PITTSBURGH — From the outside looking in, the 49ers took a couple of big swings on draft weekend by reaching for players many draft pundits predicted would be available well beyond where they were actually drafted.
But then, isn’t that the beauty of the NFL draft, which is the epitome of the old adage that beauty is in the eye of the beholder?
Contrary to what social media might suggest, there really isn’t a singular, definitive master draft board ordained by the football powers that be, then passed down to general managers and scouting departments across the league.
In fact, there are 32 different draft boards, and each looks subtly to dramatically different than the next.
So, while the masses might deem the top of the 49ers’ draft a series of reaches, the 49ers will tell you they stayed true to their board every step of the way.
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“That’s where we had them,” 49ers general manager John Lynch said about whom he drafted and at what point. “And we had a lot of conviction.”
It will take years to sort it all out, but the 49ers believe they landed a Day 1-caliber wide receiver able to stretch the field in Ole Miss’ De’Zhaun Stribling and a rotational pass rusher in Texas Tech’s Romello Height in the third round. They also selected Indiana running back Kaelon Black in the third round.
The 49ers believe Height has traits that could make him a key part of their defensive line.
“You turn on that tape, and we do a lot of evaluation just based on how hard, how relentless does a guy play,” Lynch said. “We feel like Romello is at the top of this draft in terms of the effort, the tenacity, the relentlessness with which he plays with.”
They addressed their tackle depth with the selection of Washington’s Carver Willis in the fourth round, then circled back to Washington in the fourth to reel in a long, athletic cornerback in Ephesians Prysock.
They also used the fourth round to add a rotational defensive tackle in Oklahoma’s Gracen Halton. He isn’t the biggest interior defensive lineman, standing just 6-foot-2 and weighing 292 pounds, but he plays with leverage and anticipation and is quick getting into gaps, all of which alleviate the lack of mass.
Halton is counting on his relentlessness fitting right in with the 49ers.
“I know that they attack, they’re hungry, got some hungry guys on the side of the ball that’s ready to go make plays,” he said. They just added one more.”
The 49ers closed their draft in the fifth round by adding Louisiana linebacker Jaden Dugger and Kansas tackle Enrique Cruz Jr.
Cruz played three seasons at Syracuse before playing his final year at Kansas.
“I do what I have to do. I hustle all the time,” Cruz said. “With everything I do, I’m always trying to finish the play, and I’m going to do whatever it takes to finish the play.”
The 49ers hit their biggest needs and doubled up at tackle, a position they could not afford to ignore in this draft. Stribling and Height have a chance to make an immediate impact.
