SANTA CLARA — It’s time the 49ers draft a decent finish within the first three rounds, one thing that hasn’t occurred since 2013.
Or this might be like so many different years, after they attempt to discover a Day 3 gem, a la George Kittle’s discovery within the 2017 fifth spherical.
Kittle stays the NFL’s pseudo-spokesman for tight ends. When he will get harm, the 49ers lose a major luster. They’ve strived for years to discover a dynamic complement and understudy for him.
At the moment, they've the identical unit as final season. This coming draft ought to add extra competitors, and that would compel them to make use of certainly one of their prime picks on a decent finish, these approaching Day 2, April 29 within the second spherical (No. 61 general) and third spherical (Nos. 93 and 105).
Right here is how the tight finish spot seems to be:
WHO’S HERE: Kittle, Charlie Woerner, Ross Dwelley, Tanner Hudson, Jordan Matthews.
Evaluation: It is a tight-knit unit, with Kittle the ring chief getting into his sixth season. They’re 6-8 when he misses video games to damage. After 20 touchdowns in 67 regular-season video games, his first playoff rating (within the NFC Championship Recreation) possible will go down as Jimmy Garoppolo’s ultimate landing cross. Woerner, a blocking specialist, overtook Dwelley as TE2 final season.
DRAFT DYNAMOS: Trey McBride (Colorado State), Jeremy Ruckert (Ohio State), Greg Dulcich (UCLA), Jelani Woods (Virginia), Charlie Kolar (Iowa State), Jake Ferguson (Wisconsin), Daniel Bellinger (San Diego State), Cade Otton (Washington), Isaiah Possible (Coastal Carolina).
Evaluation: McBride was an All-American and the John Mackey Award winner for his 1,121-yard season, however he scored on solely certainly one of his 90 catches on a run-first offense. Ruckert (6-foot-5) and Dulcich (6-4) are tall targets, however probably the most intriguing who is perhaps extra accessible to the 49ers is Woods, whose 6-7 body hauled in eight landing catches final season. Kolar was a Cyclones captain and three-time educational All-American. Ferguson was not solely the Badgers’ main receiver, he's the grandson of former coach and athletics director Barry Alvarez. Bellinger shined on the Senior Bowl and mix, incomes him an interview with 49ers’ GM John Lynch.
KITTLE ADMIRERS
Wednesday evening, Kittle dined with three prospects who share his agent: Wisconsin’s Ferguson, San DIego State’s Bellinger, and Iowa State’s Chase Allen.
Requested on the mix which NFL tight ends he admires, McBride first named fellow Fort Morgan (Colo.) product and NFL alumnus Joel Dreessen, then added: “George Kittle, he’s a man that I believe I play lots like, a man who can type of be a risk within the run sport and likewise a man that may be a risk within the cross sport as effectively, actually a whole tight finish.”
Ruckert, Ohio State’s all-time landing chief amongst tight ends, mentioned on the mix: “I watch lots of George Kittle. I like the best way he performs the sport, his mindset, all the jobs that he does. He’s an every-down tight finish, he can do every little thing, he excels at every little thing. However the largest factor that stands proud while you watch him is his mentality and mindset. He’s not simply attempting to dam any person he’s attempting to take him out and I respect that. I attempt to mannequin my sport after that.”
WOODS’ AUDIBLES
Woods’ idols are Tony Gonzalez, Rob Gronkowski and Marcedes Lewis. He may have mentioned a quarterback. In any case, he was a dual-threat quarterback earlier than switching to tight finish his freshman yr at Oklahoma State, and later transferring to Virginia.
“At quarterback I used to be a twin risk so I used to be working and getting bodily. Switching after all made it extra bodily. However I loved it and that was fairly clean transition,” Woods mentioned on the mix.
49ERS LEGACY: Derrick Deese Jr. (San Jose State)
Deese had three 100-yard video games his ultimate season with the Spartans (46 catches, 723 yards, 4 touchdowns). His father was a flexible offensive lineman for the 49ers from 1992-2003; two years after arriving as an undrafted free agent out of USC, he began at proper guard on the franchise’s final Lombardi Trophy-winning crew.
Different locals to look at: Jake Tonges (Cal) and Tucker Fisk (Stanford).
DRAFT EXPERT’S TAKE
“It’s a reasonably good tight finish draft. There’s no Kyle Pitts, however there's a ton of depth.” – Daniel Jeremiah, NFL Community.
DRAFT PICKS
Spherical One (none), Two (No. 61 general), Three (Nos. 93, 105), 4 (No. 134), 5 (No. 172), Six (Nos. 187, 220, 221), Seven (No. 262).
HISTORY LESSON
The 49ers final drafted a decent finish within the first three rounds in 2013, after they spent a second-rounder slot on Vance McDonald, whom they traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers three days after they drafted Kittle.