No Huddle: The 49ers’ Biggest Challengers In The NFC →
placeholder image

Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports


PFF identifies ideal Day 2 NFL Draft fit for 49ers

Apr 10, 2023 at 4:20 PM--


Videos are auto-populated by an affiliate. This site has no control over the videos that appear above.
The San Francisco 49ers lack draft picks in the first or second rounds of this month's draft. Their first selections come at the end of the third round, where they own three of the final four picks.

Michael Renner of Pro Football Focus recently identified Day 2 fits for all 32 NFL teams and matched a mock draft favorite to the San Francisco 49ers. He sees BYU offensive tackle Blake Freeland as a perfect fit for head coach Kyle Shanahan's offense.

"Freeland is one of the most athletic tackles of all time, and he even set the combine record for offensive linemen with a 37-inch vertical," wrote Renner. "That athleticism played in a zone scheme at BYU, where he earned an 87.9 run-blocking grade. He's still a project in pass protection with serious play strength concerns, but that may cause him to fall right into the 49ers' lap at the end of the third round."

The 49ers recently lost their starting right tackle of the past five seasons, Mike McGlinchey. He signed with the Denver Broncos in free agency. Colton McKivitz is currently penciled in to replace McGlinchey.

Freeland earned a career-high 91.0 overall grade from Pro Football Focus and a career-high run-blocking grade of 87.9. He allowed only seven pressures in 462 pass-blocking snaps (860 total snaps) in 2022 and only 12 pressures in 1,736 total snaps over the past two seasons.

"Not a plug-and-play [player] by any means, but you're not finding a plug-and-play tackle at this point in the draft," Renner said during the PFF NFL Podcast. "But he's a heck of an athlete, a guy who can really move. And again, a guy who played outside zone scheme at BYU. Going to go to Kyle Shanahan's offense, in the run game where that was his strength. Freeland was a monster in the run game because he is so athletic, because he is so quick off the line.

"You're going to have to protect him in pass pro[tection]. Probably not a year-one starter type of guy, but again, beggars can't be choosers at [the end of the third round]."

San Francisco owns 11 total picks in the 2023 NFL Draft, which kicks off on April 27.



LISTEN

Facebook Comments



More San Francisco 49ers News


placeholder image

PFF's highest- and lowest-graded 49ers players vs. Giants, plus snap counts

By David Bonilla
Sep 22

The San Francisco 49ers improved their record to 3-0 after a 30-12 win against the New York Giants in Week 3. Today, Pro Football Focus released its grades from the game. Which Niners played well, and who has more work to do? Below are Pro Football Focus' five highest-graded 49ers players on offense against the Giants. Deebo Samuel, WR, 88.6, 68 snaps Ronnie Bell, WR, 80.7, 31 snaps Trent Williams, LT, 76.4, 79 snaps George Kittle, TE, 75.8, 69 snaps Jordan Mason, RB, 74.5, 4 snaps Below are the five highest-graded 49ers players on defense. Javon Hargrave, DT, 93.0, 34 snaps Nick Bosa, DE, 92.8, 39 snaps Arik Armstead, DT, 91.5, 36 snaps Oren Burks,


placeholder image

PFF's highest- and lowest-graded 49ers players vs. Rams, plus snap counts

By David Bonilla
Sep 18

The San Francisco 49ers improved their record to 2-0 after a 30-23 win against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 2. Today, Pro Football Focus released its grades from the game. Which Niners played well, and who has more work to do? Below are Pro Football Focus' five highest-graded 49ers players on offense against the Rams. George Kittle, TE, 84.8, 55 snaps Trent Williams, LT, 83.4, 57 snaps Jauan Jennings, WR, 77.5, 27 snaps Brandon Aiyuk, WR, 72.3, 30 snaps Deebo Samuel, WR, 71.7, 51 snaps Below are the five highest-graded 49ers players on defense. Nick Bosa, DE, 93.0, 63 snaps Javon Kinlaw, DT, 83.8, 29 snaps Fred Warner, LB, 74.7, 80 snaps Tashaun Gipson


placeholder image

What Kyle Shanahan said the day after 49ers' Week 2 win vs. Rams

By Site Staff
Sep 18

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke with reporters via a conference call on Monday, the day after the team's 30-23 win over the Los Angeles Rams. Here is everything he had to say. Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff. Opening comments: "It's too early to have all the answers for the injuries yet. So it's the same as last night with [CB] Ambry Thomas with a knee, [WR Brandon Aiyuk] B.A. with his shoulder and [DB Deommodore Lenoir] Demo cleared his evaluation yesterday for a concussion. He still has to be evaluated today. Go ahead guys." What do you think about the offensive line and the strides that that unit made coming off of Week 1? "I


placeholder image

What Kyle Shanahan said the day after 49ers' Week 3 win vs. Giants

By Site Staff
Sep 22

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke with reporters via a conference call on Friday, the day after the team's 30-12 win over the New York Giants. Here is everything he had to say. Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff. Opening comments: "[LB] Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles had an ankle. He's day-to-day. [LB Dre] Greenlaw ankle, day-to-day. Both of them are low. [WR] Deebo Samuel, his ribs checked out, no break. Pretty sore today, so it'll be day-to-day. And that's it from the game." With the amount of blitzing that the New York Giants did, have you seen that before or was it expected? What was your game plan going in facing that? "We knew it


Featured

Trending News

Share 49ersWebzone