It’s not a secret the 49ers want to upgrade their receiving corps. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said as much at the NFL owners meetings, and the addition of veteran Jordan Matthews isn’t likely to be their only move at that position.
The NFL draft is full of receivers who could make an immediate impact for the 49ers, including Arizona State’s N’Keal Harry, who’s visiting San Francisco on Monday, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
Harry is considered by some to be the top receiver in the class. He measured out at 6-2, 228 pounds at the combine and put together a decent set of workouts.
The tape and production are where Harry really stands out, though, and could be the reason the 49ers target him at either No. 36, or in a trade up to the back of the first round.
He had a relatively quiet freshman year and still caught 58 passes for 659 yards and five touchdowns. After that, he was essentially unstoppable for the Sun Devils, posting 82 catches for 1,142 yards and eight touchdowns as a sophomore. His junior year saw him go for 1,088 yards and nine touchdowns on 73 receptions. He averaged 13.6 yards per reception for his career.
While he doesn’t test as an elite athlete, he puts a ton of promising plays on tape. He can work all three areas of the field, and does a good job of using his size to box out defenders and make acrobatic catches. He’s also good after the catch, which helped his yards per reception trend up despite lacking elite speed to go over the top on defenses.
Harry is one of only a few receivers in this draft with the typical traits that come with No. 1 receivers. While he may never develop into the top option in a receiving corps, he’d certainly be an upgrade for San Francisco, and could reach an elite level in Shanahan’s offense.
There are plenty of intriguing wide receivers in the 2019 draft class, but it feels like Harry would be a steal if the 49ers could land him at any point in the second round.
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