The 49ers have a handful of things to fix on their roster heading into 2024, but offensive tackle and defensive end are the two positions that really stand out as needs going into free agency and the draft. Perhaps they find enough free agency help that they can cross one off their draft priorities, but that doesn’t seem likely given the price of quality DE and OT play. Luckily they can check both boxes in the draft if things shake out the way they do in a two-round mock by our friends at the Draft Wire following the combine.
In the two-round projections the 49ers begin at DE and select Penn State’s Chop Robinson No. 31 overall. It doesn’t seem likely Robinson drops all the way to the end of Round 1, particularly after he blew up the combine with size and athletic testing that haven’t been seen since former 49ers TE Vernon Davis.
His production in college wasn’t great – 11.5 sacks in 30 games – but his highs on tape have all the earmarks of a productive NFL pass rusher. Robinson’s burst off the line is outstanding and his bend to get around the corner and find a straight line to the quarterback is elite. There’s some development to be done as a pass rusher which may lead to him dropping in the draft, but he’s a good enough prospect that the 49ers would likely skip on OT to snag the pass rush help.
The good news for the 49ers is they didn’t have to wait long to find OT help. At their next pick, No. 63 overall, they go with Notre Dame’s Blake Fisher.
Fisher isn’t as good as his fellow Notre Dame alum Joe Alt, but he’s plenty athletic at 6-6, 310 pounds to find success in the NFL. He also started 27 games, including 25 in his last two seasons, all at right tackle for the Fighting Irish. That experience should help his transition to the pros, but his success isn’t a slam dunk. He’s improved as a pass blocker, but his consistency as a run blocker will need to come around if he’s going to be a long-term starter in the NFL.
Still, he should at worst provide competition at RT and some quality, developmental depth. It wouldn’t be the worst thing if Fisher wound up following the same path as Aaron Banks, another 49ers second-round pick from Notre Dame. Banks sat his rookie year before becoming a very effective starter in Year 2. That kind of track would be fine for San Francisco given their long-term need at that spot.
If the 49ers can bolster their pass rush and their RT depth in the first two rounds it would be hard to come away with qualms about how San Francisco attacked the draft.
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