A new mock draft from Sports Illustrated offers a little bit of interesting perspective on how important the next couple of drafts will be for San Francisco.
Luke Easterling, a draft analyst for SI, published a mock draft that has San Francisco taking Minnesota safety Tyler Nubin with the 31st pick in next year’s draft.
Nubin is a terrific playmaker who has 10 interceptions over the last four seasons. He has the size to line up at strong safety with the coverage skills to move to the slot and athleticism to play a deep safety role. Versatility has been key for the 49ers’ safeties over the last few years, which is part of why they traded up for Penn State’s Ji’Ayir Brown in Round 3 of this year’s draft. A lineup of Brown alongside Nubin would give San Francisco a ton of athleticism and versatility in the back end of its secondary.
The question about how much the 49ers actually need a safety is certainly worth asking. Strong safety Talanoa Hufanga is only 23 and just began his third season. Brown is also a rookie who the team loves and invested pretty significantly in.
Hufanga’s status as a long-term option for the 49ers is up in the air though given how expensive their roster is due to become. They’ll need to be prudent about where they’re dolling out their free agent dollars. If Hufanga, a First-Team All-Pro in 2022, continues the trajectory his career is on he’ll become a highly-coveted free agent when his rookie contract ends after the 2024 season.
San Francisco simply may not be able to afford him at that point given some of their other contractual commitments, so adding a safety via the first round of this year’s draft would make sense if there isn’t an offensive tackle or defensive end they’re enamored with.
This is why hitting on draft picks is going to be crucial for the 49ers to extend their Super Bowl window. As their current core ages and some of their other contributors like Hufanga, linebacker Dre Greenlaw and potentially left guard Aaron Banks all depart for big money in free agency San Francisco will need to replenish their roster with relatively inexpensive talent. Replacing Hufanga with Nubin is a perfect example of how this may play out over the next couple of offseasons.
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