Your daily San Francisco 49ers news for Tuesday, February 25th, 2025
49ers Predicted to Sign Chiefs Linebacker Nick Bolton in Free Agency
“Instead of signing Dre Greenlaw and hoping he stays healthy, Pro Football Network predicts the 49ers will sign Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton.”
Have 49ers begun talks with Brock Purdy? Ten questions ahead of NFL combine (paywall)
“Membou, a tackle out of Missouri, is a person of interest for the 49ers when it comes to their first-round pick. He’s strong, agile, has faced top competition and plays a position San Francisco hasn’t drafted in the first round since 2018. But how long are his arms? There were conflicting numbers coming out of last month’s Senior Bowl, where Membou was a scratch due to an illness. The combine measurement is what all teams use anyway, and the 49ers will be eager to see if Membou’s levers meet the 34-inch mark they prefer for tackles. The draft appears to be full of tackle-guard tweeners, and the measurements for players such as LSU’s Will Campbell and Texas’ Kelvin Banks Jr. also will be noteworthy.”
Brugler: Which 2025 NFL Draft prospects have the most to prove at this year’s combine? (paywall)
“[Will] Campbell has a strong resume. He earned LSU’s left tackle job as an 18-year-old freshman and started the following 38 games there, earning All-SEC and All-America accolades in the process. He grew up modeling his game after Andrew Whitworth (a fellow West Monroe, La., native) and allowed just two sacks over his final 30 games. Not bad in the SEC……..
“Is he a tackle? Absolutely,” Manyweather told The Athletic. “We’ve seen a lot of tackles with great length who couldn’t block a troll on Twitter.”
As Manyweather explains it, the focus when studying offensive tackles should be on the feet because that leads to effective hands and putting a blocker in position to end the fight. Rashawn Slater has only 33-inch arms, but he keeps himself in position to finish. So does Penei Sewell, whose arms measure just 33 1/4 inches.
“It’s not a crime to get beat initially; it’s a crime to stay beat,” Manyweather said. “And Will does a really great job of resetting his base and staying in phase. He is really strategic of how to use his hands to end the fight.”
Given Campbell’s core strength and competitive finish, I have little doubt he could move inside and play guard at a high level. But teams want to keep him outside, making that arm length number an important one.
49ers re-sign guard Ben Bartch, proactive move to retain potential 2025 starter (paywall)
“In Bartch’s first start, a loss at snow-covered Buffalo on Dec. 1, he helped pave the way for a rushing attack that had 153 yards and averaged 5.7 yards a carry.
Offensive line coach Chris Foerster praised Bartch’s performance, but he noted the wintry conditions favored offensive linemen and he said he was eager to see how Bartch fared in his next start. However, Bartch played just 10 snaps in a win against the Bears the following week before he suffered a high ankle sprain that ended his season.
Bartch has a unique back story. He played at Division III Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minn., where he began his career as a 220-pound tight end. However, he changed positions after his freshman season and became the first Saint John’s player selected in the NFL draft since 1974 and the first Division III player picked since 2015.”