The defensive linemen were on the field in Indianapolis on Thursday, the cornerbacks will be buzzing around today, the wide receivers will run on Saturday and the offensive linemen on Sunday.
Which should the San Francisco 49ers add to their roster?
All of the above.
The team promises to have another star-heavy roster in 2024, and because of that it needs rookies — on affordable rookie contracts — sprinkled throughout. The 49ers expect to have 11 selections overall, including four in the first three rounds.
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Here are their top five needs as the NFL Scouting Combine takes center stage this weekend:
Defensive end
The 49ers were so bereft of talent at defensive end in 2023 that they made not one, but two trades at the position at midseason. Both of those players, Randy Gregory and Chase Young, will be free agents next month, as will Clelin Ferrell, a 17-game starter in 2023. If none are re-signed, it would leave the 49ers with one superstar at the position in Nick Bosa, and a couple of unproven, largely pass-down players in Drake Jackson and Robert Beal Jr.
Jackson and Beal eventually might round into good complementary pieces in 2024, but the team needs at least one powerfully built defensive end who can hold the edge opposite Bosa on running downs. The 49ers must either add a high-end veteran sign or use a top draft pick at the position so that they’re not scrambling for reinforcements at midseason like they were in 2023.
Free agents: Ferrell, Gregory, Young
Signed: Bosa, Beal, Jackson, Austin Bryant, Alex Barrett, Earnest Brown IV, Raymond Johnson III, Sam Okuayinonu
Player to watch: Missouri’s Darius Robinson, who has the size and strength to man the edge and who jumped out at last month’s Senior Bowl. Washington’s Bralen Trice and Western Michigan’s Marshawn Kneeland also fit the mold.
Offensive tackle
Trent Williams has promised to return for 2024 to secure his 12th Pro Bowl, which past left tackle greats like Anthony Muñoz, Jonathan Ogden and Willie Roaf never reached. While that’s good news for a 49ers’ 2024 Super Bowl push, what does it mean beyond then? Would Williams be part of an exodus following the 2024 season the way so many prominent 49ers retired after the 2014 season? And if so, what would the 49ers do?
There’s certainly no heir apparent at his position. San Francisco hasn’t drafted a tackle since 2021 when it took Jaylon Moore in the fifth round. Moore and right tackle Colton McKivitz are entering the last year of their contracts. Quality tackles are rare, and teams typically have to use a first-round pick — often a high first-round pick — to secure one. With 11 picks next month, the 49ers have the means to move up from their current spot at pick No. 31. If they did, a tackle like Oklahoma’s Tyler Guyton makes sense.
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Free agents: Matt Pryor, Alfredo Gutierrez
Signed: Williams, McKivitz, Moore, Isaac Alarcon
Player to watch: Guyton, who could learn from fellow Oklahoma product Williams and eventually take over Williams’ spot. Arizona’s Jordan Morgan also is someone to watch.
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Defensive tackle
The situation at defensive tackle isn’t quite as dire as it is at defensive end considering that starters Arik Armstead and Javon Hargraves will be back in 2024.
Still, Javon Kinlaw and Kevin Givens, who combined for 874 regular-season snaps in 2023, are scheduled for free agency. And it’s not as if the team is particularly spry at the position. Both Hargrave and Armstead will be 31 years old midway through the upcoming season and Armstead has been injured in the second half of the last two seasons.
Meanwhile, it’s a deep draft for defensive tackles with the sweet spot being Rounds 2 and 3. The 49ers might be wise to take advantage and get an injection of youth to the middle of their defensive line.
Free agents: Givens, Kinlaw, Sebastian Joseph-Day
Signed: Armstead, Hargrave, Kalia Davis, T.Y. McGill, Spencer Waege
Player to watch: Illinois’ Jer’Zahn Newton, who is big and slippery and who had 43 quarterback pressures last season.
Cornerback
The 49ers have two excellent cornerbacks in Charvarius Ward and Deommodore Lenoir. The problem is that teams need three good cornerbacks on game days, and finding that third player was vexing in 2023.
The team already has parted ways with one of the contenders, Isaiah Oliver, who lost his grip on the nickel role as far back as training camp. Ambry Thomas hasn’t won over coaches in three seasons while Samuel Womack III has struggled to eke out a regular role on defense in two seasons.
The team is optimistic Darrell Luter Jr. can develop into a starting caliber outside cornerback, someone who would allow Lenoir to move inside to nickel on passing downs. A bone bruise wiped away most of Luter’s 2023 offseason and there’s hope that consistent practice repetitions this spring and summer will allow him to latch onto a prominent role.
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Still, Ward, Lenoir and Thomas are entering the final year of their contracts. And as general manager John Lynch said in Indianapolis, it probably makes sense to draft a cornerback every year.
Free agents: Oliver, Logan Ryan, Terrance Mitchell
Signed: Ward, Lenoir, Luter, Thomas, Womack, Kemon Hall
Player to watch: Michigan’s Mike Sainristil’s 5-10 height might cause him to drop in the draft. But he’s the same height as Lenoir and seems like a good nickel candidate.
Wide receiver
The 49ers seem intent on keeping their big three — Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel and Jauan Jennings — together for 2024. Beyond then, when Jennings could become an unrestricted free agent and the 49ers have an out in Samuel’s contract, is another matter.
The problem is that there aren’t any obvious replacements on the roster. Danny Gray has one catch in the last two seasons while Ronnie Bell flashed early in 2023 but petered out late. The best backup receiver by season’s end was Chris Conley, who is 31 and a free agent. Meanwhile, Ray-Ray McCloud III also will be a free agent, which means the 49ers have to think about who will return punts in 2024. All of that is why receiver edges out guard and tight end for the fifth spot on our list.
Free agents: Jennings (RFA), Conley, McCloud
Signed: Aiyuk, Samuel, Bell, Gray, Tay Martin
Player to watch: Florida’s Ricky Pearsall, who runs sharp routes, who’s strong with the ball in his hands and who played with Aiyuk at Arizona State. Oh, and he also can return punts.
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(Top photo of Tyler Guyton: James Black / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
