The San Francisco 49ers draft class is complete:
2nd-33-WR De’Zhaun Stribling, Ole Miss
3rd-70-EDGE Romello Height, Tex Tech
3rd-90-RB Kaelon Black, Ind
4th-107-DT Gracen Halton, Okla
4th-127-OL Carver Willis, Wash
4th-139-CB Ephesians Prysock, Wash
5th-154-LB Jaden Dugger, Louisiana
5th-179-T Enrique Cruz, Kansas
We knew the Niners were going to leave this draft with a wide receiver and an EDGE rusher. Most thought those would be the first two picks. Most did not believe the team would select the 85th
player on the consensus board at No. 33 overall.
Shanahan envisions Stribling stepping into the Jauan Jennings role:
I think everyone knows how good of a blocker Jauan is and how big he’s been for us in that way. So, we have a hole without that. So, this guy definitely could fill that. For me, I don’t ever start watching receivers block; it all has to do with the football. And I really fell in love with him with the ball as a route runner, how fast he is, how big he is, how good his hands are, and how physical he played with the ball. When you watch a guy with that size and how physical he runs with the ball, you assume he is a good blocker. And then to hear the people who are further along than I was say he is the best blocker in the draft. He has an elite blocking skill. And then, to confirm it after that, it was really cool to watch.
Height was 77th on the same board. He’s a scheme fit, a 1-for-1 replacement for Bryce Huff. On Friday, Kyle Shanahan said, “The style he played is exactly what we want. Very relentless. We have a hair on fire grade, and he was the top of it.” Shanahan believes Height’s comparison is closer to Jalon Walker and Byron Young.
The running back was 197th overall on the consensus big board. John Lynch fell in love with Black at the Senior Bowl: I’d watched him in the fall, but really on the way to Mobile, studied him, and then sat down with him. Really learned who the kid is and how hungry he is and what a bell cow he was for that program, and that’s program’s a pretty special program.
Gracen Holton spoke about not transferring from Oklahoma: “Yeah, man, just talks about my heart, my mindset what it’s like when things get hard, you got to overcome. When adversity hits you, you got to find another way to overcome what you need to do. So, you know things got harder in Oklahoma, I just kept on going, had the horse blinders on and kept on moving forward.”
