There are no right or wrong ways to do an NFL mock draft, but a recent seven-round projection from Pro Football Network highlights a variety of ways the San Francisco 49ers’ 2025 draft class can turn into a disaster.

The 49ers aren’t in a prime spot picking 11th overall based on the group of players widely believed to be going in the top 10. A trade back should be in the works unless a player falls to San Francisco that they can’t resist. The other key to this year’s draft class for the 49ers is finding starting-caliber defensive linemen.

Advertisement

They lost three of their four starting defensive linemen this offseason and there don’t appear to be readymade replacements on the roster. Picking quality players via the draft is how the 49ers are going to be competitive in 2025 and beyond.

A seven-round mock from PFN has the 49ers ostensibly ignoring their biggest need for most of the first two days of the draft, and their first pick is a massive injury risk. Let’s run through the selections for all 11 of the 49ers’ picks in this mock:

Round 1, Pick 11: OT Josh Simmons, Ohio State

An offensive tackle in Round 1 is not a crazy choice for the 49ers. They could use an upgrade at right tackle in the short term, as well as a long-term replacement for Trent Williams. A fully healthy Simmons fits that bill. He’s a dynamite player and at full strength might be the best OT in this year’s class. The problem is the knee injury he sustained last October was not a run-of-the-mill ACL tear. It was a patellar tendon tear which puts a massive question mark over what his ceiling and floor are in the NFL. If the 49ers are picking an offensive lineman in the first round it needs to be a player they’re sure about, and Simmons’ knee injury makes him a massive risk.

Round 2, Pick 43: CB Benjamin Morrison, Notre Dame

Injuries are also a concern with Morrison who burst on the scene as a freshman with the Fighting Irish. That year he pulled down six interceptions and was a Freshman All-American. A quad injury in 2023 cost him a game. He also had shoulder and hip injuries that required surgery, the latter of which limited him to only six games in 2024. Morrison is a good prospect with NFL size at 6-foot, 193 pounds. He also had good ball production in college with nine interceptions and 27 pass breakups. The 49ers have never used a pick higher than No. 64 on a CB in the Kyle Shanahan-John Lynch era. They have Renardo Green (the No. 64 pick in last year’s draft) and Deommodore Lenoir slated in two of their starting spots. A handful of veterans who were either on the roster or signed in the offseason should compete for starting spots. It would be a surprise if the 49ers took a CB this early, and it would signal a massive organizational shift away from prioritizing the defensive line.

Round 3, Pick 75: LB Demetrius Knight, South Carolina

Three top-75 picks and no defensive linemen for a 49ers club that desperately needs defensive line help. Instead with the 75th selection they take a player who isn’t a shoo-in to start at the Will linebacker spot vacated by Dre Greenlaw this offseason. Knight has good size at 6-1, 235 pounds and his explosiveness shows up a lot as a run stuffer. He’s not great in coverage, however, which may limit his ability to play the every-down WLB spot. Knight also had a strange college journey where he spent four years at Georgia Tech as a quarterback and special teams contributor. His breakout on defense didn’t come until his fifth year with Charlotte University. In 2023 he stuffed the stat sheet with 96 tackles, six tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, four pass breakups and three interceptions. He transferred to South Carolina in 2024 and posted 82 tackles, eight tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks, one pass breakup and one interception. If the 49ers are foregoing their defensive line this early to find a LB, it has to be a player who will be a slam dunk three-down player.

Round 3, Pick 100: DT Ty Robinson, Nebraska

A defensive lineman! It wouldn’t be a surprise if the 49ers like Robinson as a prospect. He’s massive at 6-5, 290 pounds. His arms are a little short at 32 1/4 inches, but he brings a ton of experience after playing 60 games across six seasons with the Cornhuskers. He posted 134 tackles, 27 tackles for loss and 12.0 sacks, with 7.0 of his sacks coming in 2024 when he was a 23-year-old sixth-year senior. Robinson is the type of player who makes a lot of sense for the 49ers because of their need for depth on the defensive line, but they also need starters and three-down players, and Robinson may not be that in the NFL even if he’s able to fill multiple roles on the line.

Round 4, Pick 113: DE Sai’vion Jones, LSU

Back-to-back defensive linemen! Now this is more like it. However, Jones fits in a bucket with Robinson where he makes more sense as a developmental rotational piece instead of an every-down player out of the gate. Jones posted only 18 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks in 51 games (29 starts) despite checking the size box at 6-5, 280 pounds with 33 1/2-inch arms. He has a ton of tools worth banking on, there are just some significant question marks about how effective he’ll be on Day 1, and that’s a tough pill to swallow for a team that needs productive starters on the defensive line.

