NFL Media analyst Daniel Jeremiah had the San Francisco 49ers selecting former Florida tight end Kyle Pitts in his first mock draft, released last month. In his latest mock draft for NFL.com, the draft analyst has John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan bolstering their offensive line, adding former Northwestern offensive tackle Rashawn Slater.
Offensive tackle Trent Williams is scheduled to become a free agent next month and will require a hefty annual salary to stay with San Francisco. He's worth it, though. Williams was the league's second-highest graded offensive lineman and highest-graded tackle, per Pro Football Focus. Expect him to fetch an annual salary of $20 million or more on the open market.
On the opposite side of Williams was Mike McGlinchey, who earned his best overall Pro Football Focus grade. However, much of that was due to his career-high run-blocking grade of 91.3. McGlinchey's pass-blocking grade of 58.3 was a career-low.
The nice thing about Slater is that he offers some versatility, which Shanahan and company value.
"We'll see what happens with Trent Williams in free agency," Jeremiah wrote of the projected selection, "but even if the Niners are able to re-sign him, Slater could easily slide inside to guard."
Slater opted out of the 2020 season to focus on the draft after the Big Ten initially announced a postponement to its games. The conference later reserved its decision, but the offensive lineman chose to continue focusing on his NFL future.
Slater was credited with allowing zero sacks, one quarterback hit, and five quarterback hurries during his 787 snaps in 2019, helping the offensive lineman climb up draft boards.
