Your daily San Francisco 49ers news for Friday, January 31st, 2025
Hutchinson: Fixing the 49ers: How SF can solve top problem at defensive tackle
“Jeremiah Ledbetter is someone I put out at the trade deadline as fitting this mold for cheap. He is a 30-year-old free agent who has never been paid more than $2 million per year. All he does is hold gaps and disrupt the run game. Go get him. See here.
Then look at the rest of the free agency market and decide whether it’s worth getting another veteran. D.J. Jones, Morgan Fox and B.J. Hill are all out there as higher end guys. But there are other stout options like Daniel Ekuale, Tershawn Wharton, Poona Ford and Teair Tart. But this takes a recognition from the 49ers’ brass that they need players whose main responsibility is not going to be driving upfield with a blind commitment. They are disruptors who maintain gap integrity, and stocking up on them is not a bad idea.
In the draft, you’ve got an interesting, deep defensive tackle class. It’s being made out as an exceedingly strong one, and that could prove true, but there are some popular names who are more questions than answers.
There are a lot of could-be greats like Kenneth Grant and Deone Walker and Alfred Collins, but they have steep downsides, too. There’s one clear guy at the top in Mason Graham, who may well be gone by the 49ers’ pick. After him, Walter Nolen from Ole Miss is a freak athlete who should be in consideration, maybe a bit later than No. 11.
This leaves out a ton of other intriguing players like Ohio State’s Tyleik Williams, Oregon’s Derrick Harmon, and some later-round players, especially those impressing at the East-West Shrine and Senior Bowls.
One guy who I think the 49ers should strongly consider taking at any point from the third round on is Texas defensive tackle Vernon Broughton. He is an absolute game wrecker and the lack of attention he has gotten is befuddling.
He is stout in the run game, and has astoundingly quick, forceful hands to shed blockers in the pass game. He reminds me a bit of Tart, with better contact balance. Maybe a mix of him, a stumpier, slower Kobie Turner. He’s excellent, and this is a situation where the 49ers need to stack talent at defensive tackle.”
Five players 49ers should watch at Senior Bowl ahead of 2025 draft
“General manager John Lynch and directors of player personnel Tariq Ahmad and R.J. Gillen have been observed this week at the practice sessions at the Senior Bowl.
The premier showcase for college talent entering the NFL has plenty of players who attracted the 49ers’ attention as candidates to acquire during the 2025 NFL Draft.
Most of the scouts leave town after viewing the practices. The rest of us can watch the game Saturday at 11:30 a.m. on the NFL Network.”
Will Kyle Shanahan finally make 49ers’ offensive line a priority after 6-11 season? (paywall)
“Would they use two of those seven selections on offensive linemen in April after they used just four first-, second-, third- or fourth-round picks on offensive linemen in their previous seven drafts?
A plausible scenario: The 49ers use their No. 11 pick on an offensive tackle, a nod to Williams’ importance and age, and don’t use more significant draft capital on the position.
That approach could mean that a seemingly unremarkable group that includes Spencer Burford, Matt Hennessy and Nick Zakelj becomes their next starting left guard, but Shanahan likely has supreme confidence he could make such an arrangement work.
Consider the 49ers’ penultimate game of the season, a 40-34 loss to Detroit on Dec. 30, when injuries forced them to start Zakelj and rotate Charlie Heck and Austen Pleasants at left tackle. Heck started five days after he was signed off the Cardinals’ practice squad. Pleasants, signed to their practice squad 13 days earlier, had played 10 snaps in three career games. And Zakelj, a 2022 sixth-round pick, made his first career start.
Despite the taped-together front, Purdy threw for a career-high 377 yards and took just two sacks while the 49ers had 475 yards, their second most of the season. Three days later, Foerster said the “guys did a great job.” And he noted that was partly because they had someone taking care of them.
“Kyle,” Foerster said, “did a great job of calling the game in a way that took the pressure off the linemen.”
“I heard from a plugged-in NFL source this week that the 49ers and Purdy’s camp are, indeed, feeling like there won’t be fireworks on the way to an eventual deal. But I’ve also heard generally that the framework might be a little different than some other recent QB deals. I suspect this means the 49ers could be pitching a shorter-term, lesser-guarantee deal compared to the full-commitment deals signed by Trevor Lawrence, Justin Herbert, and others over the last few years. Will Purdy and his agent be happy with that? Assuredly, there’ll be some negotiations. Nobody makes their best offer right off the bat. It might take time.”
“Three different personnel evaluators brought up Sherwood to me unprompted when discussing the free agency class,” Fowler wrote. “Watch for Atlanta, which features a lot of former Jets staffing, or San Francisco, where former Jets coach Robert Saleh now runs the defense.”
According to Pro Football Reference, Sherwood (6-2, 216) had a breakout 2024 campaign, leading his team with 158 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, two sacks, and three passes defensed in 17 games (16 starts).
“Sherwood can play downhill with speed, cutting off the ball and pursuing the edges. And I see coverage upside here, too,” wrote ESPN’s Matt Bowen. “Sherwood is a three-down player with special teams coverage ability, and his best football is ahead of him.”
Sherwood’s nine pressures and 59 stops last season outpaced any linebacker on the 49ers roster. However, his 18 missed tackles would have tied for the team lead with Warner.”