Who should the 49ers target if they trade up in the 1st round of the 2025 NFL Draft?

One riser should firmly be on the 49ers radar early in the first round.

The 2025 NFL Scouting Combine has officially concluded, as there were several top prospects who saw themselves rise with great athletic testing this week. While athletic testing is only a measure to compare to a player’s film, a number of prospects separated themselves from the pack, catching the eye of several draft pundits after an eventful week.

The San Francisco 49ers had their eye on a number of top players in the draft class, scheduling formal meetings with quite a few projected early first-round picks as they do their due diligence across the board.

The two positions that especially stood out were offensive linemen and defensive linemen, as the 49ers held formal meetings with nearly every top offensive tackle in the class, while doing the same with the top defensive tackles and edges.

The 2025 draft class is a unique one, as there isn’t an elite crop of quarterbacks, which could push some of the top prospects higher up the board, especially with good testing at the combine this week.

Among those players is Missouri offensive tackle Armand Membou, who was arguably the biggest winner of any offensive lineman this week.

Membou, who measured in at 6’4, 332 pounds, had an extremely impressive week of testing, accumulating a 9.89 Raw Athletic Score (RAS) out of 10.

Membou’s 4.91 40-yard dash was second among offensive lineman and the best of any projected tackle. His 34’’ vertical was fourth in the group. His 9’7’’ broad jump was the best of any lineman in the class. And he capped everything off with an impressive 31 reps of bench press on Monday, which was the best of all tackles.

Since 2003, there’s been four offensive linemen who weighed in above 315 pounds and ran a sub-5.00 40-yard dash, while having over a 30’’ vertical. Two of those players, Trent Williams and Tristan Wirfs, are perennial Pro-Bowlers.

The other two? Membou and fellow projected first-rounder Will Campbell.

While arm length was a big question for several projected tackles in this year’s class, Membou measured in with 33 1/2’’ arms, which is respectable enough for the position when given his traits and tape.

Now, the question becomes: where will Membou actually go in the draft?

Following the NFL Combine, ESPN’s Field Yates believes that could very well be inside the Top 10.

“Membou’s meteoric rise since the start of last season is showing no signs of slowing down, as he just keeps on checking the boxes,” Yates wrote. “His explosive play strength was seen on tape, so I was totally unsurprised that he had the best broad jump (9-7) of any offensive lineman this year. He also ran the second-fastest 40 on Sunday at 4.91 seconds. While Campbell will maintain the highest grade of any offensive lineman in the class for me, Membou has a real chance to be the second one taken — he could also get selected in the top 10. The Jets have a notable right tackle need at No. 7.”

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, 49ers Director of Scouting Tariq Ahmad explained why the team hasn’t taken many tackles in the draft, pointing to the skillset needed at the position.

“There’s not a lot of people that have the skillset to play tackle, so it reduces the pool and they typically go pretty early,” Ahmad said, via David Lombardi. “We are very selective.”

When it comes to checking those boxes, Membou fits those requests to a tee, and draft pundits believe his film is one of, if not the best of any tackle in the class.

If the 49ers were to trade up for a prospect, Membou could very well be that player. He fits a future need for San Francisco, as they don’t have long-term security at tackle, and could fill in at guard or on the right side in the short term.

San Francisco has already talked to prospects about playing right tackle in some of those formal meetings, so that is a real possibility with Membou.

The only concern is that he may not fall out of the Top 10, given the concerns of other tackle prospects and his elite testing at the Combine this week. If San Francisco is sold on the tackle, they may need to trade up in April to secure him inside the Top 10.