49ers on hand to watch Supplemental Draft prospect WR Marcus Simms from WVU

Over the weekend we discussed if the San Francisco 49ers should look into safety Jalen Thompson, who entered the Supplemental Draft. According to draft analyst Tony Pauline, the 49ers were on hand Monday morning--along with 16 other teams--taking a look at Supplemental Draft prospect Marcus Simms of West Virginia. Simms finished his junior season with 46 receptions for 699 yards and two touchdowns.

While he’s wasn’t challenged at the line of scrimmage on this play, you can see Simms can run:

Here’s another clip of Simms showing off his elusiveness:

Pauline said the Niners Director of Scouting, Ethan Waugh, was on hand. That should indicate strong interest. Simms is 6’0”, 194 pounds. He also has experience as a kick/punt returner.

Here’s the scoop on Simms, who would have been West Virginia’s top threat if he returned to school for his senior season. He sat out of their bowl game with an injury. When it came time for spring ball, Simms was missing practices supposedly due to injury as well. More info came out that there was some personal issue and that he violated WVU’s student code of conduct. That led Simms to enter the transfer portal, before deciding to enter the Supplemental Draft.

If the 49ers are interested, they aren’t required to use any picks on Simms. Instead, the team would submit a “bid” to Roger Goodell with the round they would pick Simms. In their history, the Niners have only used five picks during the Supplemental draft. Three of those were in 1984, and one the following year. Ahmad Brooks was drafted in the third round of the 2006 Supplemental Draft, after being dismissed from his team. That’s the most notable name, but the Cincinnati Bengals drafted him.

Simms seems to be worth it, especially if the compensation isn’t steep. I like the idea of stashing a guy like Simms and developing him in an NFL program for a year.