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NFL Mock Draft: 49ers Pick Defensive End with Character Concerns

This would be quite a controversial pick if the 49ers were to make it.
Grant Cohn|
Feb 27, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Marshall defensive lineman Mike Green (DL49) during the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Feb 27, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Marshall defensive lineman Mike Green (DL49) during the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

This would be quite a controversial pick if the 49ers were to make it.

In the latest mock draft from NFL Network analyst Charles Davis, he projects the 49ers to take Mashall defensive end Mike Green with the 11th pick.

"The Niners are determined to pump up their pass rush, and Green is the choice to help them in that effort," writes Davis. "Green's performance during Senior Bowl week showed his vast potential."

Davis makes a cogent, concise argument for why Green would be the right pick. He certainly is an explosive edge rusher, and the 49ers need at least one of those. He's similar to a young Dee Ford, which means he fits the 49ers' Wide 9 defensive front.

In addition, Green graduated, which is important to the 49ers ever since they drafted Trey Lance after his junior season. None of their draft picks last year were underclassmen.

But Davis didn't mention why Green would be such a controversial pick.

Green started his college career at Virginia, where he was accused of sexual assault. He didn't get charged, but he did get suspended from the football team, so he transferred. What's more, he also was accused of sexual assault in high school, but wasn't charged then, either.

I'm not saying Green is guilty because he was accused. Again, it's worth noting that nothing ever came of either accusation. But the 49ers can't know for certain what happened during those incidents. They can't be 100 percent positive of Green's innocence.

And the 49ers can't take any risks with their first-round pick this season. They're attempting to replace nine starters with rookies and need to draft players they can count on.

I would be extremely surprised if the 49ers take Green.

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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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