While most mock drafts focus on predicting first-round selections for teams like the San Francisco 49ers, Pro Football Focus (PFF) analyst Mason Cameron took a different route—identifying the best Day 2 fits for each NFL team. These are players projected to be selected in the second or third rounds.
Cameron named South Carolina defensive tackle T.J. Sanders as the ideal Day 2 fit for the 49ers defense, now led by returning defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. With the departures of Javon Hargrave and Maliek Collins this offseason due to tough financial decisions, San Francisco's defensive line could use reinforcements, and Sanders might be part of the answer.
"The 49ers need a disruptive presence on the interior, so targeting a disruptive 3-technique like Sanders makes too much sense," Cameron wrote. "His wicked first step and lateral quickness — due to his basketball background — allowed him to penetrate at a high level, contributing to his 90.3 PFF pass-rush grade versus true pass sets last season."
Sanders (6-4, 297) has recorded 8.5 sacks over the past two seasons, along with 93 tackles (17 for loss) and five passes defensed in 25 games (16 starts), per Sports Reference. His 2024 season marked career-high PFF grades across three categories: 82.4 overall, 77.0 in run defense, and 81.9 in pass rushing.
With three Day 2 selections—Nos. 43 (second round), 75, and 100 (third round)—the 49ers could target Sanders to bolster a depleted defensive front.
PFF's pre-draft big board ranks Sanders as the No. 38 overall prospect and the sixth-best interior defensive lineman in the class.
"Sanders is a true 3-technique who wins with linear and lateral quickness to shoot gaps and disrupt," PFF wrote in its draft profile. "He must improve his hand precision and play strength to be a full-time starter. At worst, he is a contributing rotational 3-technique."
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