The San Francisco 49ers met with a host of players during last week’s Senior Bowl practices, and a notable inclusion is UTEP guard Will Hernandez. We don’t know how extensive the meeting was, but he told Buffalo Bills beat writer Matthew Fairburn that he met with all 32 teams last week. Above, you can watch some of an interview he conducted with Cincy Jungle last week at the Senior Bowl.
The 49ers have a significant need at the guard position, even with Joshua Garnett potentially returning to the starting lineup in 2018. Notre Dame guard Quenton Nelson tops the position ranking, with several players competing to be the second guard off the board. Hernandez and Georgia’s Isaiah Wynn are among the candidates to be that guy.
Hernandez had a solid week of practice at the Senior Bowl, with mostly praise for his work. There are some questions about short arms, but he has strong mobility for a big guy. One scout offered this compliment: “He looks like King Kong playing offensive line.” An NFC coach described him as “strong as an ox,” and felt the short arms had not hindered him thus far.
There is some thought he could slip because of arm length. If the 49ers wanted to target him, slippage would certainly help. The issue for the 49ers is that they dealt away their second round pick in the Jimmy Garoppolo. They still have the New Orleans Saints pick, but that is all the way down at No. 27 (No. 59 overall). The 49ers could very well move down from No. 9/10 in the first round and pick up the kind of pick that could land Hernandez, if they were interested. But once the 49ers get past their pick at No. 9/10, it will be even more of a free-for-all in the back end of the first round and top of the second round.
There are numerous scouting reports out there about Hernandez. This one at The 49ers Hub is a solid read. And as always, Lance Zierlein has a scouting report up at NFL.com.