The big national news on Thursday was Carson Wentz's Pro Day. The 49ers sent their quarterbacks coach and an area scout to observe Wentz. However, general manager Trent Baalke spent his day in South Carolina. According to Matt Miller, Baalke was on hand for Shaq Lawson's private workout with the 49ers. Last week, Lawson told the media he had the private workout on Thursday. He also has a visit to Santa Clara scheduled for April 10. He also said he has plans to meet with the Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys.
Lawson is a guy that mock drafts project as a potential reach at No. 7. Mock drafts are media concoctions, and it only takes one team liking a guy for him to be drafted earlier than expected. Lawson stands 6'3 and weighed in at 269 pounds at the NFL Combine.
One issue is that if the 49ers are going to use him as a pass rusher, he might need to cut some weight. Of course, if they use him primarily as a nickel pass rusher in his rookie year, similar to Aldon Smith's rookie year, the need to cut weight could be spread over two years for when he eventually replaces Ahmad Brooks as the full-time starter. Maybe we see something similar to the Aldon Smith/Parys Haralson rotation back in 2011?