By following up a Super Bowl appearance with a 6-11 season, the San Francisco 49ers entered the 2025 offseason with a lot of work in front of them. After guiding the 49ers through a moderate free agency, general manager John Lynch enters the 2025 NFL Draft with the No. 11 overall pick.

Ahead of the draft, the 49ers spent much of free agency addressing their complicated cap situation. To make room for a potential Brock Purdy extension, the team released veterans Leonard Floyd, Maliek Collins, Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles and Javon Hargrave. San Francisco also traded Deebo Samuel to the Washington Commanders while temporarily cutting Kyle Juszczyk to sign him to a new deal.

In addition to the roster cuts, the 49ers also allowed a handful of their internal free agents to find a new home in free agency. Talanoa Hufanga, Charvarius Ward, Dre Greenlaw and Aaron Banks headlined the list of 10 players the team allowed to walk in the offseason. Safe to say, San Francisco will begin 2025 with a noticeably different roster.

Through the madness of the 49ers’ roster purge, Lynch did not have the resources to make any big acquisitions in free agency. The front office added 11 new players in free agency, but none that would significantly change the outlook of any roster. If the team is to bring in a key game-changer over the offseason, it will have to be at the 2025 NFL Draft, beginning with the No. 11 pick.

Overall, San Francisco has 11 draft selections to use across seven rounds, including four compensatory picks. Of the 11 picks, six will come within the first four rounds. If the 49ers wish to get themselves back to title contention, Lynch will have to nail their first-round pick.

CB Will Johnson, Michigan

By losing Ward, the 49ers watched a key part of their renowned defense walk away. With Ward being open about the personal struggles living in California causes his family, letting him leave on good terms was an easy call to make. Yet, with Robert Saleh bringing his man-heavy defense back to San Francisco, the team desperately needs an elite, lockdown cornerback to replace Ward.

While Travis Hunter will technically be the first cornerback taken, many view Michigan’s Will Johnson as the position’s true top prospect. In his three years with the Wolverines, Johnson notably did not allow a single touchdown on 810 total coverage snaps, per Pro Football Focus. Even in an injury-riddled 2024 campaign, he never allowed higher than a 66.5 passer rating when targeted.

If selected by the 49ers, Johnson has a clear path to immediately become the team’s top cornerback. Renardo Green and Tre Brown are currently projected to be the team’s starters. Both players have proven to be solid starters but lack the bonafide lockdown traits Saleh tends to rely on in his defense. Johnson might not be that guy off the bat, as rookie corners tend to struggle early, but he has all the physical attributes and natural instincts to develop into an elite defender.

With Johnson currently projected to fall anywhere from No. 8 to No. 15, he has to be the top name on Lynch’s mind. Most of the teams in the top 10 will enter the draft with offensive intentions, making it likely Johnson will fall to the 49ers at No. 11. If he is available and San Francisco passes on him, Lynch could regret that move for years to come.

DE Mykel Williams, Georgia

The 49ers’ offseason roster cleansing unsurprisingly left many holes on the roster, one of them being at defensive end. Nick Bosa is coming off another solid outing, but releasing Floyd created a vacancy Lynch needs to fill to supplement his star pass rusher. Without doing so, San Francisco would likely start Yetur Gross-Matos, who has never obtained more than 4.5 sacks in a single season.

Adding a player like Adbul Carter would be perfect to slot into a lineup with Bosa. Unfortunately for the 49ers, their No. 11 pick falls way out of Carter’s range, making Georgia’s Mykel Williams a more likely target. Williams is seen by most as the second-best edge rusher of the 2025 NFL Draft class after recording 8.5 tackles for loss in just 11 games in 2024.

Williams does not have the numbers to match some of his peers, but his elite potential is only bested by Carter. Over 30 percent of his career tackles at Georgia resulted in a loss, per NFL.com. He is slightly more of a raw prospect than many may like at No. 11, but the upside he has as Bosa’s potential running mate is incredible.

Given the 49ers’ current roster outlook, there are other holes in the lineup that need to be filled more than defensive end. But with most of the team’s recent success rooted with its pass rush, Lynch may feel the need to address the position early. If it is not Johnson at cornerback, San Francisco needs to take a long look at Williams as a potential anchor of Saleh’s 4-3 defense.

DT Derrick Harmon, Oregon

The 49ers need to add interior defensive linemen in the 2025 NFL Draft even more than they need an edge rusher. Releasing Hargrave and Collins leaves them without much depth in the trenches, an area that was already weak before their recent moves. No defensive tackles are currently projected to fall in the No. 11 range, potentially making a pick somewhat of a stretch, but the urgency to fill the gap is at an all-time high.

Behind Michigan’s Mason Graham, Oregon nose tackle Derrick Harmon is viewed by most as the second-best interior lineman of the class. As a prolific run-stopper, Harmon has the skill set that the 49ers need at the heart of their defensive line. As a senior, Harmon tallied 45 tackles, five sacks and two forced fumbles, elite numbers that made him a second-team AP All-American 10 tackle.

In Harmon, the 49ers would get a physical tone-setter in the middle of their line. Although all other areas of its defense has remained elite under Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco has not had a stout defensive tackle since it traded DeForest Buckner to the Indianapolis Colts. Harmon’s quick hands allow him to provide occasional pressure up the middle, but his tantalizing size and high football IQ are what would truly elevate Saleh’s defense.