NFC rival appeared to have a very high opinion of two San Francisco 49ers draft selections

It will be a while before we can properly judge the San Francisco 49ers' efforts in the 2024 NFL Draft, however, one of their NFC rivals appears to have had a very high opinion of two of their selections.

In an episode of the offseason version of Hard Knocks, the New York Giants' color coding for every prospect selected was leaked.

Not every player picked received a color tag, but two of the eight players by the 49ers did.

First-round selection Ricky Pearsall and fourth-round pick Malik Mustapha were given blue codes by the Giants. It wasn't confirmed what each code means, but an NFL analytics account on X (formerly Twitter) offered a guess that seems likely to be pretty accurate.

• Blue: All-around leader, teammate, and person
• Red: Medical concerns
• Purple: Character concerns
• Pink: Undersized/measurement concerns
• Grey: Multiple positions

Pearsall and Mustapha check the boxes for the blue code. The 49ers' first-round wide receiver has already received praise for how he has built a quick rapport with quarterback Brock Purdy, while linebacker Fred Warner praised Pearsall for the first impression he made after being drafted.

"I think he’s carried himself really well," Warner said. "I really like what I’ve seen in terms of how he’s operated around the building, you know, going up to guys and shaking their hand, looking them in the eye, ‘Hey, man, I’m Ricky, nice to meet you.’ Little stuff like that goes a long way."

Similarly, defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen recently offered plaudits to Mustapha that reflect the qualities the blue code supposedly denotes.

"What we knew about him is that he cared," Sorensen said. "He did a lot of things, and I think the next thing that’s going to show up for him, he is a good tackler. He’s really physical. That’s the stuff you haven’t seen so far because the stuff in the offseason it was seeing he’s a big dude like he’s swole.

"He’s like strong, but he’s got that mobility. He’s got some flexibility, and he moves really well, too. So to see that he’s got the movement skill to go along, you could see that he cares. He is putting the time into it just because how he’s communicating out there and moving around."

Character is a huge part of the 49ers' evaluation in the draft. They want players who are going to fit their locker room and, in Pearsall and Mustapha, the Niners look to have found at least two. That does not guarantee they will go on to be successful in the pros, but the fact the Giants appeared to hold similar opinions of the pair is certainly a good sign.

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