The San Francisco 49ers have been linked to every wide receiver known to man in this draft cycle. Despite adding Mike Evans and Christian Kirk in free agency, the long-term solution at the position is in question. That’s why with the 33rd pick in the NFL Draft, the Niners selected wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling.
National reporters were hinting at the 49ers “getting action,” but no deal was good enough for them. That tells me this was the floor for Stribling, at least in the minds of the Niners.
Here’s what I wrote about Stribling early on Friday:
Stribling is the next wide receiver on my board. I’m obnoxiously high on him. I have Bell WR2, Boston WR3, and Stribling WR6 behind KC Concepcion, but ahead of Makai Lemon and Omar Cooper Jr., two players drafted in the first round. To say I’m bullish on Stribling is an understatement. He’s the most Shanahan/McVay type of receiver in this draft.
Stribling caught 74 percent of his targets last season for 811 yards and six touchdowns. The majority of those were under 10 yards, but you could see NFL talent at the intermediate range. Stribling caught four of his six contested targets in this area and went on to force a pair of missed tackles.
He turns 24 in December, so being on the older side is why Stribling might fall to the third round. He’s over 6’2″ and 200 pounds. The hands are 10″. Stribling ran a 4.36 with a broad jump in the 82nd percentile. He plays as he tests.
The athletic testing isn’t what sold me. It was his usage as a blocker and how Stribling imposed his physical will play after play. However, I used that athletic testing and narrowed the weight to 200 to 210 pounds to avoid specimens like Julio Jones.
It’s a unique physical profile, as only four wide receivers check every box across NFL IQ’s historical dataset. Two went on to have NFL careers: Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Christian Watson.
MVS was a fifth-round pick who had splashy plays early in his career, but never amounted to more than a WR3. Watson can’t seem to stay healthy, but you’ve seen improvements in his game, and his big-play ability has flipped games for the Packers.
We’ll ignore Watson being 6’4” and use him as the closest comp for Stribling. Think of Stribling as if Watson had to do the dirty work for a team, like being the primary blocker on screens.
In my notes about Stribling, I have, “Looks like a Day 1 player. Age limits the ceiling.”
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