The San Francisco 49ers have yet to work out a new contract with Trent Williams. Despite that, according to ESPN, left tackle is not viewed as a priority on Day 1 of the NFL Draft.
The belief is that Williams’ age is impacting the 49ers’ decisions ahead of the draft, according to Nick Wagoner:
Not as much as Williams’ age does. Williams will be 38 in July, and the Niners don’t have an obvious long-term replacement on the roster. Selecting a tackle in the first few rounds is a real possibility if there’s
one with starter potential available. It’s worth noting the Niners have drafted only one offensive tackle in the first round since Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch took over in 2017. The ideal prospect to be the second would be a player who could push to start at left guard right away and eventually move outside.
Players like Caleb Lomu, Max Iheanachor, Blake Miller, and Kadyn Proctor all could move inside before moving to offensive tackle down the road. However, it does not seem like the 49ers are setting themselves up for an offensive lineman in the first round. Even after adding Mike Evans and Christian Kirk, that still appears to be a wide receiver.
ESPN believes there’s a name to watch if you’re a 49ers fan:
In reading the tea leaves and talking to people around the league, the 49ers don’t necessarily view offensive tackle as a Round 1 priority. Instead, they have been heavily connected to wide receivers by teams when running through mock draft exercises. KC Concepcion (Texas A&M) is a name to watch.
You can run through enough mock simulations where Concepcion doesn’t go in the first round. One potential fear, or nightmare scenario, is the Niners boxing themselves into a position by thinking they need to select one because they’ve identified that position as a need.
You can like Concepcion as a prospect and still have questions. How often do players with his stature get selected early? How many end up as a WR1? If the counter is, “Jaxon Smith-Njigba is the same weight.” You’re banking on an outlier or hoping that Concepcion can thrive in a very specific situation, as JSN, where he’d be peppered with target after target.
Athletically, there’s plenty to like about Concepcion. He’s a burner. He can win off the line of scrimmage. He wins at the top of his route. But there are enough exposures of him struggling with contact or physicality that would leave you second-guessing how he’d translate to the pros.
Then again, if you’re Kyle Shanahan, you’re thinking those tight windows don’t happen all that often in your offense, and you think a speedster like Concepcion would thrive with the amount of space you can create.
Would you be on board with the 49ers selecting Concepion in the first round?
