It’s official, folks. We’re just one week away from the 2026 NFL Draft, and the San Francisco 49ers are right in the mix with the No. 27 pick, which will be very crucial as they look to make a bigger push for a championship this season.
So far, the 49ers have had quite a solid offseason, making several lower-key signings to address key needs, but the draft provides a great opportunity to shore up the rest of those holes and find players who can help that goal of competing for a Super Bowl in 2026.
But will that be the strategy that San Francisco goes for in this upcoming draft?
When considering the positions most mocked to the 49ers, we’ve seen a ton of offensive linemen and wide receivers linked to San Francisco in the first round. Defensive line has also been seen as a need, with the 49ers not addressing their depth on the edge after losing Bryce Huff to retirement.
Those three positions are all very realistic in this draft at No. 27 overall. But all three of those positions also have an eye towards the future more than the present for the 49ers.
San Francisco is in dire need of a future left tackle replacement for Trent Williams, who continues to play at a high level going into his age-38 season, but is inching closer and closer to retirement. The 49ers have generally had high-quality left tackle play under Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch, with Joe Staley being a holdover when they initially came and Williams being a trade target after that.
It’s quite hard to find quality-level tackles outside of the first round of the draft. And the 49ers have shied away from drafting the position unless they really feel that a tackle could be a game-changer. We’ve seen in the past few years that they’ve willingly passed on tackles that were the consensus pick (Josh Simmons, Kingsley Suamataia).
This year provides an opportunity to draft a tackle in the first round, with five projected first-round tackles and a couple of others (like Arizona State’s Max Iheanachor) right outside of that projected range. But if the 49ers draft a tackle, there’s a solid chance that player doesn’t have a major impact in 2026, sitting behind Trent Williams and Colton McKivitz. That is, unless the 49ers believe that player can transition to guard in Year 1, creating both a win-now and futuristic situation.
When considering wide receivers, that’s another natural position where it makes sense for the 49ers to target for the future. Mike Evans and Christian Kirk are both veterans on short-term deals that aren’t the future of the team. Ricky Pearsall has been inconsistent in dealing with injuries. But how much will a first-round receiver contribute in 2026?
San Francisco was in the same situation in 2024 when drafting Pearsall in the first round, despite having Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel, and Jauan Jennings. Pearsall was slotted into the lineup that year due to injuries, but he was initially drafted with the future in mind, as the 49ers moved off Samuel a year after.
That win-now mentality is why I introduced some “outside-the-box” players for the 49ers in the first round, like Oregon’s Dillon Thieneman and Tennessee’s Colton Hood last week. Both players would have the inside edge to start in Year 1 at safety and cornerback, respectively, which might make a bigger impact than other rookies. But the 49ers generally haven’t invested much at safety (a non-premium position), and they’ve invested quite a bit recently at cornerback.
Overall, the 49ers are pretty sound with their roster top-to-bottom, which is why it’s not a bad idea to prioritize a player who might be better suited for a big role in the future than right now in the first round. But San Francisco needs some production from its rookie class next year if it wants to compete for a championship.
