SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers made their delayed first pick of the NFL draft, selecting Ole Miss wide receiver De'Zhaun Stribling with the top pick in the second round on Friday.
The 49ers came into the draft with the 27th overall pick in the first round but made two trades down on Thursday night to add more draft capital on the final two days of the draft. They used their first pick Friday to take Stribling 33rd overall and then
traded down again with their second pick in the second round before taking Texas Tech defensive end Romello Height 70th overall.
This was the third time in the past 30 drafts that San Francisco didn’t make a first-round pick with it also happening in 2022 and ’23 after the team had traded those first-rounders to move up for quarterback Trey Lance in 2021.
Stribling spent his first two seasons in college at Washington State and the next two at Oklahoma State before joining Ole Miss last season. He had 55 catches for 811 yards and six TDs to help the Rebels reach the semifinals of the College Football Playoff
The 49ers addressed the receiver spot in free agency with deals for veterans Mike Evans and Christian Kirk, but opted to add another young receiver to build around long term along with 2024 first-round pick Ricky Pearsall.
Brandon Aiyuk was expected to fill that role after signing a four-year, $120 million extension before the 2024 season, but an injury followed by his decision to leave the team last season forced the team to go in another direction. Aiyuk is expected to be cut — or possibly traded — in the coming days or weeks.
Stribling gives the Niners another speed option outside after he ran a 4.36 40-yard dash at the scouting combine. He averaged 7.4 yards after catch and is a skilled blocker which should fit well in coach Kyle Shanahan's system.
“I’m a very versatile guy,” Stribling said. “I can do a lot of things and also block at a high level. So very excited to go out there and contribute in the pass game, but also the run game also.”
The 25-year-old Height provides a needed boost to San Francisco's pass rush that finished last in the NFL with 20 sacks last season. Height had 10 sacks last season after spending his first five years in college at Auburn, USC and Georgia Tech. He had just 6 1/2 sacks in his first five college seasons.
Height is more of a designated pass rusher and could complement last year's first-round pick Mykel Williams, who is stronger against the run and has the ability to move inside on passing downs.
The 49ers have one more pick on Friday with the 90th in the third round. San Francisco also has four fourth-round picks and one fifth-rounder on Saturday.
The Niners traded linebacker Dee Winters to Dallas on Friday for a fifth-round pick. San Francisco packaged that pick with the No. 58 pick and got picks 70 and 107 from Cleveland.
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