The 49ers made their first signings of the new league year this week (which we graded, here), landing four new players that fill key positions of need.
The archetypical Richard Sherman will be starting at cornerback, Weston Richburg will take over for Daniel Kilgore at center and Jerick McKinnon is the team’s new featured running back with Carlos Hyde headed to Cleveland. Pass rusher Jeremiah Attaochu, a former second-round pick, will compete for playing time along the edges with Cassius Marsh, Arik Armstead and Ronald Blair.
Finally, the team traded Kilgore to the Dolphins to move off his three-year contract extension signed last month. There will likely be a few ancillary moves in the coming days and weeks, but it looks like the team will quickly be shifting its focus to the NFL draft next month.
Enough recapping. To your questions.
They’re going to take the top player on their draft board now that they’ve plugged most of the immediate holes in the starting lineup with free agents. The leading candidates to get taken No. 9, in no order: defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick, pass rushers Harold Landry and Marcus Davenport, linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and Roquan Smith, safety Derwin James and guard Quenton Nelson.
The player that makes the most sense, to me, is Landry, despite having a down year in 2017, which can be explained by his ankle injury and constantly getting double teamed.
Landry has a physical skill set that’s projectable to the next level – and he would give the defense speed rusher along the edge is hasn’t had in years.
Landry ran a 6.88 in the three-cone drill at the combine. According to Pro Football Focus, the only other first-round defensive linemen to weigh more than 250 pounds and time faster than 6.9 seconds: DeMarcus Ware, J.J. Watt, David Pollack, Melvin Ingram, Joe Bosa and T.J. Watt. That’s elite company, indicating Landry has the explosiveness and change-of-direction skills to become a top-flight pass rusher.
Take his injury-riddled 2017 season out of the equation and it leaves a 16.5-sack campaign in 2016, when many thought he would have been a top-10 pick had he declared for the draft as a junior. His measurables match up to that production when healthy. And his speed outside could force quarterbacks to move up in the pocket where DeForest Buckner and Solomon Thomas could be waiting.
Edmunds and Smith would also be smart additions. Either could replace Reuben Foster while he deals with his pending discipline from the league for his two recent arrests. Either could play beside Foster if/when he returns, giving the team the freedom to move on from Malcolm Smith’s contract in 2019. I think Davenport, although promising, is a redundant talent for San Francisco. I don’t think Nelson will be there at No. 9, nor do I think Shanahan wants to use a pick that high on a guard that might not be mobile enough for the scheme.
Fitzpatrick could be a future lynchpin at free safety like Earl Thomas in Seattle, or move to slot cornerback like Tyrann Mathieu, who recently signed with Houston. Fitzpatrick’s 31 1/4-inch arms make it unlikely he can play cornerback outside in the 49ers’ system. Adding Fitzpatrick would likely mean the team figures out a way to avoid paying Jimmie Ward a fully guaranteed $8.5 million on his fifth-year option for the coming season.
James is the other prospect that could impact Ward’s status. He’s a perfect fit to play near the box and replace free agent Eric Reid, who wound up second on the team in defensive snaps last season.
With James, the 49ers could move Tartt to free safety and have a physical, fast and imposing safety duo – allowing them to move Ward permanently to the slot or find a home elsewhere, getting rid of his big cap number. He’s slated to be the team’s fifth-highest paid player in 2018 despite missing nearly half his games the last two seasons.
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