Tag: Kenneth Grant nfl draft

49ers get versatile Michigan DL in 1st round of 2025 NFL mock draft

D-line help could be on the way in this year’s draft for the 49ers.

Any list of needs for the San Francisco 49ers in the 2025 NFL draft will have defensive line at or near the top.

They could use help on the offensive line as well, but given the organization’s philosophy and history in the NFL draft with head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch running the show, it’s safe to assume they’d prioritize the defensive front.

That’s exactly what they do in a first-round mock draft from Athlon’s Luke Easterling where Michigan defensive tackle Kenneth Grant falls to them at No. 11 overall.

While there may be some trepidation from the 49ers after the Javon Kinlaw selection in the 2020 draft went sideways, Grant appears to have all the tools to be a disruptive player who can be on the field for all three downs. He can flat out move at 6-3, 339 pounds, and earned his way onto Bruce Feldman’s ‘Freaks List’ at the Athletic.

Grant should be able to step in and offer an improvement for the 49ers on Day 1.

Via Easterling:

I wouldn’t count out an offensive tackle here, but if the board falls this way, the 49ers could opt for trench help on the other side of the ball. Landing a massive mauler like Grant would be a huge win for a San Francisco defense that desperately needs that kind of disruptive presence on the inside against both the run and pass.

Finding a run-stopping defensive tackle is a must this offseason for San Francisco, but there’s not enough value in a run stuffer to justify taking one with the 11th pick. Any DT that goes this high will have to rush the passer as well, and Grant did that effectively during his time with the Wolverines.

Grant over the last two seasons posted 49 pressures and eight sacks according to Pro Football Focus. He also had 10 pass breakups in that span.

If the 49ers believe Grant can be an effective run stopper who can also push the pocket as a pass rusher, it’s hard to imagine they’d pass on him at No. 11 overall.

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49ers add massive, national champion, ‘freak’ defensive tackle in mock draft

The San Francisco 49ers list of needs in the 2025 draft is long, but it would make sense if they prioritized their defensive line.

Assessing exactly how the San Francisco 49ers will utilize their first-round pick in the 2025 draft is tough given some of the sweeping changes we may see to their roster in the offseason.

The trenches jump out as a priority no matter how the offseason goes given some of their struggles on both the offensive and defensive lines. A mock draft from the 33rd Team makes a safe assumption that the 49ers will look to retool a defensive front that was once the backbone of a great San Francisco defense.

At the No. 14 overall pick in that mock the 49ers walk out with Michigan defensive tackle Kenneth Grant.

Grant is a ludicrous athlete at 6-3, 339 pounds, and over his three seasons at Michigan he’s racked up 41 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks and 10 (!) pass breakups. The pass breakups are a Michigan record for defensive linemen per the Athletic’s Bruce Feldman.

Feldman included Grant at No. 3 on his annual ‘Freaks List’ thanks to Grant’s rare combination of size and athleticism.

Here’s what Feldman wrote about Grant in the Athletic:

As a sophomore, he helped anchor the nation’s No. 1 defense for the national champion Wolverines, making 29 tackles, 5.0 for loss, with 3.5 sacks; six quarterback hurries, five pass breakups, one interception and one fumble recovery. When Grant arrived in Ann Arbor as a three-star recruit from Indiana, Jim Harbaugh raved about the then-360-pounder running a sub-5.0 40. Anyone doubting Grant’s speed (a max of 18.75 mph on the GPS) only needed to see him run down Penn State running back Kaytron Allen in the open field last year. His ability to fly up Michigan’s reactive plyo stairs test, a series of seven 26-inch-high stairs that players attempt to jump up as fast as possible, is truly freakish.

San Francisco’s defense needs disruptive players up front, and Grant has all the tools to be a force on the interior of an NFL defensive line. If he falls to wherever the 49ers wind up picking in next year’s draft it wouldn’t be a surprise if they viewed Grant as a future centerpiece of a reconstructed defensive line.

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