The 49ers won’t be able to get away with another five-player draft class in 2021. Their list of pending free agents is too long and their salary cap space is too short to replicate the continuity they managed between the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Because of that uncertainty, their list of needs in next year’s draft is still up in the air.
The latest Draft Wire 2021 two-round projections have the club shoring up their offensive front and secondary with their first two picks. They select versatile Tennessee OL Cade Mays with the No. 30 pick. Then they use the 62nd overall pick on Oregon cornerback Deommodore Lenoir.
Mays played four of the five offensive line spots for Georgia last season. Eight of his 11 contests came on the interior at right and left guard. San Francisco would likely be using a first-round pick on him to be the long-term answer at right guard after shuffling a few different players through there during head coach Kyle Shanahan’s first four seasons. If they’re needing to replace Trent Williams at left tackle, they’ll likely look for a different avenue than a do-everything OL with more experience inside than at tackle.
There’s a positional value issue for Shanahan though, who hasn’t prioritized guard play in San Francisco. The club acquired left guard Laken Tomlinson for a fifth-round pick, and have plugged various veterans in on the other side. Tomlinson could be released for cheap next offseason, but he’s playing well without a large price tag so the less stable right guard spot is where Mays is more liable to slot in.
It’d probably be good news for the 49ers if their most pressing need was on the interior of the offensive line, because it likely means they’ve retained some higher-quality talent at other spots.
Their second pick addresses a need that’ll almost certainly be at or near the top of their list of holes going into the draft. San Francisco has their top four cornerbacks all due to hit free agency in the offseason. If they put together the NFL’s best pass defense again, it’s going to be exceedingly difficult to keep them all.
Draft Wire’s mock has the 49ers scooping up Deommodore Lenoir from Oregon in what could be a move to fill a starting cornerback spot. Lenoir is listed with decent size at 5-11, 202 pounds. Through three seasons he’s posted five interceptions and 21 pass breakups. He’s good in coverage and a physical tackler behind a compact build. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see his draft stock rise over the next several months, assuming the NCAA season plays out as normal.