49ers’ pre-draft visit list: Team appears poised to take a tackle in Round 2

The best way to tell which draft prospects the San Francisco 49ers are interested in — or at least which positions they’re targeting — is to find out who paid them a visit. Last year, for example, Dominick Puni (third round), Jacob Cowing (fourth) and Tatum Bethune (seventh) visited. So did Evan Anderson , the 49ers’ top target among undrafted rookies in 2024.

Advertisement In 2023, they hosted five of their nine picks — Ji’Ayir Brown , Cameron Latu , Darrell Luter Jr. , Brayden Willis and Jalen Graham — and also conducted a workout with kicker Jake Moody . The year before that, five of nine draft picks also visited, including the first four players they selected.



What about the first round? Are visits predictive? Eh, that’s a little more cloudy. The 49ers had pre-draft visits with Solomon Thomas (it was considered a local visit) and Reuben Foster in 2017 and Nick Bosa two years later. But they didn’t host 2018 first-rounder Mike McGlinchey or last year’s top choice, Ricky Pearsall .

In other years, the visits were either cancelled due to the pandemic or the 49ers didn’t have a first-round selection. The team had such a good interview with McGlinchey at that year’s scouting combine that it didn’t feel the need to tip off other teams by bringing him to Santa Clara. As for Pearsall, general manager John Lynch got a positive review from trusted source Herm Edwards, Pearsall’s coach at Arizona State.

“I was definitely shocked to see San Francisco pop up on my phone and I picked it up,” Pearsall said on draft day. “I think the only time I actually met with them was during the Senior Bowl when you’re kind of doing like the little speed dating meetings.” This year, the draft-visit list is full of defensive tackles, defensive ends and offensive tackles.

That’s no surprise. Those are their greatest positions of need, followed by linebacker and the interior offensive line. Teams can bring in as many as 30 prospects, and Wednesday was the final day they could visit.

The names below are the ones I was able to confirm by sources with knowledge of the visit or by a player’s social media account. I was not able to verify visits by Ohio State defensive tackle Tyleik Williams and South Carolina defensive tackle T.J.

Sanders, which were reported by other outlets. Three other names listed elsewhere, but not here, did not end up visiting. Advertisement Defensive tackle The most sure-fire first-rounder on the list is Nolen, a gap-penetrating defensive tackle with 6 1/2 sacks last season as well as 35 quarterback pressures , which ranked in the top 10 among FBS interior defensive linemen.

Nolen is a possibility to the 49ers at pick No. 11. The others are considered Day 2 picks.

Norman-Lott and Peebles are slightly undersized but are extremely quick off the snap and likely appeal to 49ers defensive line coach Kris Kocurek because of that. Norman-Lott had an 18.9 percent win rate on his pass rushes, per Pro Football Focus.

Peebles’ was 17.8 percent. By comparison, the top-rated defensive tackle in the draft, Michigan’s Mason Graham, had a 13.

8 percent win rate. Offensive tackle The 49ers appear poised to take a tackle on Day 1 or, more likely, Day 2 of the draft. The first player of the group listed above to be drafted likely will be Banks, who started 42 games at left tackle for the Longhorns.

Some evaluators, however, think his lack of length makes him a better guard prospect. The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, for instance, lists him as such. Simmons, meanwhile, could be the best of the bunch but is coming off a patellar injury suffered on Oct.

12. He and the others could be taken anywhere from the end of the first round through the early third round. Conerly, Belton and Ersery played at this year’s Senior Bowl.

Defensive end There’s a bit of a Goldilocks situation with this group. The first two names listed above have excellent size and athleticism but didn’t have a lot of pass-rush production in college. Stewart, for example, had 1 1/2 sacks last year while Williams had five.

Pearce, meanwhile, had a better sack totals — 17 1/2 over the last two seasons — but is on the light side (245 pounds) and might primarily be a pass-rush specialist, especially early in his career. Advertisement Walker and Roberts are considered early Day 3 picks. Walker doesn’t have great length, measuring just under 6-1.

But he was ultra productive in college, finishing with at least eight sacks in all four seasons and collecting 82 1/2 tackles for loss over that span. Linebacker Both players project as NFL weakside linebackers, which was Dre Greenlaw ’s position in San Francisco since 2019. Medrano clocked the fastest 40-yard dash time of all the linebackers at the combine, 4.

46 seconds, which also will appeal to special teams coach Brant Boyer. Paul played middle linebacker last season, calling the plays on Ole Miss’ talent-laden defense. However, his size — 6-1, 225 pounds — probably makes him a weakside linebacker in the NFL.

Like Greenlaw, Paul played at the University of Arkansas before transferring to Ole Miss. Interior offensive line Mbow played right tackle for the Boilermakers over the last two seasons, though his lack of length — 6-4 with 32-inch arms — might make him a guard or center on the NFL level. The same goes for Rogers, who got most of his college snaps at left and right tackle but who projects as a guard.

Both players move well and appear to be good fits for San Francisco’s zone-based rushing attack. Monheim, meanwhile, played all over the line at USC before settling in at center last season. He also played center at the Senior Bowl and mostly looked good against this year’s talented crop of defensive linemen.

The 49ers have not drafted a center since Kyle Shanahan and Lynch took over in 2017. Cornerback The 49ers definitely have a “type” at cornerback. They’re willing to sacrifice size for feistiness, which is what they did with successful picks like D.

J. Reed , Deommodore Lenoir and Renardo Green . The cornerbacks who visited largely fit that mold.

The best of the bunch might be Riley, who had 29 pass breakups in his last two seasons and who didn’t commit a coverage penalty in his final 23 games. Brugler projects him as a third/fourth-round pick and Kone and Bryant as fourth/fifth-round picks. Tight end Hawes and Conyers are out of central casting for a 49ers tight end.

Hawes is considered one of the best blocking tight ends in this draft class while Conyers has good size at 260 pounds and moved very well at the combine, including a 4.27-second short shuttle. To put that in perspective, George Kittle ’s was 4.

55 seconds in 2017. Advertisement The outlier in the group is Fannin, who is more like a wide receiver. He set FBS records for tight ends last season in catches (117) and receiving yards (1,555) and also scored 10 touchdowns.

Shanahan might be eyeing him the way he did Jordan Reed, who was a third-round pick to Washington when Shanahan was the offensive coordinator there in 2013. That’s about when Fannin is expected to be taken. Hawes and Conyers are considered Day 3 picks.

Wide receiver Williams’ strength is his ability to separate, which he used for 70 catches and 1,198 receiving yards last season. Brugler projects him as a third-round pick. Watkins, meanwhile, is projected to go in the sixth round.

He had one of the fastest times at the combine — 4.37 seconds — and showed that speed at Ole Miss with five catches of 60 yards or more last season, the only FBS receiver to do so. It’s worth noting that 49ers receivers coach Leonard Hankerson also got up-close looks at two local products, Stanford’s Elic Ayomanor and San Jose State’s Nick Nash .

Ayomanor is considered a Day 2 pick; Nash is expected to be drafted on Day 3. (Photo of Kelvin Banks Jr.: Stacy Revere / Getty Images).