The NFL Draft begins in nine days, and 10 days for the 49ers. San Francisco doesn’t have a selection until the end of the third round, having traded away their first-round selection for Trey Lance, and second- and third-round picks for Christian McCaffrey.
As such, ESPN’s draft experts, Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay, released their latest mock draft. This one is a three-round projection in which they alternate every pick.
Here’s how they see the 49ers spending their first three picks, which are grouped in a series of three over four selections.
Round 3, Pick 99
Kiper’s pick: Joey Fisher, OT/G, Shepherd
OK, last two picks for me, and they’re both for the 49ers, who have yet to draft a player. Let’s start with Fisher, who was invited to the Senior Bowl but couldn’t practice due to a broken hand. He had an impressive pro day, though, and I think he is likely going to play guard in the NFL. He isn’t ready to compete in 2023, but he has a ton of upside.
If you’re wondering what on earth Shepherd is, it’s a Division II school in West Virginia. Fisher tested as undersized but extremely athletic leading up to the draft.
Here’s what his athletic ability looks like according to RAS.football.
The site compares historical testing data on NFL prospects and assigns them a score out of 10 that weights their size and athleticism compared to other prospects at their position. A 10.00 is a perfect score.
The next two selections are back to back and the final picks of the third round. Here’s what Kiper had for the first of them:
Round 3, Pick 101
Kiper’s pick: YaYa Diaby, DE, Louisville
I just wrote about Diaby on Monday; he is my 10th-ranked defensive end. He broke out with 9.5 sacks last season. At 6-foot-3 and 263 pounds, he is a little undersized, but he has tools with which to work.
Diaby has the 14th-highest relative athletic score in this year’s draft, per RAS.football, having run a 4.51-second 40-yard dash (99.4 percentile) along with a 37-inch vertical (93.5 percentile).
Diaby got 9.86 RAS and was dinged because he has roughly average size for the position at 6-foot-3-inches (and a 3/8 of an inch) and 263 pounds.
That is a nearly identical frame to Nick Bosa, who mesaured at 6-foot-3-inches (and a 3/4 of an inch) and 266 pounds. Bosa’s hands are about a half-inch larger while Diaby’s arms are nearly a full inch larger.
McShay, meanwhile, went for a corner with the final selections of the third round.
Round 3, Pick 101
McShay’s pick: Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson, CB, TCU
The Niners went from 0 to 60 mph quickly, huh? After sitting out the first 98 picks, they’ve had three selections in a four-pick span. I considered USC defensive lineman Tuli Tuipulotu here to close out our three-round mock draft, but San Francisco’s cornerback depth is lacking, and Hodges-Tomlinson has good instincts and ball skills despite a smaller frame.
Hodges-Tomlinson would replace the TCU cornerback void left behind by Jason Verrett, who is currently unsigned.
It’s an, err, interesting selection. While he was a first-team All-American last year and tested in the 90th percentile or higher in the 40-yard dash and both the vertical and broad jumps… he’s 5-foot-7-inches tall. And 178 pounds.
That’s a slot corner build, and barely. The 49ers have Samuel Womack and the just-signed Isaiah Oliver as their likely competitors at nickel. It would be a questionable selection to pick someone that small to potentially compete with them.