Your daily San Francisco 49ers news for Sunday, April 23rd, 2023
Branch: 49ers need a starting linebacker, but is that a draft priority? (paywall)
“The loss of Al-Shaair, who started 22 games the past two seasons, is not insignificant. However, the 49ers’ strong-side linebacker leaves the field when they deploy their nickel defense, replaced by a slot cornerback. That’s why Al-Shaair was a part-time player in 2022, logging more than 55% of the defensive snaps in just two of 12 games.”
49ers 2023 prospect watch: Penn State S Ji’Ayir Brown would be mid-round steal
“Watching Brown play football is a delight. He’s constantly around the football and gets downhill with a lot of force. His athletic testing numbers don’t match the functional athleticism he shows on tape.”
Bosa’s blunt warning to Cardinals about Murray before ‘19 draft
““So we’re leaving the dinner, and we’re walking out of Mastro’s in Fort Lauderdale, and I’ll never forget, he puts his arm around me and Kliff Kingsbury, both of us in basically a headlock, and he said, ‘I think you guys probably are going to end up taking that little quarterback, and if you do…,’ he looked over at me and he said, ‘Steve, I will haunt you for the rest of your career.’ ”
“Perhaps San Francisco still has to trade up, if [CB Julius] Brents is indeed the target, but an ideal dream scenario would be for him to somehow fall into a very comfortable range(let’s say, the middle of Round 3) or all the way to No. 99 overall.”
“The Colts may not see their quarterback of the future available at No. 4. They can offer a couple of middle-round picks over the next two years for Lance, who hasn’t done much on the pro level, but head coach Shane Steichen proved that he’s able to get the most out of an athletic signal-caller last season.”