

Last year's first-round pick, Ricky Pearsall will replace Samuel as the starting Z receiver who can also play in the slot. But the 49ers don't have a true replacement for Aiyuk, who's the X receiver. Jauan Jennings filled in last season and played well, but he's too slow to play X. Ideally, he should be in the slot.

Which brings us back to McMillan. He has the size, the speed, the strength, the route-running and the ball skills to be an outstanding X receiver from Day 1 in the NFL. He looks like he could be even better than Aiyuk was before he injured his knee.

I'm sure the 49ers want to address the trenches with their first-round pick this year. But if they trade both of their starting wide receivers and McMillan falls in their lap, they probably won't be able to resist taking him.

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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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