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The 49ers Sign Mississippi State Linebacker Stone Blanton as a UDFA

Look for Blanton to start his career on the 49ers practice squad.
Grant Cohn|
Sep 7, 2024; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs linebacker Stone Blanton (7) against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Mountain America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Sep 7, 2024; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs linebacker Stone Blanton (7) against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Mountain America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

Here's another player who just might make a 53-man roster one day.

Mississippi State linebacker Stone Blanton has signed with the 49ers as an undrafted free agent according to reports. This is the same coaching staff that signed Azeez Al-Shaair as an undrafted free agent in 2019, and now he's a highly-paid starting linebacker for the Houston Texans. So don't count out Blanton just yet.

The NFL didn't invite Blanton to the Combine even though he recorded 125 tackles last season in the SEC. He seems to lack top-end speed, but he has good instincts which allow him to make plays. And he's almost 6'2", so it's hard to throw the ball over his outstretched arms when he's in zone coverage.

Blanton probably doesn't have the straight-line speed to play outside linebacker for the 49ers, but he could be a good fit at middle linebacker as a backup for Fred Warner who isn't the fastest linebacker, either. But he is tall, instinctive and extremely effective in zone coverage. Blanton has similar traits enough though he isn't anywhere near as athletic as Warner.

The 49ers are among the best teams in the league when it comes to scouting, drafting and developing linebackers. Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh in particular has an outstanding track record developing linebackers on the 49ers, the Jets and even the Jaguars. So if he sees something in Blanton, he probably has some talent.

Look for Blanton to start his career on the 49ers practice squad.

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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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