The 2019 NFL Senior Bowl is a wrap and the San Francisco 49ers coaching staff can start looking towards the NFL Draft. All week Kyle Shanahan and his staff were coaching the South for the Senior Bowl and got extended looks at a wealth of prospects. Being that the 49ers are picking second, this extended look will do wonders not just to evaluate talent, but to see if personalities fit or clash.
So if the 49ers were limited to the Senior Bowl roster, who would we find selected? Well a mock draft from FanSpeak’s Steve Shoup answers just that. Just a few things to keep in mind, this is from what he calls “a generic” team. So any team could have this mock. That said, I made some adjustments to the players based on the 49ers’ needs. Being this is a generic team-mock, we also need to take into account that positioning isn’t weighed as much. That means if we were actually doing this with the 49ers starting at No. 2, there’s not a doubt in my mind some of these picks could get sniped by the Arizona Cardinals or whoever else is in front of the 49ers.
For the most part, I tried to stick with what Shoup walked out with for generic teams as my evaluations of the Senior Bowl prospects pales in comparison to his or others. I also accounted for the draft picks the 49ers have. Don’t consider this my mock draft, but more a revision of his. The 49ers have five picks and one possible sixth round compensatory pick. Here’s what I came up with:
Round 1: DE Montez Sweat, Mississippi State
Round 2: WR Deebo Samuel, South Carolina
Round 3: G Chris Lindstrom, Boston College
Round 4: LB Germaine Pratt, NC State
Round 6: OT Tytus Howard, Alabama State
Round 7: CB Jimmy Moreland, James Madison
Montez Sweat had some moments in the Senior Bowl, he made some offensive linemen look silly through the week. I am pumping the brakes the praise since it’s Senior Bowl competition and not NFL competition, but if I don’t have Nick Bosa or Josh Allen at my disposal, give me Sweat as my edge rusher.
Deebo Samuel had a great week of practices but didn’t show much on Saturday. Anyone who watched will know that wasn’t his fault. Samuel’s quarterback was throwing some absolute clunkers around the field that were impossible to catch. What I liked in those terrible balls was Samuel still trying to make plays on them. Balls sailing far to high in the air would still have Samuel going Michael Jordan to try and pluck them out of the sky. I loved what I saw through the week from Samuel. My issue with Samuel is his separation, which I didn’t see much of Saturday—that is on him. Kyle Shanahan loves separation so I do think that may be a hard pass on Samuel, plus I’m happy with Kendrick Bourne and Dante Pettis (flail me whenever you’re ready). At the very least, Samuel earned himself a workout with the 49ers.
I love, love, love, love Chris Lindstrom. He has good pass protection and run blocking and has that quickness necessary for Kyle Shanahan’s zone blocking scheme. If there’s one player I’d like to see from the Senior Bowl on the roster, it’s Lindstrom. I don’t think he’ll last until the third round after pro days and combines come around, but if he’s there, the 49ers can solve their guard problem.
Germaine Pratt is a linebacker that I think with some development can be placed alongside Fred Warner. Put him, Elijah Lee, and Warner on the roster and you got a respectable tandem of linebackers. I checked out some of his tape at NC State and loved his speed. Pratt will need development, but I think he could work in Saleh’s scheme within a year.
Tytus Howard will sit for 2019. If I took him he’d be a backup swing tackle for 2019 and maybe 2020, but he’d be working with the expectation and hope of him replacing either Joe Staley or Mike McGlinchey when the latter moves over to Staley’s spot after the eventual retirement. This guy took Sweat down a few times through practice according to Shoup and I think if the 49ers don’t rush him—develop him, he could be really, really good in two years.
The last pick is a flyer. Jimmy Moreland might not work at all in Saleh’s defense, but it’d be interesting to see what he does with Richard Sherman’s tutelage.
Like I said, nothing much different than what was taken by a “generic” team, but more a revision of sorts. What do you think? Who would you take with the first and second picks if you had only the Senior Bowl roster at your disposal?