The 2024 NFL Draft is over. After an exhausting Day 3, the 49ers closed out with the 251st pick in the draft.
The final tally is two wide receivers, two interior offensive linemen (with flexibility, and one of whom is a 99th percentile athlete) a 99th percentile athlete running back, a shot-out-of-a-cannon safety, a physical, dynamic press man corner, and a hard-hitting linebacker.
So what should you make of all of this? My main takeaways, followed by a more detailed breakdown:
- The 49ers are probably moving on from Deebo Samuel next season (and possibly Jauan Jennings) and stocked up on versatile, rapid routers, both of whom can return punts
- Brock Purdy got help at receiver and at offensive line, even if it wasn't at tackle, where the 49ers felt like they couldn't get the worthy options
- They went for ready-now players, all of whom, except Renardo Green, transferred, and took a while to develop.
Here's how many years their guys played/their transfers: Pearsall (transferred from ASU to Florida), 5; Green, 5; Puni (transferred from Central Missouri to Kansas), 5+redshirt; Mustapha (transferred from Richmond to Wake Forest), 4; Guerendo (transferred from Wisconsin to Louisville), 6; Cowing (transferred from UTEP to Arizona), 5; Jarrett Kingston, 6 (transferred from Washington State to USC), Tatum Bethune (transferred from UCF to FSU), 5.
Special teams, special players, special plays
If there is anything I’m confident of, it is that the 49ers have put themselves in a position to be elite on special teams this season. With the kickoff rule change (one which will ensure that at least two-thirds of kicks are likely returned), that takes on a special importance.
San Francisco brought in two elite special teamers in Chase Lucas and Ezekiel Turner (someone Fred Warner said was always circled in special teams meetings), along with Isaac Yiadom. They also retained Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles and brought in Trent Taylor as a stopgap punt return option (which he was above average at the past two seasons in Cincinnati and Chicago).
In this draft, they acquired a speedy, heat-seeking missile in Malik Mustapha who projects as an absolute menace in special teams coverage, two high-upside punt return options in Ricky Pearsall and Jacob Cowing, and a rugged, hyper-athletic running back in Isaac Guerendo who should return kicks for them.
In a year special teams suddenly matter much more, the 49ers set them up for success from a talent perspective.
Building up wide receiver with an eye to the future
The 49ers shocked quite a few folks with their first and fifth draft picks. They took Florida’s Ricky Pearsall 31st overall, while holding onto both Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel. As much as the money gets talked about for that being untenable, it’s not. The 49ers can afford it… for this year.
Next year? Well, Samuel is very, very likely gone. But if you’re San Francisco, are you better or worse off by trading either of those guys now, for less than a first-round pick? No. You’re not. Samuel is insurance against McCaffrey getting hurt (as is Guerendo), and Pearsall will probably be in the rotation and take some of the brunt of Samuel’s shoulders, literally.
Pearsall is an outstanding receiving prospect. Complain about age if you want. The 49ers want a polished prospect and he is that. Front offices around the league groaned in frustration when they took him. He has incredible route-running craft, footwork, and elite athleticism to playmake in year one. And if Samuel gets hurt, as he often does, the 49ers won’t miss a step, and will actually be better against man coverage, a main cause of their Super Bowl loss.
Cowing is a bit more of a head-scratcher, but the 49ers have long been obsessed with a speedster who can stretch the field. They didn’t get that from Danny Gray. Cowing has high-level college production, can compete as a punt returner, play in the slot, and played a ton of games. Speed is something that was highlighted by Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch with Cowing, and for Guerendo.
He's fast, and offers you more depth at wide receiver, especially going forward, if/when Jauan Jennings leaves in free agency next year. That said, if he didn’t make the roster, that wouldn’t shock me, though it's more likely Danny Gray misses the cut.
Versatility, physicality at defensive back (and everywhere else)
Renardo Green could play anywhere in this defense. I believe him to be an outstanding outside press-man corner. His tape against Malik Nabers, and other elite receivers showed that. He is very physical, and perhaps too physical at times, getting penalties called too often.
That said, he is a technical and well-prepared a corner in this draft besides, perhaps, Georgia’s Kamari Lassiter. He will immediately compete at outside corner, and maybe inside, if the 49ers don’t want Deommodore Lenoir to play nickel (he should, and I don’t understand why he wouldn’t).
Lenoir and Charvarius Ward are both free agents after this year, and the 49ers won’t keep both (keeping Lenoir in the slot will also lower his price tag). Green is a long-term, legitimate outside corner option from the get-go, but has the physicality, movement skills and grit to play anywhere.
Malik Mustapha, meanwhile, is just a cannon-fired safety who flies around the field and packs a punch well above his size. While his coverage has been questioned, he shows more than enough range to cover the sort of ground a center-fielding safety needs to cover. He could be a slot corner option, too, but might be a long-term partner to Ji’Ayir Brown.
At the very least, Mustapha should be a special teams player from the get-go, and is far more well-rounded than some other safety options.
Puni, jack-of-all-trades, hopefully not master of none
Dominick Puni has a little bit of Colton McKivitz, maybe-he-can-do-everything, to him. He can overextend himself too much, and is perhaps a bit stiff-hipped.
When he gets his hands on players in the run game, though, he can absolutely flatten them. It’s clear that with the top tackle prospects off the board, the 49ers see Puni as a high-floor player who can start Day 1 at right guard if all goes well, and offer swing tackle capability.
He’s versatile, and could genuinely line up anywhere. He lacks a totally sturdy anchor, but is strong enough, and quick enough with his hands to readjust to a variety of pass-rush moves. His upside just doesn’t seem massive. Maybe that’s wrong. Time will tell.
Either way, it’s an investment in Brock Purdy, as are the receiving picks. Right guard is the clear weak spot on the line, and it’s hard to knock a potential, if not likely starter there in the third round.
The addition of Jarrett Kingston also added some interior offensive line athleticism, power, and positional flexibility. The 49ers clearly identified that as a weakness.
Why no tackle or defensive end
The 49ers didn't draft a tackle. John Lynch, along with his co-No. 2's, Tariq Ahmad and R.J. Gillen, all relayed the fact that the top options they liked were not available at No. 31.
They liked Roger Rosengarten, but he got taken before them at pick No. 63, and they were content with the other guys available, and discernibly lower on Kingsley Suamataia. Caedan Wallace, one player they had interest in, and who I think would've been a target at 94, went too early in the third round, to the Patriots, at pick No. 68.
Lynch talked up Jaylon Moore, but the 49ers clearly could use some swing tackle help, though that's the case for most NFL teams.
Defensive end, meanwhile, was a position that the 49ers did not address in the draft, but were proactive in attacking in free agency. They signed Leonard Floyd and Yetur Gross-Matos, and did not draft an edge rusher.
Ahmad and Gillen indicated that the 49ers saw a major gap in talent after the first-round edge rushing talent, and they identified that before free agency.
"I think with how, how we saw the board developing going into the draft and into draft meetings that where we were picking, there were gaps in the board at that position," Gillen said. "So that was a position that we decided to attack pretty aggressively in free agency."
Ahmad said the two of them are constantly communicating. They have multiple scouting reports on each position group throughout the year, and use that to help with their free agency approach.
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