Albert Breer strongly hints at potential 1st-round pick for 49ers
Albert Breer strongly hints at potential 1st-round pick for 49ers
Nobody knows exactly what's going to happen in the first round of the NFL draft, but Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer hinted strongly at what the San Francisco 49ers' plan might be.
In his Monday Morning Quarterback column, Breer rolled through some pre-draft notes he has just four days before the NFL draft. He circled Mississippi defensive tackle Walter Nolen as a player who might go earlier than he's going in most projections, and then he specifically mentioned the 49ers as a team to watch.
Via MMQB:
Ole Miss DT Walter Nolen may go higher than you think. Some teams believe he projects better to the NFL than Graham. The character/entitlement question is what you have to get past. But if you have solid infrastructure, as well as locker room and defensive line room, the payoff could be big. So if the San Francisco 49ers are willing to take a swing …
It's notable that Breer didn't mention the 49ers among a group of teams interested. He specifically pointed to them as a club that would be able to maximize Nolen's talent and help him overcome some of the red flags that have popped up in pre-draft evaluations.
Nolen had a 30 visit with the 49ers according to the Athletic's Matt Barrows, so San Francisco did their homework on the rising star defensive tackle. He's a talented athlete with room to continue ascending. Last season at Ole Miss he posted 36 pressures and six sacks with a career-best 32 run stops per Pro Football Focus.
The 49ers badly need defensive tackle help and Nolen is the kind of prospect who could step in as a starter on Day 1. It's a fit that makes sense, and Breer's pre-draft note makes it seem as though Nolen is firmly on San Francisco's radar in the first round.
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