The San Francisco 49ers will be sending their scouts and personnel executives far and wide this month as colleges host Pro Days all across the country. The 49ers were busy on Friday. We learned from an Arizona State writer that they were on hand for the Sun Devils Pro Day. Now, Matt Barrows is reporting the 49ers attended the Eastern Kentucky Pro Day as well. No head coaches or GMs were in attendance, so it was likely one of their scouts.
The EKU Pro Day was a big win because of Noah Spence. The defensive end/outside linebacker could develop into a strong pass rusher in the NFL. He was booted out of Ohio State for drug issues, and ended up at Eastern Kentucky. He has admitted to the issues and discussed them in depth. All indications are that he has been very open on the issues, so that is certainly a plus.
At the same time, given the 49ers history with Aldon Smith, will the team roll the dice on a player with this kind of history? There are questions about how Chip Kelly and Trent Baalke will work together when it comes to off-field issues. A guy like Spence would certainly put that to the test fairly early. Of course, the team could also pass on him due to size issues. He's obviously not a small guy, but he is a little bit shorter than the kinds of guys the 49ers grab. He's not incredibly shorter, but it might be enough to say, nah, he's not worth the potential off-field risk.