While the 49ers are in the midst of a playoff run with their eyes on the franchise’s sixth Super Bowl win, other teams not in the playoffs have their eyes set on the 2020 NFL draft. Luke Easterling of the Draft Wire published a three-round mock draft after the wild card round, and changed his pick for the 49ers from his previous mocks.
Easterling had the 49ers selecting Clemson running back Travis Etienne in consecutive mock drafts, but altered his new selection with San Francisco selecting with the No. 31 overall pick.
Instead of grabbing another offensive weapon, the 49ers went with Stanford cornerback Paulson Adebo.
Richard Sherman’s resurgence this season, along with improved play from Ahkello Witherspoon and the emergence of Emmanuel Moseley have put the 49ers in a position where cornerback is a less dire need than it was going into the year.
However, Sherman is on the wrong side of the 30 and on the final year of his deal. Witherspoon has been mostly up and down in his three seasons, and Moseley hasn’t proven himself over a large sample size. The latter two corners are also on track to enter the last year of their rookie deals next season.
Bolstering their depth at corner with a possible long-term starter would behoove a team looking to get younger and cheaper at some key spots.
Easterling describes Adebo as “an athletic cover man with the smarts and technique to quickly develop into a difference-maker.”
Getting to learn under Sherman, one of the smartest players in the league, would likely accelerate any climb Adebo is going to make upon entering the NFL. While he hasn’t officially declared for the draft at press time, Stanford head coach David Shaw told Todd McShay in September he doesn’t anticipate having Adebo back for his senior season.
The 6-1, 190-pound corner was a three-sport athlete in high school and one of the nation’s top recruits as a wide receiver and cornerback. He didn’t play as a freshman, but started 12 of 13 games in his second year for the Cardinal with roaring success.
Adebo was First-Team All-Pac-12 and led the country with 24 passes defensed. 20 of those were breakups, and four were interceptions according to the Stanford Athletics site. He also racked up 64 tackles in his first season as a starter.
His junior season was cut short by an injury and he only played nine games. Still, Adebo posted 33 tackles with 10 pass breakups and four interceptions.
Just two years of starting experience probably means Adebo will need some additional seasoning before stepping into a full-time starting role. A team like the 49ers with a strong leadership structure and one of the best cornerbacks of all-time leading that position group would be a perfect situation for Adebo to reach his ceiling as a prospect.
There’s still a lot of time before the draft, and the 49ers’ needs aren’t exactly certain yet, but it’s hard to imagine a highly-skilled corner won’t be near the top of their list come draft time. Adebo certainly fits that bill.