Touchdown Wire’s pre-combine mock draft: Chase Young, Jerry Jeudy are pivot points

Everybody does mock drafts, most everybody does more than one, and every mock draft is done for different reasons. To get clicks? Well, duh. That would be reason No. 1, dear reader. Let’s not be arch about this. That aside, what we’re trying to do …

31. San Francisco 49ers (13-3): Grant Delpit, S, LSU

(Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports)

As impressive as San Francisco’s defense was through most of the season, there was that late-season lag when Dee Ford, Kwon Alexander and Jaquiski Tartt were out with injuries. Tartt is under team control through 2020, but the 49ers could lose Jimmie Ward in free agency, and Ward might be fungible based on performance, anyway. Like any great defense, San Francisco’s requires a true shot-caller at safety, especially because so much of what coordinator Robert Saleh runs is more execution-based than scheme-dependent. So if Delpit is still on the board at 31, general manager John Lynch should run a quick 40 and turn in Delpit’s name. The LSU alum could fill multiple roles in Saleh’s defense, especially after he cleans up his issue with missed tackles. More importantly, per Pro Football Focus, Delpit allowed just 13 receptions on 21 targets for 196 yards and one touchdown versus two picks in 2019.

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