B
San Francisco 49ers
Best value of the weekend goes to the 49ers for Clark: B.
by tbgronk1287 ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 4 steals
· 1 reaches
Somebody in the Round 7 slot was going to get robbed, and it turned out to be the rest of the league. The 49ers sat still while De'Corian Clark, the No. 214 name on the board, slid all the way to them, then sprinted to the podium. A sturdy weekend that grades out a B.
Leaving interior defensive lineman unaddressed is the roster risk they will have to answer for in the fall. The cost of the Van Pran reach is exactly the players who went right after him.
All told, a solid class that does its job everywhere but interior defensive lineman.
Pick-by-Pick
They read the board right and Dallas Turner was the payoff at the 31st pick. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Sedrick Van Pran at slot 63 jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Christian Haynes at the Round 3 slot is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
No drama and no debate, Will Shipley went about where he belonged in Round 3, Pick 35. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
The board fumbled Tory Horton all the way to pick 131, and they scooped it up. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Value with a capital V on Zy Alexander in pick No. 177, a genuine coup. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
A straight-up fair deal on Graham Mertz at the 209th overall pick, value and slot in agreement. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
A tidy little value on Cornelius Johnson in No. 213, a step better than break-even. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Aki Ogunbiyi at slot 215 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Steal is underselling it; De'Corian Clark at the 252nd pick is a heist with the alarm still ringing. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.