The San Francisco 49ers are expected to sign as many as 11 undrafted free agents, but they will also have some tryout candidates at their upcoming rookie minicamp. One such candidate is Oregon/Notre Dame center Matt Hegarty. He tweeted the news Wednesday morning, and I received confirmation elsewhere as well.
Hegarty spent most of his college career at Notre Dame, before closing out with one season at Oregon. He appeared in 34 games at Notre Dame, including 13 career starts at center and guard. He was a graduate transfer this past year, and was the Ducks starting center all season. According to Hegarty, he transferred because the Notre Dame coaches informed him the team was going younger and they wanted to move him away from center. He moved on to Oregon and was the team's starting center in 2015.
There are not a lot of scouting reports on Hegarty, but I did come across something at Walter Football, where they ranked him No. 14 among offensive guards:
8/15/15: Hegarty has been starting at guard for Notre Dame, but is a better fit at center as he's undersized for the NFL. If Hegarty can gain some weight and strength, those would help him at either interior position.
4/26/16: Hegarty transferred to Oregon for 2015, and that was smart because he wasn't going to beat out Nick Martin for the starting center job at Notre Dame. Hegarty spent the year as the Ducks' starting center and had a respectable season.
One of the most fascinating things about Hegarty though is that he suffered a stroke during the 2012 season. When he was born, two small holes perforated his heart. Nobody knew about it, but they grew, and in 2012, a clot made its way through and got up to his brain. After the stroke, he had surgery on his heart to repair the two holes. He recovered and was back on the field for the 2013 season. That's kind of a crazy experience for a 20-year old.
Daniel Kilgore seems set to be the 49ers starting center in 2016. Marcus Martin will compete behind him, but there is not much beyond that. Ian Silberman will probably get some preseason center snaps, and I would not be surprised if one of the draft picks does as well.
Hegarty does not have a contract with the team at this point. He will spend this weekend trying to prove he deserves a contract that would at least get him to training camp.