Round 4, Pick 138: RB RJ Harvey, UCF

This is an intriguing pick for the 49ers in the range where a running back makes a lot of sense. Harvey is a bowling ball at 5-8, 205 pounds, but he showed off breakaway speed on tape and backed it up with a 4.40 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL combine. Virginia originally signed Harvey as a quarterback, but he transferred to UCF after one season. At UCF he made the switch to running back during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. In 2021 he tore his ACL, but he bounced back in 2022 with 796 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 118 carries. Then the breakout came. Over the next two years he was a full-time starter who hung up 2,993 rushing yards and 38 touchdown on 458 carries. He also hauled in 61 catches for 720 yards and four touchdowns during his final three seasons for the Knights. Harvey has the tools to quickly fit into San Francisco’s backfield with Christian McCaffrey and Isaac Guerendo.

A quick note

We’ll just note here, if the 49ers only pick two defensive linemen in their first five picks, they should be loading up on them later in the draft trying to find some quality players. They don’t use anymore picks on defensive linemen, which is a significant problem. Alas, we’ll look at the players in this mock without that context.

Round 5, Pick 147: OL Caleb Rogers, Texas Tech

The 49ers should be looking to bolster the interior of their offensive line because their depth is lacking and they don’t have a surefire starting left guard. Rogers played both tackle spots in college and didn’t play guard until he played both guard spots during his final season. He measured in at 6-4, 312 pounds with 32 3/8-inch arms at the combine which is why he’ll be relegated to guard duties in the NFL. His athletic profile would give him a chance to carve out a reserve role quickly with the 49ers.

Round 5, Pick 160: TE Jake Briningstool, Clemson

It’ll be interesting to see how the 49ers feel about this year’s tight end class. Briningstool checks a ton of boxes at 6-5, 241 pounds with a 4.75 40-yard dash and enough production to be intriguing as a pass catcher. Across four years at Clemson he played in 48 games with 26 starts and hauled in 127 catches for 1,380 yards and 17 touchdowns. His path to playing time in San Francisco would be aided by some pass-catching upside, but he’ll need to block. Clemson lined him up all over the formation and his ability to block on the move is something the 49ers have looked for in other TEs they’ve drafted or signed recently.

Round 6, Pick 187: OL Luke Kandra, Cincinnati

Kandra spent three years at Louisville before transferring to Cincinnati where he became a full-time starter during his final two seasons. He played in 45 college games and started 26, including all 24 in 2023 and 2024. Positionally he was limited to only right guard in college and he earned Second-Team All-America nods in his two years as a full-time starter. He may need to develop to play elsewhere with San Francisco, but he’d likely be a reserve right away. Bolstering the interior of the offensive line late on Day 3 makes a lot of sense.

Round 7, Pick 227: WR Chimere Dike, Florida

Dike can flat out fly. It shows up on tape and then he posted a 4.34 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL combine at 6-foot, 196 pounds. He posted 139 receptions for 2,261 yards and 11 touchdowns during five years in college. He played 57 games in three years with Wisconsin and two with Florida. Another speedy WR who can have time to develop in the 49ers offense would be a fun add in the seventh round. San Francisco may look for another WR earlier in hopes of finding a Day 1 contributor with so many questions in their receiving corps going into the offseason.

Round 7, Pick 249: OL Thomas Perry, Middlebury

A developmental interior offensive line pick isn’t a bad idea. The Athletic’s Dane Brugler projects Perry as a center in the NFL because of his 6-2, 310-pound frame and 31 3/4-inch arms. He was First-Team All-NESCAC as a left guard three times at Division-III Middlebury. He also earned a 3.92 GPA in molecular biology and biochemistry per Brugler. That is a smart person who should quickly pick up the mental nuances of playing in the middle of an offensive line. Whether he can get there physically is a bigger question.

Round 7, Pick 252: CB Kendall Bohler, Florida A&M

Bohler is listed at 6-foot, 195 pounds and was a First-Team All-Conference selection in the SWAC for the 2023 and 2024 seasons. In those years he had 70 tackles, two interceptions and nine pass breakups. His path to a roster spot with the 49ers would likely be via special teams contributions.

This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: NFL mock draft: 49ers make nightmare picks in 7-round projections