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With their eighth pick in the 2022 NFL Draft (Round 6, pick 221), the San Francisco 49ers chose to add more help to their secondary by selecting Tariq Castro-Fields, who played his college ball at Penn State.
What will Castro-Fields bring to the 49ers? An intriguing mix of size, speed, athleticism, and versatility that could result in him being used a number of ways. Here's a look at what to know as Castro-Fields begins his 49ers career.
Talented high school prospect
Castro-Fields was a four-star prospect at Riverdale Baptist School in Upper Marlboro, Maryland and had an impressive list of scholarship offers that included Alabama, Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Maryland in addition to Penn State. He was a safety earlier in his career and was influenced by former NFL standout Sean Taylor.
Castro-Fields was also a fine performer on the track, where he was a three-year letterman and was part of the fastest indoor 4x400 squad in Maryland as a sophomore.
A productive career, with one notable injury detour
Castro-Fields played in 51 games at Penn State and totaled 138 tackles with ten tackles for loss, three interceptions, and 28 passes defensed. He played in at least 11 games for four of his five seasons but missed all but three games in 2020 as he dealt with stingers. He was a three-time All-Big Ten honorable mention performer.
Solid testing times
At the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine, Castro-Fields was clocked at 4.38 in the 40-yard dash. He was listed as a Round 4 prospect by NFL.com.
At Penn State's Pro Day in March, Castro-Fields weighed in at 6-feet, 7/8 inches and 195 pounds and posted a vertical jump of 37 inches, a broad jump of 10 feet, 11 inches, a 20-yard shuttle of 4.06 inches, and a 3-cone drill of 7.05 seconds. He chose to sit on his 4.38 40 time from the Scouting Combine.
Influenced in part by Richard Sherman
When asked by 49ers reporters if he had any players he modeled his game after, he ran off a list of noteworthy names that included a former 49er.
"I wouldn't say modeled but definitely watched," Castro-Fields said. "I mean, guys like Richard Sherman, just how smart he is. Guys like Jalen Ramsey, Kyle Fuller, Tre'Davious White. A lot of those guys are good at the fundamentals and they're a dog. When you add those two things, you're kind of unstoppable."
Happy to be a 49er
Castro-Fields said he was watching the draft with high school and college teammates when he got the call from the 49ers, after which he went from being nervous to being ready to play.
"It was a super emotional day," Castro-Fields said. "Waiting for your name to be called was the hardest part, but when the 49ers called me, my whole mood changed and I'm just ready to go to work. No matter what, I'm just ready to go to work and put my best foot forward and show the world what I can do."
What his role winds up being remains to be seen, but he feels he'll be ready for whatever the 49ers decide to do.
"I feel like I came from a system where I did a whole lot -- ran Cover 3, man, 2 -- you name it, we did it. I feel like I'm well-versed in all coverages," Castro-Fields said.
The San Francisco 49ers had a number of intriguing options available in the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday night but decided to add University of Florida wide receiver Ricky Pearsall Jr. at pick 31 overall, bypassing players such as cornerbacks Cooper DeJean of Iowa and Kool-Aid McKinstry of Alabama and defensive tackle Jer'Zhan Newton of Illinois.
What should fans know about Pearsall and where he fits in with the 49ers? And does it mean anything regarding the future of Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel? Let's take a look.
What the 49ers like about Pearsall, and what general manager John Lynch said about the wide receiver situation
The 49ers appear to be excited about the overall package that Pearsall brings to the table, particularly his
Analyst Dane Brugler recently revealed his seven-round mock draft for The Athletic, forecasting all 257 selections in the upcoming 2024 NFL Draft, set to kick off next week.
"Piecing together a mock like this is time consuming, but I enjoy the exercise, because it allows me to focus on each team's needs, organizational trends and prospect-team pairings that make sense based on '30' visits, league buzz and overall interest," Brugler wrote.
Most expect the 49ers to address the trenches early in the draft, and Brugler has the team doing that. It's just not on the offensive side of the football. In fact, Brugler doesn't have San Francisco
The San Francisco 49ers first selection in next week's draft comes at No. 31 overall. However, NFL Media analyst Chad Reuter doesn't have the Bay Area team remaining at that spot in the first round. In his seven-round mock draft, he envisions the 49ers striking a deal with the Green Bay Packers to move up six spots to No. 25 overall, where they select former Alabama cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry.
Reuter notes, "Whether it's for a cornerback like McKinstry, an offensive lineman or a receiver, the 49ers could very well give up a mid-round pick to acquire one of the few missing pieces on an otherwise potent roster."
The rest of the mock draft reveals at least part of the
Trevor Sikkema of Pro Football Focus unveiled a seven-round mock draft for the San Francisco 49ers, addressing several key needs for the team in the 10-pick projection. Interestingly, the mock draft sees the team adding two legacy players. But before delving into that, let's examine the first three selections.
Sikkema has the 49ers shoring up their offensive line at pick No. 31 with the selection of former Arizona offensive tackle Jordan Morgan.
Morgan allowed 14 pressures and two sacks in his 477 pass-blocking snaps at left tackle in 2023. He earned an impressive pass-blocking grade of 87.3 and an overall grade of
