The San Francisco 49ers are looking at a variety of offensive line prospects for the 2017 NFL draft, and the latest is an intriguing FCS prospect. NFL Draft Diamonds is reporting the 49ers worked out Tennessee State offensive lineman Jessamen Dunker.
CBS Sports projects Dunker as a fourth-round prospect. He bounced between tackle and guard initially, but this past season spent the whole year at left tackle. He was named All-Ohio Valley Conference, and earned FCS All-American honors. NFL.com describes him as purely a guard prospect. They talked about his lack of core strength to handle NFL power, and raw issues to develop. Dunker has acknowledged as much, saying many teams have talked to him about playing guard. The NFL.com scouting report had this to say about him:
Dunker ended up at Tennessee State after initially enrolling at Florida. He left Florida after being charged with grand theft auto of a motor vehicle. The charge stemmed from his purchase of a scooter. According to Dunker, he paid $600 for the scooter, but never got the title or a receipt. It was reported stolen and he ended up arrested. I believe charges were later dropped, but after an indefinite suspension at Florida, he left the program. He went down a level to Tennessee State so he would not have sit out a year.
Naturally, Dunker has had to answer questions about the incident. He had this to say in the above linked Palm Beach Post article.
“It taught me that you can hinder your success by getting in trouble,” Dunker said. “It showed me to stay on the straight and narrow and just play my position.
“It really humbled me, and it was probably the best thing for my career. I’m a totally different guy now. You grow up and mature more. My playing level definitely got better, too.”
Dunker joins three other players who have worked out for the 49ers. The team visited with Kofi Amichia, Julie’n Davenport, and Andrew Lauderdale. They also hosted Cam Robinson, Dion Dawkins, and Nico Siragusa on official visits.