No one saw this one coming. USC offensive lineman Jarrett Kingston, who had a difficult 2023 season with the Trojans after transferring in from Washington State, was selected by the San Francisco 49ers with the No. 215 pick in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL draft on Saturday afternoon.
Kingston was part of an underachieving offensive line in 2023. That USC line caused Caleb Williams to scramble and improvise and make a lot of plays on his own. Caleb had to fend for himself far too often, lacking the structure and comfort he had in 2022 behind a much better offensive line which included Andrew Vorhees, Brett Neilon, and Bobby Haskins. Maybe some NFL analysts felt Kingston could sneak into the back end of the draft, but the idea that he would be drafted was hardly unanimous. What makes the selection extra surprising is that Kingston went off the NFL draft board before USC teammates Brenden Rice and Tahj Washington, two guys who both had much better 2023 seasons than Kingston and who seem to offer much more NFL upside than Kingston.
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